Weapons among dagestanis, as well as among other mountain peoples, were not only used during military clashes, but also used in everyday life and rituals.
The Dagestani constantly carried weapons. "The waist is stretched with a leather belt with metal jewelry, and the rich and well-to-do with a silver device. In front of the belt hangs a dagger, the rich one set in silver, and the poor one without any frame.
The dagger has never been removed, even at home, having removed the Circassian, the highlander encircles himself with a belt with a dagger over the beshmet. Going on the road, the highlander plugs the pistol from behind the waist and throws a rifle wrapped in a case over his shoulder. The sword does not constitute a need for weapons and is used when going on a campaign, for action against the enemy …
Each ragged highlander, folding his hands crosswise, or taking the handle of a dagger, or leaning on a gun, stood so proudly as if he were the ruler of the universe.
The movements of the highlander are agile and fast, the gait is decisive and firm, pride and self-esteem are visible in everything" (Dubrovin, 544-547).
Weapons are divided into cold, throwing, firearms and protective.
Dagestan sabers
Dagestani cold steel weapons of modern times are represented by sabers, swords, daggers. In addition to archaeological finds, Dagestani sabers have reached us only in the XVIII-XIX centuries.
These sabers have been greatly influenced by Iranian weapons. Often they have Iranian blades or local, made in imitation of them, but a particularly great similarity can be observed in the device of the handle and sheath. To more clearly imagine the Iranian impact, let us turn to the consideration of Iranian sabers of the XVIII – the first half of the XIX centuries.
Most of the blades of Iranian sabers are made of bulat steel with a jet or cranked pattern. Their curvature smoothly begins from the heel and increases sharply at a distance of 1/3 of the length from the tip, however, there are blades and a slight curvature.
The average length of Iranian blades is 76-82 cm, weight – 500 g. The surface of the blade is smooth, the butt does not protrude, the lobes are rare, and the decorations are few. On the blades there are inscriptions in Arabic or Persian containing religious sayings, sometimes the name of the master and the date. Often among the inscriptions there is a square divided into four parts, each of which contains the letters b, d, u, x, the so-called bedukh, or the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, corresponding to the ordinal number of these letters in the Arabic alphabet.
They were given a magical meaning – it was believed that even numbers and their corresponding letters had a beneficial effect on the owner of the blade.
The inscriptions are enclosed in cartouches – or in rectangular, located then across the blade, then at an angle to its sides, or round and oval, the upper part of which is elongated and ends with a flower or bud. Inscriptions and cartouches are made of two types of inlay: gold dot or mortise, with trapezoidal edges, smoothed flush; or a gold surface notch on a scratched background.
The handles, bony or horny, consist of two halves superimposed on the shank and held together by rivets. Cheren, round in cross-section, has the same thickness at the top and bottom.
The head is located perpendicular to the cutting and is an iron cap with four tongues. The crossbill of the handle is iron, with straight long ends ending in round or oval balls.
The sheath is made of two wooden planks covered with black shagreen leather. Mainly near the mouth and clips, they are decorated with convex floral and geometric ornaments, made of thin twine placed under the skin.
The scabbard device, consisting of two iron clips and a tip, is ornamented with a geometric or floral pattern of the same type as on the D-pad, made of gold deep inlay or notch Small oval clips have sockets for portupea. The top of the larger scabbard tip is sometimes hidden under a leather clutch for a more secure fit. These are the typical features of the Iranian sabre.
By design of the main parts, the Dagestan sabre is similar to the Iranian one. Moreover, on Dagestani sabers, real Iranian blades are not uncommon, which were highly valued and almost did not undergo alterations. Sometimes only instead of half-erased Iranian cartouches with inscriptions, inscriptions imitating them, but clearly already of Caucasian origin, appeared, the inlay with gold wire, for example, is made in a different technique – it is convex, and not smoothed flush, like the Iranian one; the shape of the cartouche changes somewhat, and the handwriting of the inscription has a non-Iranian appearance.
Often there are blades that imitate the Iranian ones. In shape, they do not differ from them, but their Caucasian origin gives out the material: they are not made of bulat, but of ordinary steel. Sometimes there are lobes on such blades, which is almost unusual for Iranian blades of this time, but characteristic of Caucasian ones.
Occasionally, sabers have slightly curved blades with lobes, which are more characteristic of checkers. Blades of the Iranian type were produced in the village of Amuzgi and in other villages of Dagestan. The handles of all Dagestani sabers are also close to the Iranian ones. The similarity is expressed in the perpendicular arrangement of the head to the cutting and in the oblong shape of the four-reed head. The black handle of the Dagestan saber is different from the Iranian one – it is expanded at the base and gradually narrows to the head, in the section it has an oval cross-section.
