Afghan shashkas

ariel · 7th December 2019, 02:35 AM

Yes, Shia.
My guess , this pseudo-shashka was not made in Afghanistan by the local Shia, Hazara or Quizilbash. Afghani-made weapons are usually simple and pretty crude.
I would guess it came from Iran, where there are significant diasporas of both tribes.
Shia Muslims were persecuted in Afghanistan and emigrated in droves. Just to mention wholesale slaughter and displacement of Hazaras by Abdurrahman in the early 1890s: it is claimed that fully half of their population were killed by government forces.
In Iran they settled in Khorasan, a famed arms- manufacturing province. That might explain the sophistication of that sword.

7th December 2019, 02:35 AM	#29
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Yes, Shia. My guess , this pseudo-shashka was not made in Afghanistan by the local Shia, Hazara or Quizilbash. Afghani-made weapons are usually simple and pretty crude. I would guess it came from Iran, where there are significant diasporas of both tribes. Shia Muslims were persecuted in Afghanistan and emigrated in droves. Just to mention wholesale slaughter and displacement of Hazaras by Abdurrahman in the early 1890s: it is claimed that fully half of their population were killed by government forces. In Iran they settled in Khorasan, a famed arms- manufacturing province. That might explain the sophistication of that sword.