Knife/dagger identification problem

[gp]

Originally Posted by ariel

The clasp knife is a classical Ваlkan example: short and wide blade with a pronounced clip point. There are many identical examples shown in Tarik Gozo’s book “ Balkan Arms”. The exaggerated clip point is likely a purely technical feature to fit the wide blade into the curved handle: otherwise the blade would massively protrude and make the overall contour uncomfortable. The only example of a similar blade I know is the so-called Malappuram Katti from Kerala: but that area in India was heavily influenced by Arabs and Turks.

But what is really interesting is the blades of the non-clasp variety. They are identical to the panoply of Central Asian P’chaks , commonly known as “Bukhara” or “Uzbek” knives: among the shown examples we see Tugri ( point at the level of the spine), Kaike ( point raised above the spine) and Kazakhcha ( narrow blade with a short clip point). It makes me wonder whether both Balkan and “Uzbek” knives are renditions of ancient Turkic knives retaining their shapes in both localities for the past half-millenium.

update / follow up:

just bought one of the non-clasp / straight variety ones (together with a clasp one) in Hercegovina where they are sometimes found & offered for sale and it looks very similar to both shown ones at the top and by Detlef's link. It is a typical knife known and used in the past there, confirmed by the local folks.

With the interaction in the Ottoman times it could well be some kind of exchange took or could have taken place between regions perhaps.
Unfortunately a lot is written about big fancy swords and daggers but hardly anything on this smaller knives

[werecow]

Is that a regulation size cat?

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by werecow

Is that a regulation size cat?

There is no such thing as a regulation size cat, they vary dimensionally, but not mentally. They ALL love boxes, and will push things off shelves, counter tops, cliffs, edges in general.

They all will quite happily live with humans, and even love and protect their own human pride members. But they remain cats. Obligate Carnivores. As long as you feed them and respect their personal space, you are relatively safe.

Just remember that if they get hungry, you are ultimately their mobile food store. They always have a plan in the back of their heads on how to kill and eat you. Remember, the cat is ultimately in charge, not you. You are its servant.

[gp]

Originally Posted by werecow

Is that a regulation size cat?

which one are you refering to ?
the one in the left picture or the kitten in the right...?

[gp]

also 2 different ones I bought some time ago in the Balkans

[gp]

just got a 3rd one; a small Bosnian knife or little dagger.
Some call it kama, other cakija others again noz...
Depends whom you are talking to and where.
It is # 3 on the pics.

Nevertheless sharp they are and deadly as well.
Nicely decorated with similar paterns on the blade, small curved lines and dots ( triangle and circular)

First one with a scabbard although nothing fanciful like the bicaks who have wooden scabberds with copper decorated overlay.
Only metal left; could well be that either cloth or leather did cover it at some time , which has gone or deteriorated through the times.

Timewise diffecult to determine; could be anything from 1860ies to 1930ies.
Handle or grip is bone, decorated with colored circular signs ( not as nice as the bichaqs which have inlays) , one without quillion and two with.
One without a rear bolster / pommel and two with

[OsobistGB]

There is not a single Bosnian knife in the photograph shown.They are characteristic of the region of Θεσσαλονίκη/Thessaloniki/Солун located on the territory of present-day Greece.There, the ethnic composition of the population is so diverse that there is no way to define exactly which ethnic area the knives belong to

[gp]

Originally Posted by OsobistGB

There is not a single Bosnian knife in the photograph shown.They are characteristic of the region of Θεσσαλονίκη/Thessaloniki/Солун located on the territory of present-day Greece.There, the ethnic composition of the population is so diverse that there is no way to define exactly which ethnic area the knives belong to

Interesting….you say first it is not Bosnian and later you say you can not define….

Either a woman is pregnant or not, but there does not exist something like a little pregnant…(defining it to yet a region….)

Nevertheless….I bought 2 out of 3 in Herzegovina…which is part of Bosnia now and in the past since the Kingdom of Tvurtko.

Than again a lot of folks from different etnicities lived in Bosnia and Hercegovina: Vlachs, Montenegrins, Serbian, Croation, Bosnian, Turkish, Albanian, Greek, Roma, Sephardic Jewish….hence many influences did enter, were taken over into different ways of live.
In a multicultural society like the Ottoman Balkans was, one must be careful to make such firm statements….


When you mention characteristics, mention them specifically and in detail, but I can assure you that there are also Austrian books on the Balkans from 1880 which mention characteristics dedicated to (perhaps) others….

Solun was not Greek but Macedonian with a first in the Balkans very heavy Sephardic population, which spread later to other countries an regions like Serbia, Dalmatia, BiH and so on …..

I can only claim where I did buy the knife…