Caucasian daggers.

The Caucasian weapon with a short blade is the dagger. Archaeological material throughout the Caucasus yields daggers with a straight blade sharpened on both sides, with a straight hilt ending in a cap. They were used both as a weapon and as a household item, for various household needs – chopping brushwood, etc. In Dagestan, Adygea, Ossetia, Chechnya and Kabarda, daggers were worn by men from adolescence onwards.

That is why in the second half of the 19th century daggers were produced much more than other types of edged weapons: after the end of the Caucasian War, only those Caucasians who went to serve in the Russian army were supposed to have sabers and draughtsmen; everyone had daggers by custom. Naturally, there are much more daggers than other weapons in museum collections. Caucasian daggers had their own characteristic features. Their blade is straight, double-bladed, and its surface is divided by lobes, the number of which varied from one to four. The lobes not only reduced the weight of the blade and increased its strength, but also made it decorative. The most common blade in the Caucasus had one deep, off-center lobes on each side.

Although blades of the same shape came from different regions of the Caucasus, it is possible to establish the dependence of the blade shape on the area of manufacture by using additional features, i.e. the shape and decoration of the hilt and scabbard. However, it should not be forgotten that one master often made blades of different shapes, probably based on the wishes of the customer. The blade ends with an elongated tetrahedral point and in the section has the shape of a rhombus. This end is adapted for stabbing.

The largest blades, 45-55 cm long and 4.5-5 cm wide, are characteristic of Dagestan and Armenia; medium-sized blades, 33-35 cm long and 3-3.2 cm wide, are more typical of the northern Caucasus and Georgia. Small-sized blades, 25-30 cm long and 3 cm wide, are more typical of Novocherkassk. Many blades have inscriptions containing the names of masters, owners, date of manufacture, stamps, sometimes some sayings. These inscriptions, as well as the decoration of the blades, help to determine the place of their production.

The handles of daggers are straight, square or rectangular in cross-section. The base of the hilt is the same width as the blade, while the head is small and has the shape of a cap. The shape of the head may indicate the locality and time of the dagger’s manufacture. The hilt was made of different materials – bone, horn, iron, silver. Metal handles are a case; horn and bone handles were made in one piece or composite. One-piece ones were put on a conical shank and fastened with it; compound ones repeated the shape of the shank and were tightly pressed to it from both sides by means of iron rivets with silver caps convex from the front side. The shape of the rivets may help to determine where the dagger was made. Two high rivets are more typical of the North Caucasus and Dagestan, while three, the middle one being flatter, are more typical of the Transcaucasus.

There were two types of scabbards. The most common were scabbards made of two wooden boards covered with black leather. On the left side, a hollow was carved in the wood, over which a pocket was formed from the leather. This is the socket for the sheath knife. The device of the scabbard – mouth and tip – was made of iron or silver. An iron or silver narrow cage was soldered into the mouth, which had a round hole on the left side for inserting a belt loop. When the mouth was missing, the clip was attached to the scabbard. The tip was placed on the scabbard from above or hidden under the skin, leaving only the ball that ended the tip on the outside.

The metal device was usually decorated: the iron mouth and tip were ornamented with gold or silver notching, the silver ones with engraving and niello.

Another type of scabbard was an iron or silver case with a shell soldered into it; it ended with a tassel or ball. The whole surface of the sheath was decorated with notching or engraving. Along with the features characteristic of all regions of the Caucasus, the daggers have more specific features characteristic of each particular locality.