Few objects in Indian popular imagination carry the same air of menace as the Rampuri Chhuri. Sleek and deadly, this gravity knife was once a feared companion of gangsters, small-time criminals, and even Bollywood villains who immortalised it on screen.
The Rampuri Chhuri traces its origin to Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, where skilled bladesmiths began producing it in the early 20th century.
Unlike ordinary knives, this was a gravity-operated switchblade: its blade snapped open with a flick of the wrist, making it both practical and intimidating.
By the 1950s and 60s, it had become the weapon of choice in the Indian underworld.
In the bazaars of North India, the very name ‘Rampuri’ was enough to conjure fear. Its 15-inch-long blade gave it a reputation as a gangster’s sidearm, with tales of gang wars and street fights cementing its notoriety.
Cinema amplified this image. Bollywood villains, menacing dacoits, underworld dons, or scheming henchmen, would often brandish the Rampuri Chhuri in slow, dramatic gestures.
In the hands of actors like Pran or Amjad Khan, it became not just a weapon, but a symbol of villainy itself.
When ‘Jaani’ Raj Kumar plucked a knife from screen baddie Madan Puri’s hands and admonished him with these words in the 1965 hit Waqt, he made the Rampuri chaku an overnight celebrity.
However, the Rampuri Chhuri’s reign of terror couldn’t last forever. With rising crime rates, Indian authorities banned its manufacture and sale under the Arms Act amendments of the 1980s.
Today, authentic Rampuri knives are rare relics, more collectors’ items than street weapons. Yet, in memory and culture, the Rampuri lives on. Its story is a reminder of how objects can become entwined with both fear and folklore.
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