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Importing a Khyber sword to the US from Udaipur

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2023 1:54 pm
by dasmillar
Hello all, I'm very new here, in fact I created this account for the sole purpose of asking about this subject. I stumbled across this forum when searching online for answers as to why there may be issues attempting to do something like this. To that extent, I have found no definitive explanation. I am hoping perhaps someone here can assist me with this situation.

I live in the US, and I recently purchased a blade that was labeled as a Khyber sword from a vendor on Etsy. The vendor was located in Udaipur. They told me the sword was over 200 years old which would classify it as an antique and also likely a display piece at this point. Everything seemed fine, until I discovered they had refunded my money with the explanation that India customs had rejected their shipment of this item. I've purchased various swords, knives, etc. from India before, specifically Udaipur in some instances and I have never run into this issue. Any suggestions? Thank you!

Re: Importing a Khyber sword to the US from Udaipur

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2023 7:38 pm
by Shivaji.Dasgupta
If it's an antique then there is no point you can get a custom clearance.
Classified any metal weapon as antique is a difficult process
here and at first step its age should be proved.
Any way Rajasthan market is full of such antique weapons.. pls don't take it otherwise but most of the vendors use to have stock of such talwar and spear also Katar and other knifes which they claim to be 200 year old.

Re: Importing a Khyber sword to the US from Udaipur

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2023 7:34 am
by dasmillar
I'm sorry, I'm not sure I fully understand.
There's no way I can get a custom clearance?
And yes, I'm aware of the tall tales spun around items being sold as authentic. I'm usually extremely cautious when purchasing items of this nature.

I'm not too overly concerned with authenticity in this case as the price wasn't incredibly dissuading and I liked the overall aesthetic of the knife. It also claims and definitely looks to be forged from wootz. Whether it's modern or not; I'm willing to pay the price they were asking for it.

Does anyone happen to have any experience shipping anything like this to the US? I've purchased things before and haven't had any issues. I have a peshkabz/kard I purchased that was 18 inches overall. This isn't much bigger coming in at 24 inches. I'm confused why customs sent it back.