Bagh Nakh
बाघ नख · bāgh nakh
Literally: tiger claw
Also known as: vāghnakh, bagh naka, bichuwa bagh nakh
An Indian claw weapon of four or five curved blades on a bar or glove, concealable in the palm; Shivaji used it to kill Afzal Khan.
Quick Facts
IndiaAbout the weapon
The bagh nakh, Hindi for tiger claw, is a claw weapon from the Indian subcontinent that can be fitted over the knuckles or hidden under the palm. It seems to have been inspired by the claws of big cats. In Marathi it is called vaghnakh, and similar names exist in Bengali and Urdu. We have not been able to establish the dating of its origin in the sources. It consists of four or five curved blades fixed to a bar or glove, meant to cut through skin and muscle. Variants also exist with two hinged plates and a thumb loop, and a version called bichhwa bagh nakh, which has an additional spike or blade on the bar. We have not found dimensions in the sources. Rajput clans used poisoned versions for assassinations. The most famous use is by the Maratha ruler Shivaji, who, together with the bichhwa dagger, attacked the Bijapuri general Afzal Khan. Wrestlers fought with it in the naki ka kushti match; an observer who saw it in Baroda in 1864 described intoxicated wrestlers tearing at each other's face and body like tigers. In the Maratha martial art mardani khel, the bagh naka figures as an iron claw. Sikh Nihangs wear it in their turban and recommended it to women travelling alone. Bengali Hindu girls adopted similar weapons for self-defence after the riots known as Direct Action Day. In the Disney film Aladdin and the King of Thieves, the villain Sa'luk wields a golden version of it.