Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Jim McDougall · 27th February 2005, 09:08 PM

I see what Ariel is saying, a military sabre blade. I think it is important to remember the Russian presence in Afghanistan, long before the unfortunate events of 1979....'The Great Game' as the geo-political situation there was termed by author Peter Hopkirk in his book of the same name. The Russian military shashkas of course carried military form sabre blades.
The reference to one of these dagger/short sword weapons with Bukharen blade was simply to correspond with known recycling/refurbishing of older weapons, possibly damaged or even earlier finds from sites of combat or skirmishes.

It is quite possible that earlier British military sabre blades may have been used for many weapons. This had been a standard practice to use either captured or discarded British blades throughout the 19th century. Actually these blades seem to turn up everywhere! There are many tulwars that are presumably from native cavalry regiments that use M1796 British cavalry blades.It is ironic and a strong testament to the quality of these British blades, considering the scandals of the end of the 18th century pitting the quality of British blades against imported German blades, that they found use in many countries over the next century.

Best regards,
Jim

27th February 2005, 09:08 PM	#10
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,192	I see what Ariel is saying, a military sabre blade. I think it is important to remember the Russian presence in Afghanistan, long before the unfortunate events of 1979....'The Great Game' as the geo-political situation there was termed by author Peter Hopkirk in his book of the same name. The Russian military shashkas of course carried military form sabre blades. The reference to one of these dagger/short sword weapons with Bukharen blade was simply to correspond with known recycling/refurbishing of older weapons, possibly damaged or even earlier finds from sites of combat or skirmishes. It is quite possible that earlier British military sabre blades may have been used for many weapons. This had been a standard practice to use either captured or discarded British blades throughout the 19th century. Actually these blades seem to turn up everywhere! There are many tulwars that are presumably from native cavalry regiments that use M1796 British cavalry blades.It is ironic and a strong testament to the quality of these British blades, considering the scandals of the end of the 18th century pitting the quality of British blades against imported German blades, that they found use in many countries over the next century. Best regards, Jim