I'll add a comment Sancar made a while ago on another forum, concerning similar large yataghan:
Quote:
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The reason for its length is, in later periods, yataghans(as other bladed weapons) loose their place as weapons, and become more of an accesory of the local costume. In that period (late 19th-early 20th centuries) they tend to get exagerated with longer blades, bigger ears, deeper curvature etc. Yataghan have never been a cavalry weapon. It was mainly used by Janissaries(infantry), levents(marines) and later by başıbozuks and zeybeks(irregular militia) In 1850s, Ottoman army was already modernized and used cavalry sabers not much different from European counterparts, and sometimes blades that were a mixture of cavalry sabers, Ottoman kilij and mameluke(european blades influenced by Mamluk kilijs) sabers.
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I'll also link to another thread on
yataghan with T-pommel since it deals with a related topic. I am not much interested in the issue of the pommel; it's the blades that make me wonder.
Emanuel
Emanuel