Kindjals, Quamas and Quaddaras

[arsendaday]

Originally Posted by Miguel

1-When is a kindjal a Quama or Quaddara or vice versa ?
2- How can you tell the country of origin ?
3- Why do some blades have a flat diamond section devoid of fillers while, what appears to be the majority, have a deep central fuller on both sides ?

1- A Kindjal (i.e Russian name for daggers) is a qama (kghama to be exact) when it is in Georgia or Chercassia, kindjal in Russia and Russian speaking countires, khanchal in Armenia. Qaddara on the other hand is not a kindjal at all. It is a single edged, longer weapon, native to modern day Iran, originating from Isfahan.

2- Country of origin - I think even the God is confused about this by now. But on a more serious note sometimes, especially in the later examples there are silver probes that point to the city of manufacture (at least of the silver parts).

3- This one I know for sure. The "diamond section devoid of fillers" (it is fullers BTW not fillers) is done when the kindjal is believed to be used a lot in the battles and the wielder is a strong, big guy, who doesn't care about the weight of the kindjal. This is also the original design of the kindjals. The whole purpose of the fullers is to make the kindjal lighter (or any other bladed weapon for that matter). The "battle" kindjals have one fuller on each side of the blade which are off centered, because this way you can make them really deep, i.e. the blade will be much lighter, without compromising the structural integrity of the dagger. (a very smart move on part of Caucasians I think) There are a lot of kindjals that have two, three or four fullers on each side of the blade (I have even seen five fuller-ed kindjal. It is very rear and unusual, but nevertheless very beautiful). Most of these are not intended for battle (even though they can definitely be used in one if the need arises) and are showpieces and were more expensive to make, intended to show the social standing of the owner. The blades of these kindjals were usually inscribed with silver or gold and damascened and/or etched with elaborate figures and designs. The handles and scabbards were usually made partially or entirely from silver (rarely from gold) incorporating ivory, precious stones and enamel.

Sometimes a kindjal would take months to be completed and there where entire villages that were completely involved in just making kindjals, or even parts of kindjals. Starting at the age of 8 - 10 a Caucasian was never without his kindjal, not even at home or while visiting friends or family. Everyone was able to use a kindjal in the battle and they were really good at it too. At night the kindjal was placed within the reach. And most of the times they were family heirlooms, passing from one generation to the next and so on. At some point in history of the Caucasus, as a result of rebellions and revolts, most of the kindjals were confiscated and/or destroyed by the Czarist Russian first, and then the Soviet governments. The very little that was left was hidden away and most of those were forgotten and lost and the rest got ruined, because of the lack of care and poor/moist weather conditions. That is one of the reasons that there are almost no early examples left (earlier than 18th century at least).

So as you can see now, you have very precious and really beautiful pieces of history and it is no surprise (at least to me ) that you are curious to find out as much as you can about these beauties.

The photo is of a finely made early 19th century Armenian Khanchal (kindjal).