Dagestani sabers have common heads in the form of an open mouth of an animal – a lion, a wolf, a dog, a horse; the head is separated from the black by filigree stripes. Dagestan handles are characterized by chains connecting the head to the cross. To attach the chain at the end of the head, a small ring is made; the other ring is at the right end of the D-pad. The chain is silver, in the middle of it there is a filigree ball. The base of the handle was made of wood and lined with silver, decorated with engraving, ink, gilding, sometimes enamel. Another material for the handles was iron, decorated with a gold notch with inlaid bone plates. Less commonly, the handles were made of horn or bone.
Crosses of Dagestan sabers of different sizes , 10 to 13 cm long Transverse ends in round or flattened balls; crosses of silver predominate, less often iron, they were decorated in the same way as the handle. The sheath of Dagestani sabers are of two types: consisting, like the Iranian ones, of two wooden planks glued with leather, with three mandatory parts of the device – the mouth with a clip, the second clip, the tip (unlike the Iranian device, silver predominates on Dagestani sabers), or sheaths, in which additional plates are added to the three mandatory parts (a total of eight), forming a solid silver or iron case, luxuriously decorated.
On the inner ribs of the clips of the sheaths of both types there are oblong loops made of the same material with them. Sometimes the upper loop is not located on the edge of the clip, but on the inside of the mouth, and the oval convex clip is used as a decoration. The tip has a curly convex scallop that protects it from rubbing. As a rule, scallops are small, but sometimes there are quite large ones. The sheath was decorated in the same way as the handles. It should be noted that Dagestani sabers are almost always beautifully decorated with a gold notch or a deep engraving with ink. Sometimes , by the nature of the ornament and inscriptions, we can identify the centers where they were produced and decorated, the Avar and Lak villages or, most often, the village of Kuban …
This dagger was made in the famous city of Solingen by Karl Eickhorn around 1933-1934. The handle is made of white plastic, with transverse grooves that are twisted with gilded twisted wire. The handle head is made of handmade gilded brass in the form of a rope knot. The cross-bar is made with relief ornaments …
After World War I, the German army was limited by the victorious countries to 100,000 officers and soldiers. Such numbers were considered sufficient for the defense of their territories, but not large enough for German expansion into foreign domains. When Hitler came to power, he was quick enough to predispose an ally like the German …
I greet all users, as everyone knows now we have a war in Ukraine, a very difficult time, there was no time to write something. But I will try not to abandon the site about Antique Weapons, as for me and many collectors, a new find or study of ancient weapons, raises the mood. Also …
The standard Luftwaffe dirk of the second model had a steel blade and a length of 25.5 to 26.5 cm. The head and cross were made of cast aluminum or alloy, some can be found with an anodized finish. In the center of the head was a gilded swastika surrounded by oak leaves. The color …
Dagestani edged weapons
Weapons among dagestanis, as well as among other mountain peoples, were not only used during military clashes, but also used in everyday life and rituals.
The Dagestani constantly carried weapons. "The waist is stretched with a leather belt with metal jewelry, and the rich and well-to-do with a silver device. In front of the belt hangs a dagger, the rich one set in silver, and the poor one without any frame.
The dagger has never been removed, even at home, having removed the Circassian, the highlander encircles himself with a belt with a dagger over the beshmet. Going on the road, the highlander plugs the pistol from behind the waist and throws a rifle wrapped in a case over his shoulder. The sword does not constitute a need for weapons and is used when going on a campaign, for action against the enemy …
Each ragged highlander, folding his hands crosswise, or taking the handle of a dagger, or leaning on a gun, stood so proudly as if he were the ruler of the universe.
The movements of the highlander are agile and fast, the gait is decisive and firm, pride and self-esteem are visible in everything" (Dubrovin, 544-547).
Dagestan sabers
Dagestani cold steel weapons of modern times are represented by sabers, swords, daggers.
In addition to archaeological finds, Dagestani sabers have reached us only in the XVIII-XIX centuries.
These sabers have been greatly influenced by Iranian weapons. Often they have Iranian blades or local, made in imitation of them, but a particularly great similarity can be observed in the device of the handle and sheath. To more clearly imagine the Iranian impact, let us turn to the consideration of Iranian sabers of the XVIII – the first half of the XIX centuries.
Most of the blades of Iranian sabers are made of bulat steel with a jet or cranked pattern. Their curvature smoothly begins from the heel and increases sharply at a distance of 1/3 of the length from the tip, however, there are blades and a slight curvature.
