Dashna - khevsurian short sword

[Kiziria]

Links to English translations of articles written by me or my friends and colleagues, Georgian scholars and ethnographers and previously published only in Georgian or Russian will be posted here. For those that are interested in ethnographical studies of arms and armor of Georgian regions. This first link is to paper on Dashna – khevsurian short sword. Incomplete, smaller version of this article was recently printed in Russian in Ukrainian Almanac # 5-6 of “ History of arms”.
There are few translation processes in progress, so more English versions are to come.
Next link will be to paper on Khevsurian combat rings by another author - N.Abazadze.

And without farther delay, first link :

http://www.academia.edu/1917231/Khevsuruli_dashna

[Sajen]

Not the area of my collecting but thank you very much for this great and informative link!

Regards,

Detlef

[machinist]

This is a very interesting article. After seeing pictures of Khevsur warriors wearing their mail and armed to the teeth I have wanted to learn more but information is hard to find. One question I have is, what are battle rings? Edit; After rereading the original post I see I will learn about battle rings soon enough


"closely studied the highlanders and left one of the most complete descriptions of Khevsurian weapons,including the rare type of battle rings"

[Battara]

Not bad. Not familiar with this and yet good to know.

Many thanks.

[TVV]

I downloaded and read the article, and liked that it was well written, with multiple notes and sources, and with good illustrations on what was an unknown weapon type to me. Thank you very much for sharing,
Teodor

[Iain]

Thank you for this. Very interesting read.

[Jim McDougall]

Vaho, this article is absolutely superb!!! One of the very first articles I have ever seen on the arms of this fascinating people published in the west in English. As has been noted, this is an area of the collecting and study of historical arms which is as remotely known perhaps as the Khevsurs themselves.
The few references which deal with Khevsur weaponry are typically published in Russian, aside from the very obscure reference by Askhabov "Chechen Weapons", and the important book in French by Iaroslav Lebedynsky on the arms of the Cossacks and Caucasians.

The dashna is most intriguing for me personally as it is a form of Khevsur weapon which seems far less known than the more familiar edged weapons of the Khevsurs such as the 'pranguli' and the kindjhal. What is most interesting is that the dashna is apparantly, as noted, fabricated using blades of these other edged weapons, much in the manner of many dirks and daggers in varying cultural circumstances.

Thank you so very much for posting this wonderful article, and my profound congratulations and admiration for having effectively presenting this facet of the arms of these incredibly fascinating people, the Khevsurs, to the arms collecting community here.

I look forward to the article on the Khevsur battle rings as well, a most esoteric and little known topic. It has always fascinated me that these are so much like the finger rings worn by certain tribes in Africa, literally small razor knives worn mounted as rings for combat slashing.

All the very best,
Jim

[Kiziria]

Dear Jim if this little dashna article at least half that good and useful for our small circle here as warm and enthusiastic reception of it makes me believe than I am content both as author and translator.

[Kiziria]

In effort to bring historical Georgian weapon related papers by Georgian scholars to English reader. Here is a link to the paper on Khevsurian battle rings. Author is my colleague and friend Nikoloz Abazadze. Paper in its English version is slightly shorter than original for now. Here is the link

http://www.academia.edu/2396149/Gadjia_-_weapon_of_man

[machinist]

That was a very informative read on a rare subject, Thank you for showing it to us and your friend for writing it. I have a special interest in things like Brass Knuckles and Bagh Nakh so learning about these rings is very nice.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Kiziria

Links to English translations of articles written by me or my friends and colleagues, Georgian scholars and ethnographers and previously published only in Georgian or Russian will be posted here. For those that are interested in ethnographical studies of arms and armor of Georgian regions. This first link is to paper on Dashna – khevsurian short sword. Incomplete, smaller version of this article was recently printed in Russian in Ukrainian Almanac # 5-6 of “ History of arms”.
There are few translation processes in progress, so more English versions are to come.
Next link will be to paper on Khevsurian combat rings by another author - N.Abazadze.

And without farther delay, first link :

http://www.academia.edu/1917231/Khevsuruli_dashna

Salaams Kiziria~ Here is a rendition of the Arab Historian you mentioned..taken directly from the web at http://wzzz.tripod.com/MASUDI.html for inclusion to forum library resources..
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Notes;
ABUL HASAN ALI AL-MASU'DI
(DIED 957 A.D.)
Abul Hasan Ali Ibn Husain Ibn Ali Al-Masu'di was a descen- dant of Abdallah Ibn Masu'd, a companion of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). An expert geographer, a physicist and historian, Masu'di was born in the last decade of the 9th century A.D., his exact date of birth being unknown. He was a Mutazilite Arab, who explored distant lands and died at Cairo, in 957 A.D.

