Jim McDougall |
2nd August 2008 04:57 AM |
Teodor is right, the search on gurda will display some of the great discussions, and Ariel, Teodor and Rivkin are particularly well versed on Caucasian arms.
The book "Chechen Arms" by Askhabov is an excellent resource, as well as Astvatsaturnian, which is unfortunately still in Russian text (I've been hoping it would come out in English).
The term 'gurda' refers to the blade only, on shashkas in Chechen and Daghestani examples. These typically carry the familiar 'sickle marks' that are often seen on many trade blades, and represent high quality, which is essentially what the term means 'good blade'.
In finding good examples of these shashkas, typically mid 19th century to early 20th, hang on to your hat!! they aint cheap!!
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