The average length of Iranian blades is 76-82 cm, weight – 500 g. The surface of the blade is smooth, the butt does not protrude, the lobes are rare, and the decorations are few. On the blades there are inscriptions in Arabic or Persian containing religious sayings, sometimes the name of the master and the date. Often among the inscriptions there is a square divided into four parts, each of which contains the letters b, d, u, x, the so-called bedukh, or the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, corresponding to the ordinal number of these letters in the Arabic alphabet.
They were given a magical meaning – it was believed that even numbers and their corresponding letters had a beneficial effect on the owner of the blade.
The inscriptions are enclosed in cartouches – or in rectangular, located then across the blade, then at an angle to its sides, or round and oval, the upper part of which is elongated and ends with a flower or bud. Inscriptions and cartouches are made of two types of inlay: gold dot or mortise, with trapezoidal edges, smoothed flush; or a gold surface notch on a scratched background.
The handles, bony or horny, consist of two halves superimposed on the shank and held together by rivets. Cheren, round in cross-section, has the same thickness at the top and bottom.
The head is located perpendicular to the cutting and is an iron cap with four tongues. The crossbill of the handle is iron, with straight long ends ending in round or oval balls.
The sheath is made of two wooden planks covered with black shagreen leather. Mainly near the mouth and clips, they are decorated with convex floral and geometric ornaments, made of thin twine placed under the skin.
The scabbard device, consisting of two iron clips and a tip, is ornamented with a geometric or floral pattern of the same type as on the D-pad, made of gold deep inlay or notch Small oval clips have sockets for portupea. The top of the larger scabbard tip is sometimes hidden under a leather clutch for a more secure fit. These are the typical features of the Iranian sabre.
By design of the main parts, the Dagestan sabre is similar to the Iranian one. Moreover, on Dagestani sabers, real Iranian blades are not uncommon, which were highly valued and almost did not undergo alterations. Sometimes only instead of half-erased Iranian cartouches with inscriptions, inscriptions imitating them, but clearly already of Caucasian origin, appeared, the inlay with gold wire, for example, is made in a different technique – it is convex, and not smoothed flush, like the Iranian one; the shape of the cartouche changes somewhat, and the handwriting of the inscription has a non-Iranian appearance.
Often there are blades that imitate the Iranian ones. In shape, they do not differ from them, but their Caucasian origin gives out the material: they are not made of bulat, but of ordinary steel. Sometimes there are lobes on such blades, which is almost unusual for Iranian blades of
this time, but characteristic of Caucasian ones.
Occasionally, sabers have slightly curved blades with lobes, which are more characteristic of checkers.
Blades of the Iranian type were produced in the village of Amuzgi and in other villages of Dagestan.
The handles of all Dagestani sabers are also close to the Iranian ones. The similarity is expressed in the perpendicular arrangement of the head to the cutting and in the oblong shape of the four-reed head. The black handle of the Dagestan saber is different from the Iranian one – it is expanded at the base and gradually narrows to the head, in the section it has an oval cross-section.
Dagestani sabers have common heads in the form of an open mouth of an animal – a lion, a wolf, a dog, a horse; the head is separated from the black by filigree stripes. Dagestan handles are characterized by chains connecting the head to the cross. To attach the chain at the end of the head, a small ring is made; the other ring is at the right end of the D-pad. The chain is silver, in the middle of it there is a filigree ball. The base of the handle was made of wood and lined with silver, decorated with engraving, ink, gilding, sometimes enamel. Another material for the handles was iron, decorated with a gold notch with inlaid bone plates. Less commonly, the handles were made of horn or bone.
Crosses of Dagestan sabers of different sizes , 10 to 13 cm long Transverse ends in round or flattened balls; crosses of silver predominate, less often iron, they were decorated in the same way as the handle.
The sheath of Dagestani sabers are of two types: consisting, like the Iranian ones, of two wooden planks glued with leather, with three mandatory parts of the device – the mouth with a clip, the second clip, the tip (unlike the Iranian device, silver predominates on Dagestani sabers), or sheaths, in which additional plates are added to the three mandatory parts (a total of eight), forming a solid silver or iron case, luxuriously decorated.
On the inner ribs of the clips of the sheaths of both types there are oblong loops made of the same material with them. Sometimes the upper loop is not located on the edge of the clip, but on the inside of the mouth, and the oval convex clip is used as a decoration. The tip has a curly convex scallop that protects it from rubbing. As a rule, scallops are small, but sometimes there are quite large ones. The sheath was decorated in the same way as the handles.
It should be noted that Dagestani sabers are almost always beautifully decorated with a gold notch or a deep engraving with ink. Sometimes , by the nature of the ornament and inscriptions, we can identify the centers where they were produced and decorated, the Avar and Lak villages or, most often, the village of Kuban …
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