Islamic dagger with gold inscription
 

This is a dagger that i have but i have no clue where it is from, and what the inscription is saying. I would be greatfull for any help!

Very nice and unusual dagger. It has a certain Bosnian look. I can read only the date 1299 that is 1882 in Gregorian calentar. What is the material of the hilt? Bone or ivory?

It is ivory, with inserts of small corall pieces and brass nails. Also the green "ring" near the blade in stained green ivory. I bought it under the description "arab dagger", but it is true that the brass dots remid me bosnia. Not the scabbard thought.

Yeah, I'm thinking Bosnian as well. Shame I can't read Arabic.

Usmanli Inscription?
 

Gentlemen,

After looking through the inscription, I've ruled out Arabic. I've attempted a reading but since the Arabic alphabet makes do with very little vowels, the actual pronunciation might be distorted. Hope someone with a knowledge of Turkish or Balkan languages can take it from here:

'Aqladan harsako yardawud foce Mustafa lataik sanat 1299'

At least we've identified the name Mustafa (who could either be the craftsman responsible or the owner) and the hegira year of 1299. Someone will have to check the corresponding gregorian year.

best wishes :)

knife is Bosnian, but the scabbard most probably not original.not style of that knife. old but a replacement. perhaps by a bayonet leather? the tip mounting of the scabbard is a bad later repair too. but koftgari on the blade is very beautiful sample. Inscription can be Turkish or one of Bosnian and Albanian languages which has Turkish words in them. One thing is clear . Assuming the wowels are not proper, it writes "Hersek" , Herzegovina was called "Hersek" in Ottoman period. and, "yardavud" could be instead "arnavud" , which means "Albanian". Can be roughly something like "Albanian Mustafa from Herzegovina made(sanat) in 1299".
Raja Muda, did you put the vowels according to the translation or just guessing so?

Perhaps a dumb question, but what does the "end" of the hilt look like?
From the first time I looked at this something about the blade shape, scabbard and "chappe"(?) end piece has been nagging at me.......I think it's a straight bladed variant of a yatagan, which would be entirely appropriate for the area.
Mike

Mike
I have not seen it closely, but I am almost sure that it is not a split pommel if this you mean. I think hilt has this “bird head” end, that is also very common in the area. We dont call it yataghan.

Hi,
I was off-line for a quite long time (and even now I can't lurk here as frequently as I'd like to do it). Nevermind. I agree with Raja Muda that the inscription seems Turkish, but I propose another reading of its initial part:

Akaldan (q=k in Turkish graphy) hersekwind awad (or: od) foche (where "ch" as in "cheese") Mustafa etc.

But, of course, the vowels can be only guessed.

Greetings

Vowels
 

Hi Erlikhan,

Putting in the vowels is part of the guesswork since the Arabic alphabet system is by and large made up of consonants. Each language that adopted the Arabic alphabet had their own way with spelling words, as well as additional consonants to pronounce sounds non-existent in Arabic.
My knowledge is limited to what I know of Arabic as well as old Malay, which uses a similar system. It's good that Kamil has provided an alternative reading so that we can cover all angles of the inscription.

regards

Raja Muda

Yes, I WAS wondering if it had an ottoman style "eared hilt" although there's another similar knife with the "birds head" hilt(very well described, thank you) and not eared that I was told is called a "masume"(sp?) or something similar as this is the name of the Turkish town where they are primarily made, possibly even originated, and the style is highly favored.
I bought an old yatagan and a small version of the other style with a pink dyed ivory hilt about 5 years ago directly from a gentleman in Ismir, who related the history of the name to me.....that's not to say he wasn't pulling a western leg, of course.
Mike

hi Raja Muda.hmm.well, Kamil's readings worked greatly for me before, but this time his version didn't mean anything understandable to me . Yours sounds much familiar to Turkish or a Balkan language mixed with it and i was hopeful about the translation i made but if you've read it in Malay style and it needs to be different than Ottoman style, then not much I can guess with the existing clues in hand. If not Turkish, it gives a bit feeling like Albanian however.

Hi Erlikhan,
Just some thoughts: there are some problems with this reading:
1. "Sanat" (lit. "sana"), when written under the date, is definitely an Arabic word and means "year"; it cannot be understood as "made";
What about the first word? It can be also "akildan", "aklidan" etc. (ak-l-d-n)
3. the relevant part of the text cannot be "yardavud"; there is written:
h-r-s-k-w-i-n-d-a-w-d-f-w-ch-e(?)
where "w" can be Turkish "o", "u" or "v";
of course this phrase can contain several words, eg:
h-r-s-k-w-i-n-d a-w-d-f-w-ch-e(?)
h-r-s-k-w i-n-d-a-w-d-f-w-ch-e(?)
i-n-d a-w-d f-w ch-e(?)
etc.
maybe it can be Hersekvinde? But I don't know, how the ending -de/-da was written in the Ottoman times and if the name Hersekvin was also used, or Hersek only?
Greetings
Kamil