He travelled to Fars in 915 A.D. and, after staying for one year in Istikhar, he proceeded via Baghdad to India, where he visited Multan and Mansoora before returning to Fars. From there he travelled to Kirman and then again to India. Mansoora in those days was a city of great renown and was the capital of the Muslim state of Sind. Around it, there were many settlements/townships of new converts to Islam. In 918 A.D., Masu'di travelled to Gujrat, where more than 10,000 Arab Muslims had settled in the sea-port of Chamoor. He also travelled to Deccan, Ceylon, Indo-China and China, and proceeded via Madagascar, Zanjibar and Oman to Basra.

At Basra he completed his book Muruj-al-Thahab, in which he has described in a most absorbing manner his experience of various countries, peoples and climates. He gives accounts of his personal contacts with the Jews, Iranians, Indians and Christians. From Basra he moved to Syria and from there to Cairo, where he wrote his second extensive book Muruj al-Zaman in thirty volumes. In this book he has described in detail the geography and history of the countries that he had visited. His first book was completed in 947 A.D. He also prepared a supplement, called Kitab al-Ausat, in which he has compiled historical events chronologically. In 957 A.D., the year of his death, he completed his last book Kitab al-Tanbih wa al-Ishraf, in which he has given a summary of his earlier book as well as an errata.

Masu'di is referred to as the Herodotus and Pliny of the Arabs. By presenting a critical account of historical events, he initiated a change in the art of historical writing, introducing the elements of analysis, reflection and criticism, which was later on further improved by Ibn Khaldun. In particular, in al-Tanbeeh he makes a systematic study of history against a perspective of geography, sociology, anthropology and ecology. Masu'di had a deep insight into the causes of rise and fall of nations.

With his scientific and analytical approach he has given an account of the causes of the earthquake of 955 A.D., as well as the discussions of the water of the Red Sea and other problems in the earth sciences. He is the first author to make mention of windmills, which were invented by the Muslims of Sijistan.

Masu'di also made important contributions to music and other fields of science. In his book Muruj al-Thahab he provides important information on early Arab music as well as music of other countries.

His book Muruj al-Thahab wa al-Ma'adin al-Jawahir (Meadows of Gold and Mines of Precious Stones) has been held as 'remarkable' because of the 'catholicity of its author, who neglected no source of information and of his truly scientific curiosity'. As mentioned above, it was followed by his treatise Muruj al-Zaman. In addition to writing a supplement Kitab al-Ausat, he completed Kitab al-Tanbih wa al-Ishraf towards the end of his career. It is, however, unfortunate that, out of his 34 books as mentioned by himself in Al-Tanbih, only three have survived, in addition to Al-Tanbih itself.

Some doubts have been expressed about some claims related to his extensive travelling e.g., upto China and Madagascar, but the correct situation cannot be assessed due to the loss of his several books. Whatever he has recorded was with a scientific approach and constituted an important contribution to geography, history and earth sciences. It is interesting to note that he was one of the early scientists who propounded several aspects of evolution viz., from minerals to plant, plant to animal and animal to man. His researches and views extensively influenced the sciences of historiography, geography and earth sciences for several countries.

[Kiziria]

Shokran Ibrahim!

[Kiziria]

https://www.academia.edu/14723908/SW..._EDGED_WEAPONS

[ariel]

Vakhtang,
How about 2 papers that are listed on the site but not uploaded yet: about Laz bichqas and about eared handles on yataghans, shashkas and Laz bichaqs?

[Kiziria]

Dear Ariel, unfortunately those wont be available for a while. Few articles I had to remove sometime ago until the dispute about use of materials acquired in joined expedition will be resolved. I am not happy about it but out of respect to my friend and colleague I went to meet his unreasonable in my opinion demands. In worst case scenario I will just rewrite the entire paper on Laz bichaq or Did khami as laz call it. It will be however smaller and without major chunk of previous photo materials.
May be I should remove the titles from the site in order to avoid confusion ? Thank you for reminding me.

Best,
VK

[ariel]

I understand.
Hope the dispute will be resolved to mutual satisfaction.
All the best.