Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > Ethnographic Weapons
FAQ Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 6th November 2022, 12:57 PM   #1
GePi
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Germany
Posts: 95
Default Pichaq w. etched inscription - Translation request

Hello,

I would like to present a central asian knife of the latter 19th century. It has white metal mounts in the typical style decorated with parcel gilding and niello and of course a band of inlaid turqoise. Length 31 cm, blade length 20 cm.

What I have not seen on arms of that region before, unlike for example on Afghan, Indian or Sudenese Arms, is an inscription shallowly etched into the wootz steel blade.

It is quite faint, probably having been repolished and re-etched more than once in its life, and extremely hard to photograph especially the latter part. I still hope someone like kwiatek might be able to shed some light on the contents.
For what it's worth I believe the first word to be کارد i.e. 'kard' and the date ۱۲۸۲ as an al hijra date corresponding to 1865-66 which would be plausible.

Thanks for looking
Attached Images
        
GePi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 6th November 2022, 07:08 PM   #2
Drabant1701
Member
 
Drabant1701's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Sweden
Posts: 181
Default

A very beautiful and rare dagger. I cant remember ever seeing a wootz blade etched with letters like that, pretty neat that you can see the wootz inside the letters.
Thank for sharing this!
Drabant1701 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 7th November 2022, 03:40 AM   #3
Battara
EAAF Staff
 
Battara's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 7,219
Default

The turquoise and overall shape reminds me of Bukharan work.
Battara is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 7th November 2022, 09:15 AM   #4
mahratt
Member
 
mahratt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Russia
Posts: 1,042
Default

Congratulations! Beautiful pichak from Kokand.
mahratt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 8th November 2022, 02:14 AM   #5
ariel
Member
 
ariel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 5,503
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by mahratt View Post
Congratulations! Beautiful pichak from Kokand.
Why specifically Kokand?
ariel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 9th November 2022, 05:56 AM   #6
ariel
Member
 
ariel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 5,503
Default

BTW, I read the date as 1292 H, i.e. 1875-6 Gregorian
ariel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 9th November 2022, 06:58 PM   #7
GePi
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Germany
Posts: 95
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ariel View Post
BTW, I read the date as 1292 H, i.e. 1875-6 Gregorian
That is also a plausible reading and would explain the little squiggle connecting the lines. It does not look quite right for either number. Luckily it makes not much of a difference in date.
GePi is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:41 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.