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Well, if one looks carefully at your delineation of the drag, it is the convex side that seems to be wider, suggesting that the sword was worn “ saber- wise”, not “shashka-wise”. That would prove that the slit on the throat originally was on the upper side, and that the seller intentionally reversed the direction of the suspension fitting to give a false impression that this pseudo shashka was worn like a Caucasian shashka.
The only problem with the drag is that we have no idea whether the sword was worn low ( touching the ground) or not. My guess not: dragging was fashionable among European cavalry officers, just to impress their dancing partners. Afghanis did not care about such niceties:-) |
My apologies, my post was pretty ambiguous. Instead of "larger" I should have said "longer." The longer side of the drag is in the direction of travel, that is, on the underside, on every European saber where I've looked. I'm assuming this was for the functional reasons I've mentioned, and even if the sword wasn't to be dragged around it would be done in the same way. Of course there's no way to know how a non-European maker would orient the drag. However if we assume these things were done capriciously, we stop being able to say much of anything about anything.
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Question: are you sure that it is Poor and not Husayn the sufi? |
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Persian?? :) |
Thanks so much kwiatek!
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Thank you Kubur and CharlesS for posting your pieces. It‘s great to see new things and to learn!
I think faqir here means “poor” rather than “dervish”, though you’re right that it could have that meaning. It’s quite common for artisans to sign things with a self-deprecating adjective such as “poor” or “humble” or to call themselves “servant” or “slave”. And yes definitely Shi’i! |
Yes, Shia.
My guess , this pseudo-shashka was not made in Afghanistan by the local Shia, Hazara or Quizilbash. Afghani-made weapons are usually simple and pretty crude. I would guess it came from Iran, where there are significant diasporas of both tribes. Shia Muslims were persecuted in Afghanistan and emigrated in droves. Just to mention wholesale slaughter and displacement of Hazaras by Abdurrahman in the early 1890s: it is claimed that fully half of their population were killed by government forces. In Iran they settled in Khorasan, a famed arms- manufacturing province. That might explain the sophistication of that sword. |
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In the late 19th century many of these cutlers were Bukharans who settled in Kabul- their main clientele at this point would have been Afghan Army officers who wanted a fancy private purchase sword as opposed to their bland government issued piece. |
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I don’t think this is the work of Bukhara masters who worked in Kabul. Usually masters from Bukhara used their own techniques for decorating weapons. I recently read the article "Arms decoration features in Khanates of Central Asia": https://www.academia.edu/105977932/A...Y_20TH_CENTURY The technique of decorating this shashka is completely different from the techniques used by Bukhara masters. But I completely agree with your opinion that many Afghan Army officers wanted a fancy private purchase sword. |
Shaska......Afghan or Uzbek?
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This was a great discussion, and fascinating topics. Over 20 years ago, I was able to get this shashka, which in the auction in London was described as from Uzbekistan.
In subsequent research and discussion with Torben Flindt, it was inconclusive whether this was indeed Uzbek, or actually Afghan. It was he who said wisely, 'weapons have NO geographic boundaries'. This example has the same distinctive long fluted chape on the scabbard seen on many paluoars, so that of course leans to Afghan. I hope possible the members here might add their insights, and what about this example might lean to either Uzbekistan or Afghanistan. I would presume this is late 19th c? Any comments on the calyx extending at back of grip ferrule as per Khyber knives etc.? |
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Excellent shashka. Congratulations. I think this is a fine example of a shashka from late 19th century Afghanistan. |
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Turkoman, THANK YOU so much for the kind words! I was so enthralled with this in the London auction I saw it in that I flew to London to attend it (never did that before!) . I think the scabbard was the most intriguing as it looked like many Ive seen on paluoars. I agree, and as it seems the consensus to be, this is Afghan. Ian, thank you for the link to that very exhilerating thread !!! That was a boldly placed topic you posted, and wonderful to see those days when discussions prevailed. While flare ups of contention happened, the outstanding and elucidating material shared truly advanced I think the general understanding of these sword groups. It would seem, as I think as suggested, the term shashka is probably not 'by the numbers', properly applied here despite the obvious similarities, but it is hard to think of it otherwise, as in character it seems to call out, 'shashka'. When recalling "The Great Game", the profound influences of Russia in Afghanistan in the 19th century cannot be discounted. |
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The common ancestor of all types of shashkas I think were the knives of the mountain robbers of Eastern Iraq of the 15-16 centuries. |
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Very cool and interesting. Thanks for the info. |
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I know a lot, but I remember little of it )) |
VERY well put mercenary!!!! A COUSIN!! exactly, and that is probably one of the most effectively accurate terms describing the development of many weapon forms.
Not to worry on the slip on the mountain robber knives, from reading your posts over these years, you probably have forgotten more than many of us have ever known on these esoteric topics! |
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