Origin: Purchased in Nizwa Oman over 35 years ago; This type was made around Ibri In Oman but also apparently in the Emirates and maybe Saudi Arabia.
Sir Donald Hawley describes and illustrates new examples of this type of khanjar as Omani in his book Oman & its Renaissance (ref 1) The Omani weapons expert Robert Richmond (ref 4) describes this type as Omani.
The important and reliable book Tribes in Oman by JRL Carter (ref 5) describes them on page 161 as Omani and he names the silversmith as Sayf b. Hamad al Shaybaniy of Ibri as the maker of his khanjar. Carter knew the silversmith personally. However he also says “In form it is typical of the Dhahirah region of Oman and shows strong affinities with the daggers produced in the area of the United Arab Emirates. Those more typical of Oman have handles made of ivory of giraffe horn (giraffe is the Arab word for rhino horn) and the scabbard of the Omani ones is of woven silver thread” . The handle of the above khanjar is made of Rhino horn, identical to the old Saidi khanjars in my collection.
A 1991 Saudi exhibition catalogue of the King Faisal Center with the title "Weapons of the Islamic world " (ref 3) , shows on page 56 identical khanjars described as “Doojaniyan” daggers. The silver scabbards are set with fine silver beads , and the hilts are in rhinoceros horn. Al-ahsa (Saudi Arabia)”
A reader of our website Abdullatif Ali Al Nakkas identified the signature on the back of the chape as Abdul Majid al Dajani. The Aldajani family had many workers. He is a famous Saudi arms maker from the al Hasa region whose work is legendary, and work of this type is called Doujani, a variant of his name by many southern Saudis.
A similar khanjar with the same signature was sold in Imperial Inc Auctions lot 410 march 21 2015. The floral emblem on the back of the handle seems to be slightly different, the meaning of this floral emblem is unclear (maybe a tribal symbol) The signature on the khanjar in the auction is identical to the above one in our website. This auction identifies the signature on the khanjar as "Abd al Madalrajan?" and dates it to the second half of the 19th century. They identify the khanjar as Omani. See photos in our photo-slideshow.
Another type of khanjar the "Saidi khanjar" was produced and worn in Oman, but was also worn by Omani Arabs in East Africa and even by Arabs in Madagascar. Similar it seems that the above T-shaped khanjar was worn in Oman, the Emirates and southern part of Saudi Arabia. From JRL Carter and Sir Donald Hawley we know for certain that this type was also produced in Oman e.g. in Ibri by silversmith Hamad al Shaybany in Ibri well into the 20th century. However it it is feasible that there may have been other locations of production including the Emirates and Southern Saudi Arabia.