Russian Shashka

Marcus · 17th July 2017, 01:09 PM

Dear Ariel,
Thanks for the great information. Also, I have been meaning to thank you for recommending Sabres of Paradise. I found it both edifying and engaging. I have a friend who now lives in Tbilisi. I hope to visit him there and if possible, get to see Dagestan.
What model preceded the Pattern 1881? Also, is it correct that this sword would have been a private purchase not an issued sword?
Marcus

ariel · 17th July 2017, 08:59 PM

I looked in the Frolov' s book about weapons of Kuban Cossacks: they ordered shashkas from different sources, but I could not find Shaf among them. Beyond that I do not know. There are Russian collectors who know history of military shashkas up to and including the number of rivets on the scabbard:-), but I am not one of them. My guess is that Shaf mainly made private purchase items, but I may be wrong.

As to the patterns, it depends on your definition of the Shashka. A dragoon lower rank saber with a D guard is officially listed as Shashka in Russian literature.

The first guard-less military Shashka was "lower ranks, Asian design, Pattern 1834". Its officer version differed only in non- standard decorations.

The next one was Pattern 1838, then lower ranks artillery 1868, after which came the " Cossack 1881", after which we have Pattern 1904.
Sounds confusing? No worry, the main difference was the configuration of the bronze parts of the handle, only the 1904 had either metal or horn handles faithfully reproducing the original Circassian/ Daghestani configuration.

Otherwise, all of them are typical clumsy chunks of steel. Russians never had their own tradition of bladed weapons: it was always imitation of somebody else's patterns: first Vikings, then Tatars, then Turks or Poles, then (with Peter I) European with the German decoration technique, then during 50 years of Caucasian War they adopted Shashkas, Kindjals and Caucasian dress to the point that their Tsars posed for their official portraits dressed like Caucasian mountaineers.

Currently, there is even a streak among Russian weapon lovers: According to them, Cossacks were the original inhabitants of the Caucasus, they invented everything, and the "so-called Circassians" just adopted ( stole, in fact) all the important military Cossack traditions. Orwell is just an amateur comparing to them:-)

Oliver Pinchot · 17th July 2017, 11:23 PM

In German it was spelled Schaff

batjka · 18th July 2017, 12:52 AM

Thank you for correcting me. I did read the last letter as "e". Very interesting. And I do agree with the analysis of Russian bladed weaponry.

Marcus · 18th July 2017, 06:13 PM

Is this a Model 1881 Cavalry Sword?

17th July 2017, 01:09 PM	#1
Marcus Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 420	thanks Dear Ariel, Thanks for the great information. Also, I have been meaning to thank you for recommending Sabres of Paradise. I found it both edifying and engaging. I have a friend who now lives in Tbilisi. I hope to visit him there and if possible, get to see Dagestan. What model preceded the Pattern 1881? Also, is it correct that this sword would have been a private purchase not an issued sword? Marcus

18th July 2017, 06:13 PM	#5
Marcus Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 420	Is this a Model 1881 Cavalry Sword? Attached Images

17th July 2017, 08:59 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I looked in the Frolov' s book about weapons of Kuban Cossacks: they ordered shashkas from different sources, but I could not find Shaf among them. Beyond that I do not know. There are Russian collectors who know history of military shashkas up to and including the number of rivets on the scabbard:-), but I am not one of them. My guess is that Shaf mainly made private purchase items, but I may be wrong. As to the patterns, it depends on your definition of the Shashka. A dragoon lower rank saber with a D guard is officially listed as Shashka in Russian literature. The first guard-less military Shashka was "lower ranks, Asian design, Pattern 1834". Its officer version differed only in non- standard decorations. The next one was Pattern 1838, then lower ranks artillery 1868, after which came the " Cossack 1881", after which we have Pattern 1904. Sounds confusing? No worry, the main difference was the configuration of the bronze parts of the handle, only the 1904 had either metal or horn handles faithfully reproducing the original Circassian/ Daghestani configuration. Otherwise, all of them are typical clumsy chunks of steel. Russians never had their own tradition of bladed weapons: it was always imitation of somebody else's patterns: first Vikings, then Tatars, then Turks or Poles, then (with Peter I) European with the German decoration technique, then during 50 years of Caucasian War they adopted Shashkas, Kindjals and Caucasian dress to the point that their Tsars posed for their official portraits dressed like Caucasian mountaineers. Currently, there is even a streak among Russian weapon lovers: According to them, Cossacks were the original inhabitants of the Caucasus, they invented everything, and the "so-called Circassians" just adopted ( stole, in fact) all the important military Cossack traditions. Orwell is just an amateur comparing to them:-)

17th July 2017, 11:23 PM	#3
Oliver Pinchot Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 460	In German it was spelled Schaff

18th July 2017, 12:52 AM	#4
batjka Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 39	Thank you for correcting me. I did read the last letter as "e". Very interesting. And I do agree with the analysis of Russian bladed weaponry.