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Originally Posted by ariel
Ms. Gozde Yasar in her book about yataghans defined each and every example as " Ottoman", without any attempt to pinpoint the exact origin of each. Whereas she is correct from the geopolitical point of view, this approach negates the multiethnicity of their origins.
And, as a final point: where is the evidence that yataghan was truly invented by the Ottoman Anatolian Turks?
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1. On contrary. The fact that Ms.Gozde Yasar defines every example as "Ottoman" does not negate the multiethnicity of their origin but asserts it. Moreover, it clearly hints to the futility of trying to precisely geographically locate a particular blade since both skills and styles knew no borders within the empire. Last but not least, let us not forget that until 1922 the whole Southern Turkey was inhabited by a numerous Greek minority so it wouldn't be surprising if some Turkish swordsmiths would have produced "Greek" style yatagans for their Greek customers.
2. Is there any single piece of evidence that the yatagan, or a yatagan type of sword was used anywhere else before it appeared with the Ottomans?
If not, then I take the fact that the oldest historical examples of yatagans are Ottoman Turkish, as good enough evinence that the Ottoman Turks invented the yatagan (whether or not inspired by the ancient Greek kopis).