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Old 27th September 2009, 03:35 PM   #1
ariel
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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Default Turkish or Persian?

I took as an example a wonderful sword just sold by Oriental-Arms.
http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=3785

The blade is of a Persian shamshir, but the handle is of typical Ottoman " bulbous" form, and the crossguard has long Ottoman quillons.
The scabbard is also of Persian pattern ( no wire stitching) as well as the suspension rings ( oval and integral with the fitting, rather than free rings, customary to the Ottoman pattern).

So, the question: is it Ottoman or Persian?
Turks used shamshir blades on their swords and called them " Adjemi Kilic".
But this one has such a saturated mix of Turkish and Persian elements, that I just do not know how to attribute it.
This is not the first one I see, and the question pops up every time.
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