Some history of the khukuri
The khukuri, the national knife of Nepal, is an ancient blade-form: khukuris of five hundred years or more hang from the walls of Nepal's National Museum, dating back to the Malla period. Some have suggested that khukuri design is linked to the ancient Greek kopis knife and that the form was introduced into the Indian subcontinent by Alexander's Macedonian army, which invaded north-west India in the 4th-century B.C. If so, then the khukuri is perhaps also linked to the ancient Egyptian kopesh blade, likely the model for the Greek kopis, as well as to the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian seax. However, it is also possible that the khukuri is simply a design native to the hills of the Himalayas, perhaps originating from an agricultural tool (as which it continues to serve to the present day). This seems to be the view of Lord Egerton of Tatton, who writes: '[the Gurkhas'] national weapon is the Kukri , originally a kind of bill-hook, for cutting through small wood in the dense low jungles of the Teraí and the Himalayans' (pg. 100). The Nepalese also use a larger knife, or sword, called a kora, which also has an inner cutting edge like the khukuri. The blades of koras show an expansion near the point, weighting the tip to provide a more powerful downward blow. Koras are generally ceremonial, and as Egerton remarks, 'those who use it skilfully are enabled to cut a sheep in two at a single blow' ( ibid. ).

Rawson, in The Indian Sword, writes: 'The direct ancestor of the Kukri was no doubt the sword with a Kopis blade, but in the blades of certain Kukris it is clear that the conception of the forward angled blade, not the pure Kopis, underlies the form [see below picture 'Kopis-blade forms of the Indian subcontinent']. It is probable that the forward-angled form [which includes the indigenous Nepalese Kora] represents the oldest stratum over which the Rajput Kopis-bladed sword was superimposed' (pg. 52).

The Gurkhas, more than anything else, have brought the khukuri to the attention of the world. For centuries this blade-form lay dormant in the world, being kept alive only in India and Nepal. And then the Gurkhas appeared on the world scene a couple of hundred years ago and brought with them their traditional weapon, the khukuri. Because the Gurkhas were probably the best mercenary force the world has ever seen--and may ever see--part of their fame became the fame of the khukuri.

The word 'Gurkha' originates from King Prithvi Narayan Shah's 'Gorkhali' army (from the area of Gorkha, Nepal-northwest of Kathmandu), with whose help the King united Nepal into a single country between 1768-9 A.D. Nepal's present King, HM King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, descends from Prithvi Naryan Shah.Gorkha was feudal hill village in what is now western Nepal, however the 'Gorkhali' under Prithwi Narayan Shah and his successors grew so powerful that they overran the whole of the hill country from the Kashmir border in the west to kingdom of Bhutan in the east.  Eventually, as a result of boundary disputes and repeated raids by Gurkha columns into British East India Company territory, the British Governor General declared war on Nepal in 1814.  After two long and bloody campaigns a Peace Treaty was signed at Sugauli in 1816. 

During the war a deep feeling of mutual respect and admiration developed between the British and the Gurkhas, both sides being much impressed by the bravery, courage and decency of the other. Six hundred Gorkhas at Dehra Dun successfully held the fort of Kalanga against an English force of about 3500 under General Gillespie until the battering train was brought from Delhi; at the stockade at Tamta, the Gorkhas fought effectively with koras, described by the opposing British as being 'like the Highlanders of old, after discharging their matchlocks, rush[ing] in fierce through disorderly masses upon their opponents' (Mill, pg. 25).

In the extremely bitter defence of the hill fortress of Kalunga the Gorkhas lost 520 out of 600 defenders but they fought so bravely and so well and the losses they inflicted on the British were so staggering it inspired the British to erect a stone battle monument at Kalunga inscribed with the words:

The khukuri however is far more than just a jawan's weapon :- in the hands of Nepal's large rural population the khukuri is a knife-of-all-work, serving to chop wood, slice vegetables, skin animals, cut grass and is also used in Hindu religious ceremonies. And almost everything about the khukuri means something:

What we call a 'blood-gutter'^* is called the aunlo bal (meaning 'finger of strength'). The notch near the hilt, called a cho or a kauro (Turner [2740]), has various meanings: the sun and moon (symbols of Nepal), the sexual organs of Hindu gods and goddesses, a cow track (the cow being sacred to the Hindus). Rawson writes of the cho : '[t]he root of the edge of a Kukri blade contains a semicircular nick about three-quarters of an inch deep, generally with a tooth at the bottom, which like the lotus [often stamped] on the blade of the Kora, the Gurkhas say represents the female generative organ, intended presumably to render the blade "effective"' (pg. 54) [in this connexion it is also interesting to note that Shivaji, the 17th-c. Marathi 'rebel' against the Mughals, named his sword 'Bhavani', one of the names of the goddess (see Rawson, pg.89 n.80)]. The buttcap of the knife is said to resemble the eye of god - always watching, ever seeing. The rings around the handle also mean something though their true significance has been lost in the mists of time. Even the basic curve is said to look like a crescent moon, a symbol of Nepal. 

