Ottoman hancer for translation

[mariusgmioc]

Hello,

Here is my friend's hancer/khanjar that I believe to be Ottoman (?).

Any opinions and of course the translation would be welcomed!

Marius

[Peter Andeweg]

An excellent example of a Turkish region Ottoman Khanjar. Dating from the mid 19th century.

[Interested Party]

It's a very well preserved piece.

What features make it Ottoman out side of an inscription in Turkish? Any ideas on a specific region of the empire (or as Peter indicates Anatolia), point of manufacture, or ethnic group? The more I learn the more tenuous my understanding of Ottoman is I'm not questioning the validity of anyone's opinion, just asking questions about the esoteric details of an Ottoman attribution.

The edges don't appear to have been maintained (or damage outside of a couple of small chips to what I believe is the main cutting edge). Were these weapons pure status symbol without martial purpose by the 19th century?

It seems the there is just a hint of the guard and the pommel curving back to the stem of the hilt something I had thought of as a Kurdish influence.

Thanks for any guidance out there.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

What features make it Ottoman out side of an inscription in Turkish? Any ideas on a specific region of the empire (or as Peter indicates Anatolia), point of manufacture, or ethnic group? The more I learn the more tenuous my understanding of Ottoman is I'm not questioning the validity of anyone's opinion, just asking questions about the esoteric details of an Ottoman attribution. Thanks for any guidance out there.

Very legit question! And that's exactly why I put the question mark in my original posting.

And so far we don't even know if the inscription is in Turkish.

The shape of he hilt and blade look very Persian, yet the hilt is somehow different (hard to pinpoint how, but have a look at my poor attempt of a drawing), more like the hilts of some Kurdish daggers.


While the scabbard, which of course can be a latter replacement, is clearly Ottoman because of its style and decorations... in my eyes of course.

[mariusgmioc]

Just a refresh for translation.

[Interested Party]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

Just a refresh for translation.

Am I correct in believing that Kurdish hilts had prongs on the guard and pommel that point towards the hand, and hilts from the area that is now Iraq have a pommel and guard that are very rounded in cross section?

[Battara]

Actually the prongs belong to the Albanians.

Kurds use a form of "I" hilt.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Battara

Actually the prongs belong to the Albanians.

Kurds use a form of "I" hilt.

It appears that hilts with prongs are not characteristic to Albania alone, but more generally to the Ottoman empire (see the link below, to mine that was made in Damascus).

Regarding the Kurdish daggers that I saw, they all have "I" shaped hilts similar to the one in the second drawing, but with oval cross-section instead of round. The dagger here, in the original posting could be Kurdish in my oppinion.


http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25724

[kronckew]

My wootz Kurdish Jambiyah for comparison, I too noted the OP's example as being very Kurdish looking.

[mariusgmioc]

Hello,

Still nobody o help me with translation?!

[Rick]

I too am curious Marius.

[Saracen]

Мне кажется что там нет текста, это имитация

It seems to me that there is no text, this is an imitation

[kwiatek]

I agree, Saracen