Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 18th May 2019, 03:09 PM

Yes, some carry an inscription “ Estalik uchun Chust”: “ Souvenir from Chust”. A very similar idea was popular on Caucasian kindjals end of 19- 20 century. They were inscribed in Russian “Pamyat’ Kavkaza” : “ Memory of Caucasus”.
Google Uzbek knives, and you will find tons of similar or identical ones. Usually, they were made of a pretty soft steel and never required professional sharpening: several passes agains the bottom of ceramic Piala ( tea cup) were sufficient to restore the edge.

Do not know about Uzbekistan, but in the neighboring Turkmenistan knives had to have an element made of brass: apparently, only animals slaughtered with such knife were considered “halal”, i.e. fit to eat. Perhaps, brass tang band on yours reflects the same tradition, although it was routinely used all over Central Asia including Afghani Turkestan, due to its ductility.

18th May 2019, 03:09 PM	#7
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Yes, some carry an inscription “ Estalik uchun Chust”: “ Souvenir from Chust”. A very similar idea was popular on Caucasian kindjals end of 19- 20 century. They were inscribed in Russian “Pamyat’ Kavkaza” : “ Memory of Caucasus”. Google Uzbek knives, and you will find tons of similar or identical ones. Usually, they were made of a pretty soft steel and never required professional sharpening: several passes agains the bottom of ceramic Piala ( tea cup) were sufficient to restore the edge. Do not know about Uzbekistan, but in the neighboring Turkmenistan knives had to have an element made of brass: apparently, only animals slaughtered with such knife were considered “halal”, i.e. fit to eat. Perhaps, brass tang band on yours reflects the same tradition, although it was routinely used all over Central Asia including Afghani Turkestan, due to its ductility. Last edited by ariel; 18th May 2019 at 03:26 PM.