Colonel Kirkpatrick, said to have been the first Englishman to visit Nepal in 1793, wrote in praise of the khukuri: 'It is in felling small trees or shrubs, and lopping the branches of others for this purpose, that the dagger, or knife worn by every Nepaulian, and called Khookheri [sic], is chiefly employed; it is also of very great use, as I repeatedly experienced, in clearing away the road when obstructed by the low hanging boughs of trees, and other similar impediments' (Kirkpatrick, pg. 118).

Indeed, the khukuri is a superior blade, both as a combat weapon and as a tool. The unique shape of the khukuri makes it excellent both for chopping wood and for hacking through dense jungles and forests - serving as a combination of an axe and a machete - and anything else requiring a good knife. This makes it a particularly ideal item for the outdoorsman, hunter, hiker or explorer--or anyone who needs a rugged multi-functional blade.

for in-depth history and studies of the khukuri see further: J. Powell's The Kukri

References
(1) Lord Egerton of Tatton. A Description of Indian and Oriental Armour: illustrated from the collection formerly kept in the India Office, now exhibited at South Kensington, and the author's private collection. London: W.H. Allen & co., Ltd., 1896. reprinted, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 2001.
(2) Hamilton, Francis Buchanan. An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal, and of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha. Edinburgh: Archibald Hamilton, 1819. reprinted, New Delhi: Asian Educational Service, 1986.
(3) Kirkpatrick, Col. William. An Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul, being the Substance of Observations made During a Mission to that Country, in the Year 1793. London: William Miller, 1811. reprinted, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1996.
(4) Krauskopff, Gisèle and Pamela Deuel Meyer (eds.) with Tek Bahadur Shrestha, Kurt Meyer & Tej Panjiar. The Kings of Nepal & the Tharu of the Tarai. Los Angeles: rusca Press & Kirtipur (Nepal): Research Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University, 2000.
(5) Landon, Perceval. History of Nepal. 2 vols. London: Constable & Co., Ltd., 1923. reprinted, Delhi: Adarsh Enterprises, 2001.
(6) Mill, James. History of British India. vol. VIII. London: Baldwin, Cradock, Joy, 1820.
(7) Oakeshott, R. Ewart. The Archaeology of Weapons: arms and armor from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry. London: Lutterworth Press, 1960. rev. ed., New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1994.
(8) Paul, E. Jaiwant. 'By My Sword and Shield': traditional weapons of the Indian warrior. New Delhi: Lotus [Roli Books], 1995.
(9) Prithvinarayan Shah. Dibya Upadesh. Yogi Narhari Nath, ed. Kathmandu, 2016 B.S.
(10) Powell, John. From Khookree to Kukri (and all the spellings in-between). In Progress/Not Yet Published ( preview here ).
(11) Rawson, Philip S. The Indian Sword. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1968.
(12) Stiller, Ludwig F., S.J. The Rise of the House of Gorkha: a study in the unification of Nepal 1768-1816. Kathmandu: Patna Jesuit Society, 1973.
(13) Stone, George Cameron. A glossary of the construction, decoration and use of arms and armor in all countries and in all times, together with some closely related subjects. Portland (Maine): Southworth Press, 1934. [reprinted, New York: Dover Publishing, 1999]
(14) Thapa, Netra Bahadur. A Short History of Nepal. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1967 [3rd. ed.]
(15) Tucci, Giuseppe. Nepal: the discovery of the Malla. Lovett Edwards, trans. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1962. [trans. from the Italian Nepal: alla scoperta dei Malla. Bari: Leonardo da Vinci Editrice, 1960].
(16) Turner, Sir Ralph Lilley. A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages. 4 vols. London: Oxford University Press, 1969 [1966-1985]. reprinted, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999.