Pichaq w. etched inscription - Translation request

GePi · 6th November 2022, 12:57 PM

Hello,

I would like to present a central asian knife of the latter 19th century. It has white metal mounts in the typical style decorated with parcel gilding and niello and of course a band of inlaid turqoise. Length 31 cm, blade length 20 cm.

What I have not seen on arms of that region before, unlike for example on Afghan, Indian or Sudenese Arms, is an inscription shallowly etched into the wootz steel blade.

It is quite faint, probably having been repolished and re-etched more than once in its life, and extremely hard to photograph especially the latter part. I still hope someone like kwiatek might be able to shed some light on the contents.
For what it's worth I believe the first word to be کارد i.e. 'kard' and the date ۱۲۸۲ as an al hijra date corresponding to 1865-66 which would be plausible.

Thanks for looking

Drabant1701 · 6th November 2022, 07:08 PM

A very beautiful and rare dagger. I cant remember ever seeing a wootz blade etched with letters like that, pretty neat that you can see the wootz inside the letters.
Thank for sharing this!

Battara · 7th November 2022, 03:40 AM

The turquoise and overall shape reminds me of Bukharan work.

mahratt · 7th November 2022, 09:15 AM

Congratulations! Beautiful pichak from Kokand.

ariel · 8th November 2022, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mahratt

Congratulations! Beautiful pichak from Kokand.

Why specifically Kokand?

ariel · 9th November 2022, 05:56 AM

BTW, I read the date as 1292 H, i.e. 1875-6 Gregorian

6th November 2022, 12:57 PM	#1
GePi Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Germany Posts: 95	Pichaq w. etched inscription - Translation request Hello, I would like to present a central asian knife of the latter 19th century. It has white metal mounts in the typical style decorated with parcel gilding and niello and of course a band of inlaid turqoise. Length 31 cm, blade length 20 cm. What I have not seen on arms of that region before, unlike for example on Afghan, Indian or Sudenese Arms, is an inscription shallowly etched into the wootz steel blade. It is quite faint, probably having been repolished and re-etched more than once in its life, and extremely hard to photograph especially the latter part. I still hope someone like kwiatek might be able to shed some light on the contents. For what it's worth I believe the first word to be کارد i.e. 'kard' and the date ۱۲۸۲ as an al hijra date corresponding to 1865-66 which would be plausible. Thanks for looking Attached Images

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6th November 2022, 07:08 PM	#2
Drabant1701 Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Sweden Posts: 181	A very beautiful and rare dagger. I cant remember ever seeing a wootz blade etched with letters like that, pretty neat that you can see the wootz inside the letters. Thank for sharing this!

7th November 2022, 03:40 AM	#3
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,220	The turquoise and overall shape reminds me of Bukharan work.

7th November 2022, 09:15 AM	#4
mahratt Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Russia Posts: 1,042	Congratulations! Beautiful pichak from Kokand.

9th November 2022, 05:56 AM	#6
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	BTW, I read the date as 1292 H, i.e. 1875-6 Gregorian