Turkish or Persian?

ariel · 27th September 2009, 03:35 PM

I took as an example a wonderful sword just sold by Oriental-Arms.
http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=3785

The blade is of a Persian shamshir, but the handle is of typical Ottoman " bulbous" form, and the crossguard has long Ottoman quillons.
The scabbard is also of Persian pattern ( no wire stitching) as well as the suspension rings ( oval and integral with the fitting, rather than free rings, customary to the Ottoman pattern).

So, the question: is it Ottoman or Persian?
Turks used shamshir blades on their swords and called them " Adjemi Kilic".
But this one has such a saturated mix of Turkish and Persian elements, that I just do not know how to attribute it.
This is not the first one I see, and the question pops up every time.

27th September 2009, 03:35 PM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Turkish or Persian? I took as an example a wonderful sword just sold by Oriental-Arms. http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=3785 The blade is of a Persian shamshir, but the handle is of typical Ottoman " bulbous" form, and the crossguard has long Ottoman quillons. The scabbard is also of Persian pattern ( no wire stitching) as well as the suspension rings ( oval and integral with the fitting, rather than free rings, customary to the Ottoman pattern). So, the question: is it Ottoman or Persian? Turks used shamshir blades on their swords and called them " Adjemi Kilic". But this one has such a saturated mix of Turkish and Persian elements, that I just do not know how to attribute it. This is not the first one I see, and the question pops up every time.