Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 3rd May 2007, 03:55 AM

An unrelated comment: Alex mentioned that he thought the blade was Persian, but the rest was Turkish or Kurdish.
Why do we always attribute great looking wootz blades to Persia? I am not even talking about the elephant in the room: India.

I find it unimaginable that there were no wootz masters in Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Turkey etc. Miller in his book of Hermitage collection shows multiple superb wootz Caucasian blades. There are documented accounts of wootz making in Bukhara. Medieval authors considered Yemeni wootz blades superior to Persian. I have a Balkan Yataghan and an Afghani Khyber/Karud with wootz blades. Avner Yarom showed me several Ottoman kilijes with wootz blades.
Did the Persians have the monopoly of knowledge? Were they supplying characteristically "national" blades to the neighbours? I find it impossible to believe!

3rd May 2007, 03:55 AM	#7
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	An unrelated comment: Alex mentioned that he thought the blade was Persian, but the rest was Turkish or Kurdish. Why do we always attribute great looking wootz blades to Persia? I am not even talking about the elephant in the room: India. I find it unimaginable that there were no wootz masters in Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Turkey etc. Miller in his book of Hermitage collection shows multiple superb wootz Caucasian blades. There are documented accounts of wootz making in Bukhara. Medieval authors considered Yemeni wootz blades superior to Persian. I have a Balkan Yataghan and an Afghani Khyber/Karud with wootz blades. Avner Yarom showed me several Ottoman kilijes with wootz blades. Did the Persians have the monopoly of knowledge? Were they supplying characteristically "national" blades to the neighbours? I find it impossible to believe!