An Overview on The Modern Arabian Saif

[A.alnakkas]

Hello all,

I have been planning to write about this subject for a while and finally had an opening to do so.

Here in the gulf, the tradition of the sword is still alive through the ardha and special occasions. New swords, old ones and heirlooms are still brought out of their protective boxes to adorn their wielders in weddings, dances and national days.

I have had the pleasure since 2012 to befriend some of the sword makers/restorers from Qatar and Bahrain and get to handle some of their works and even own some of it. They have kept the tradition alive but also introduced new concepts, styles and new material to the tradition which made the usual Arabian sword decorated with the agrab and usual pattern evolve into variant types that contain both old and new designs. Some designs were even adopted from different cultures and absorbed into the modern Arab sword which spawned some interesting new swords.

Yet even though new designs are being made, the old Arabian style is still preferred. Many maintain the heirlooms left to them by their father's and grandfathers, restoring simple bits here and there (mainly leather and worn out ivory/bone hilt slabs) while maintaining the overall silver/gold scabbard mounts.

There is a large demand for swords; this meant that not all swords will have old blades (the most favoured is wootz which is expensive) so the sword makers now use modern steel blades of different quality, ranging from stainless to high carbon steel. The least favoured is pattern welded swords which are often seen as imitation of wootz even though some are quite well made and old. Wootz is preferred for its aesthetic value and as status swords. Some would even own two or more swords, the wootz ones will be for dress only and a modern made blade will be for ardha. The reason for this being that they finally realized that bashing wootz swords is not a good idea, these swords arent really mythical :-)

To explain more, I spoke before about a game named Mhayal often done in Ardha (especially in Bahrain and Qatar) where two dancers engage in mock combat. In the past, the duellers would rely on dodges only without blocking and parrying with the swords but the new generation doesnt do that and often they would use their precious wootz swords to parry a strike and that leads to unnecessary damage. To counter this, the sword makers now make well made, balanced high carbon steel swords that can take some heavy beating. Another solution that more experienced collectors in Qatar and Bahrain do is to use military blades from Old European swords. These are far more strong in absorbing strikes.

There is alot I want to share but it needs alot more than this post. Its a research I hope to conclude whenever I can and publish. But for now, I'll show some samples of the modern Arabian saif (the swords in the pictures are all Qatari made)

[A.alnakkas]

The two swords shown are of the mediocre quality. the white one has mounts made of gold plated bronze and the brown one is gold plated aluminium.

Both blades are high carbon, balanced and VERY light.

[A.alnakkas]

This sword is mine. The mounts are made of 989 silver in traditional style. All hand made.

The blade is an old Persian wootz blade that came with no mounts :-)

[A.alnakkas]

Cant post a wootz sword without showing the pattern! (I kept the patina, didnt etch the blade)

[Battara]

Good to know that the traditions are alive and well over there.

Thanks for posting these!

[Iain]

Great post! Regarding the newly made blades, are the forged locally? Made from available steel scrap and heat treated? Or imported from another region like India?

From an outside perspective it seems like these swords are often remounted, which can be frustrating for the collector who might like to acquire one with mounts the same age as the blade. Are any parts of the mounts typically recycled? Perhaps guards?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as you continue to share information on the topic!

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Iain

Great post! Regarding the newly made blades, are the forged locally? Made from available steel scrap and heat treated? Or imported from another region like India?

From an outside perspective it seems like these swords are often remounted, which can be frustrating for the collector who might like to acquire one with mounts the same age as the blade. Are any parts of the mounts typically recycled? Perhaps guards?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as you continue to share information on the topic!

Hey Iain,

The blades come from many sources but a good number of swords coming out of Bahrain (mainly) are locally made with professional skill. Other blades like pattern welded ones are imported from India, mainly to Qatar as Bahrainis make their own pattern welded blades. A swordmaker in Qatar works with Syrian bladesmiths who moved to Lebanon due to the war. Also heard of blades coming from Brazil but often seen as very poor quality.

The swordmakers also do restorations and often they perserve the old parts depending on the order of the customer. Although I find some of their restorations to be way too invading as some simply do not have a concept or understanding on perserving old items.

There are some occasion where wootz quillons and scabbard mounts are perserved but generally they would be cleaned, etched and put on scabbards that are made to look like the old ones.

[Richard G]

Thank you for these pictures,
To be honest, if it were not for the provenance, I would have suspected the first two swords of being chinese versions of a Gulf saif. I am sure you will disagree with me but, it seems almost as if the originator is now imitating the imitator!.
Regards
Richard

[Sancar]

Does any of Arabian swordmakers work with crucible steel in the region? Does anyone try to make crucşble steel or at least forge it into blades?

