Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 27th October 2019, 10:55 PM

Jim,

I have a Georgian Khmali and a spare Caucasian Shashka’s chape, both with drags.

I also have 2 Afghani pseudo-shashkas, both without drags.

My guess , drags were relatively recent additions, designed primarily for infantry officers or for the cavalry ones who had to carry them to the regimental balls:-)
They were just protectors of the scabbard tips.
They migrated to the “Orient” from Europe; again my guess,- not earlier than the early 19 century ( Caucasian), late 19 for the Afghani examples.

Neither of my Afghani pseudoshashkas have throat slits, and I can’t recall one. No miracle: they were not deeply curved and did not need a slit.
The more I look at it, the more I think that this gorgeous pseudo-shashka was reworked, re-assembled from different parts and massively prettified. Right now I would not be able to disagree with the idea that the “ prettyfication” process was done recently: far too many inconsistencies.

27th October 2019, 10:55 PM	#28
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Jim, I have a Georgian Khmali and a spare Caucasian Shashka’s chape, both with drags. I also have 2 Afghani pseudo-shashkas, both without drags. My guess , drags were relatively recent additions, designed primarily for infantry officers or for the cavalry ones who had to carry them to the regimental balls:-) They were just protectors of the scabbard tips. They migrated to the “Orient” from Europe; again my guess,- not earlier than the early 19 century ( Caucasian), late 19 for the Afghani examples. Neither of my Afghani pseudoshashkas have throat slits, and I can’t recall one. No miracle: they were not deeply curved and did not need a slit. The more I look at it, the more I think that this gorgeous pseudo-shashka was reworked, re-assembled from different parts and massively prettified. Right now I would not be able to disagree with the idea that the “ prettyfication” process was done recently: far too many inconsistencies. Last edited by ariel; 27th October 2019 at 11:39 PM.