Help needed with a Mamluk kilij

spiral · 21st October 2014, 08:48 PM

Roland, I know its hard, but these guys are correct... It
has been faked using an old Indian/Afghani blade.

If you've lost money Id try for redress against the devious sellers as soon as possible. if that's not possible then consider it a lesson learned.

Looking for similarities as a beginner doesn't work... look to spot the differences.

Better luck next time.

spiral

Emanuel · 21st October 2014, 09:51 PM

Hello,

Starting this summer I noticed a seller on ebay listing a lot of apparently very nice sabres with wootz blade and karabela-type hilt.

While the wootz blades looked very good, the overall assembly looked odd. In addition, I have not seen too many legitimetely old karabela sabres with wootz blades.

I am also of the opinion that the above sabre is a marriage of Indian blade with newer hilt and guard.

It IS a nice blade though...

Emanuel

estcrh · 21st October 2014, 10:15 PM

So now that this has been settled, how do you know if a sword is "Mamluk", your talking about a period of hundreds of years which ended in the early 1800s when Mohamed Ali Pasha (the first Khedive of Egypt) wiped them out for the most part.

There must have been many different types of swords used over the hundreds of years that Mamluks existed. Of course the chances of a very old sword suddenly appearing would be quitre slim so what about late period Mamluk swords, is there a definitive style that can be readily identified as being Mamluk or is it all guess work and sales pitch.

I can not remember seing any late period sword labeled as being "Mamluk" that did not turn out to be something else entirely, either European, Ottoman etc. Anyone here have some knowledge of this subject?

Kubur · 21st October 2014, 10:54 PM

For the 19th c. we call Mamluk the copies of Ottoman kilij used by French and British armies, called 'a la mamelouk'...
Or the arms made for the Mamluk troups in Napeoleonic army...
Kubur

21st October 2014, 08:48 PM	#1
spiral Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,712	Roland, I know its hard, but these guys are correct... It has been faked using an old Indian/Afghani blade. If you've lost money Id try for redress against the devious sellers as soon as possible. if that's not possible then consider it a lesson learned. Looking for similarities as a beginner doesn't work... look to spot the differences. Better luck next time. spiral

21st October 2014, 09:51 PM	#2
Emanuel Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,242	Hello, Starting this summer I noticed a seller on ebay listing a lot of apparently very nice sabres with wootz blade and karabela-type hilt. While the wootz blades looked very good, the overall assembly looked odd. In addition, I have not seen too many legitimetely old karabela sabres with wootz blades. I am also of the opinion that the above sabre is a marriage of Indian blade with newer hilt and guard. It IS a nice blade though... Emanuel

21st October 2014, 10:15 PM	#3
estcrh Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: USA Posts: 1,492	So now that this has been settled, how do you know if a sword is "Mamluk", your talking about a period of hundreds of years which ended in the early 1800s when Mohamed Ali Pasha (the first Khedive of Egypt) wiped them out for the most part. There must have been many different types of swords used over the hundreds of years that Mamluks existed. Of course the chances of a very old sword suddenly appearing would be quitre slim so what about late period Mamluk swords, is there a definitive style that can be readily identified as being Mamluk or is it all guess work and sales pitch. I can not remember seing any late period sword labeled as being "Mamluk" that did not turn out to be something else entirely, either European, Ottoman etc. Anyone here have some knowledge of this subject?

21st October 2014, 10:54 PM	#4
Kubur Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 2,145	For the 19th c. we call Mamluk the copies of Ottoman kilij used by French and British armies, called 'a la mamelouk'... Or the arms made for the Mamluk troups in Napeoleonic army... Kubur