Afghan Shashkas

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by ariel

You are all correct, of course, to note the more ancient penetrations of Caucasian weapon traditions into Central Asia. The old Uzbeki swords are very reminescent of Shashkas, but there is a crucial difference: the "eared" pommels appear later in the development. This was, most likely, the most direct influence of the Caucasian Shashka (in it's Russian Imperial Cossack mutation) on the Central Asian swords. That's what I was talking about and these are the examples I showed. Lebedynsky calls them Pseudo-shashkas not for nothing!
I would love to get my hands on a really old Uzbeki sword, both in it's Shamshir and Shashka -like varieties, but to call them rare would be an understatement of the century: most were destroyed by the Russians when they occupied Central Asia first in the 1860-70s and when they suppressed the nationalist Basmach movement in the 1920s.

hi , there was actualy an uzbek site that pictured many old uzbek weaponry,, i think it was some form of government site,,
it had some pictures of uzbek amour and swords, including several older shashkas,,
some rather broad and curved in the blade, almost like some of the mongol and tarta swords,,
handles lookde as wood or horn, riveted,,
actualy in centeral asia these tiems are not that uncommon , , just hard to find , there is not much antiques bussiness in these areas , some amny times these items are kept in peopels homes, and many times not properly cared for,, or they are in huge state stokpiles of museam articles,,
ive seen some uzbek sheilds and lances for sale,, looked as greek style almost,, round and painted with emblems,, nicely made,, and good condition for there age,, which makes suspect theft form a museam ...