Help with Indian-issue P1887 Bayonet
Printed From: Enfield-Rifles.com
Category: Enfields
Forum Name: Enfield Bayonets
Forum Description: General discussion about bayonets for the Enfield rifles
URL: http://www.enfield-rifles.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=14175
Printed Date: March 26 2026 at 3:39pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.07 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Help with Indian-issue P1887 Bayonet
Posted By: Daeld
Subject: Help with Indian-issue P1887 Bayonet
Date Posted: October 06 2025 at 7:06pm
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I just bought this old P1887 bayonet made in July 1899. It has the guard and scabbard marked with the inscription रा म ८ ने ३ ६ As far as I can tell, that transcribes to: Ra M 8 Ne 3 6 Does anyone know what that might mean?  |
Replies:
Posted By: Daeld
Date Posted: October 07 2025 at 5:28am
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I made a transcription error above and it won't let me edit. so here is the corrected top line: राम ८ नं ३६ which transcribes to something like "Ram 8 No. 36" (the नं is apparently an abbreviation for Number akin to No. in English). as for the scabbard, I hadn't looked closely enough and now I realise that they are different. the scabbard has two characters that are different and reads something like: Ram ? No. ?6 it won't let me post a picture for some reason, so I'll have to describe it. the first unkonwn "?" looks like ८ but upside down and has a little tick at the top (almost like a Japanese U う but connected). I can't find that character anywhere on the devanagari charts online. The second "?" looks kinda like a roman 4 (but the type that does not touch at the top in a triangle but has two parallel lines instead. Or more like an upside down stick-chair. The only thing similar to that that I could find was the character प, but this character is rounded compared the the square character of the scabbard and it has no line on the top. EDIT: I found how to edit and how to put pics in! and I found one of the letters look more like Nepal Lipi, not Devanagari the 8 looks more like this in the top line: 𑑘  |
Posted By: Daeld
Date Posted: October 08 2025 at 3:52am
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Sorry to be all over the place with this but i've finally identified the characters. The unknown characters were in a Punjabi script: the top line reads: रा म ੮ नं ३ ६ (Ram 8 No 36) and the bottom line reads: रा म ੭ नं ੫ ६ (Ram 7 No. 56) Any ideas what the Ram/Rama might mean? |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: October 08 2025 at 1:22pm
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Maybe a "Rack Number"? Rack 8 position 36? ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Daeld
Date Posted: October 08 2025 at 5:20pm
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Could be. There is a hindi term that might have been abbreviated as Ra M: This is not, as far as I have been told, standard hindi or standard military hindi, though, so it is not clear. These are the most common words used now, none of which fit the Ra M(a) abbreviation. (Not sure about british india times)
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