[Iain]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Hey Iain,

The blades come from many sources but a good number of swords coming out of Bahrain (mainly) are locally made with professional skill. Other blades like pattern welded ones are imported from India, mainly to Qatar as Bahrainis make their own pattern welded blades. A swordmaker in Qatar works with Syrian bladesmiths who moved to Lebanon due to the war. Also heard of blades coming from Brazil but often seen as very poor quality.

I'm mainly interested in the techniques used, stock removal or actual forging?

The swordmakers also do restorations and often they perserve the old parts depending on the order of the customer. Although I find some of their restorations to be way too invading as some simply do not have a concept or understanding on perserving old items.

There are some occasion where wootz quillons and scabbard mounts are perserved but generally they would be cleaned, etched and put on scabbards that are made to look like the old ones.

Good to hear some parts are preserved, I have to admit I find the tendency to put entirely new fittings on old blades a bit off putting. I would have imagined (perhaps in ignorance) that it would be possible to simply replace the perishable organic elements such as leather and wood, while preserving all the original steel or precious metal elements.

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Sancar

Does any of Arabian swordmakers work with crucible steel in the region? Does anyone try to make crucşble steel or at least forge it into blades?

There is some info going around that a Bahraini blade smith makes wootz. I saw some picts, it looks similar abit to crystalline wootz.

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Richard G

Thank you for these pictures,
To be honest, if it were not for the provenance, I would have suspected the first two swords of being chinese versions of a Gulf saif. I am sure you will disagree with me but, it seems almost as if the originator is now imitating the imitator!.
Regards
Richard

that is very true, Richard! these are mediocre quality swords, their better ones look much better and I will make a publication about it very soon. They copy Chinese, Indian and even Russian concepts in their decoration and you see some interesting results (some is just too gaudy though)

Lotfy

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Iain

I'm mainly interested in the techniques used, stock removal or actual forging?



Good to hear some parts are preserved, I have to admit I find the tendency to put entirely new fittings on old blades a bit off putting. I would have imagined (perhaps in ignorance) that it would be possible to simply replace the perishable organic elements such as leather and wood, while preserving all the original steel or precious metal elements.

Hey Iain,

Both exist. The more mass produced swords are stock removal but some are forged sometimes to customers specification.

As for putting new mounts on old blades... you will get depressed if you see what happens down there. I saw some gorgeous swords, in completely good mounts that are removed and redressed. At first this upsets me alot, but then I thought that its simply a continuation of an old tradition. Blades unlike other parts of the sword, are prestigious and treasured... and often seen as the most important part.

[Iain]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Hey Iain,

Both exist. The more mass produced swords are stock removal but some are forged sometimes to customers specification.

As for putting new mounts on old blades... you will get depressed if you see what happens down there. I saw some gorgeous swords, in completely good mounts that are removed and redressed. At first this upsets me alot, but then I thought that its simply a continuation of an old tradition. Blades unlike other parts of the sword, are prestigious and treasured... and often seen as the most important part.

I understand the tradition aspect, what pains me a bit is the obvious drop in quality, with good, if a bit tattered older elements being changed out for flashy, but lower quality new pieces. Still, it's good the culture of swords survives.

Also good to hear a few legitimate smiths survive. Are there any "castes" or societal factors around who does this kind of work?

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Iain

I understand the tradition aspect, what pains me a bit is the obvious drop in quality, with good, if a bit tattered older elements being changed out for flashy, but lower quality new pieces. Still, it's good the culture of swords survives.

Also good to hear a few legitimate smiths survive. Are there any "castes" or societal factors around who does this kind of work?

Good question, Iain. Sorry for the late reply, you know how distracted I am lately.

Well, I noticed that in both Bahrain and Qatar, the oldest and most well known smiths and swordmakers are Shiite, who are generally not members of tribes. Although they arent treated differently, hopefully :-)

[Iain]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Good question, Iain. Sorry for the late reply, you know how distracted I am lately.

Well, I noticed that in both Bahrain and Qatar, the oldest and most well known smiths and swordmakers are Shiite, who are generally not members of tribes. Although they arent treated differently, hopefully :-)

Interesting, does this have anything to do with the large blade industry and many imports from Persia historically?

[Sancar]

Given the Arab world is one of the very few places on earth that blades are still commonly worn as a part of the daily costume, I find it very interesting that quality and tradition of swordmaking did not continue to carry on as strongly as it was in the 18-19th centuries. Logically, it should have been the only safe haven for this art to survive as it is.

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Sancar

Given the Arab world is one of the very few places on earth that blades are still commonly worn as a part of the daily costume, I find it very interesting that quality and tradition of swordmaking did not continue to carry on as strongly as it was in the 18-19th centuries. Logically, it should have been the only safe haven for this art to survive as it is.

Hey Sancar,

It is true that there is a decline in quality, but some very fine items are still being made in KSA and other countries. Sadly, I couldnt afford to have one made for me!