INDO PERSIAN TABAR AXE

[Cerjak]

Hello everybody,
I would like to know more about this axe
How old could be ? early 19th or 20th C .
Is it battle axe or parade axe ?
I seems that a gun barrel was used to made this axe but I'm not sure.
any help will be welcome.
Regards

Cerjak

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Cerjak

Hello everybody,
I would like to know more about this axe
How old could be ? early 19th or 20th C .
Is it battle axe or parade axe ?
I seems that a gun barrel was used to made this axe but I'm not sure.
any help will be welcome.
Regards

Cerjak

Salaams Cerjak .. Looks like a Qajari dynasty Persian parade axe. They were often decorated in silver and gold and arabesques. Are there any screw turns in the axe handle inside as sometimes there are hidden blades screwed into these devices. These moon shaped axes appear to be parade only whereas the meaty saddle axe see "Islamic arms and armour by Anthony North". is for bashing helmet protected skulls etc... The Qajar period ended in the early 1920s . Parade Axe Qajari Persian period.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[AJ1356]

I concur on the Qajar.

[ariel]

The crucial distinction between the real fighting axes and the parade/souvenir ones is the presence or absence of a wedged blade. The real ones had it, the souvenirs didn't. While there might be exceptions, no fighting axe would have a flat, thin head. Only in Africa :-)
Agree with Qajar/ceremonial :-) attribution.

[Cerjak]

Thank you Ibrahiim,Ariel & AJ 1356 for yours answers.there isn't any screw turns in the axe handle.So it should be parade axe.
But could you explain me what means ceremonial axe ?Is it made
for tourists ?In this case this axe will not have any interest.

[ariel]

During the Qajar era, Iran made frantic efforts to modernize their country in general and military in particular. Western-type weapons, bladed included, were imported and copied locally en masse. The old style weapons were discarded rapidly. Tabars, bazu-bands, shields, kula-khuds all became anachronistic. Thus, there was no reason to produce them for military use, but tey did look exotic! Instead, their cheap copies of non-fighting quality were manufactured for tourists, for parades, Tazieh performances and for export as souvenirs. The standard set of tin-iron kula-khud, shield with acid-etched or engraved decorative pics and a single bazu-band was a popular object of Western home decor ( akin to Victorian copies of European armour). Add there the so-called "revival swords" ( suspiciously similar to the newer Sudanese kaskaras with thin blades and koranic acid-etched inscriptions all over them), khanjars with ivory handles and Shah-Nameh or just pornographic motives and tabars with thin flat blades, and you get the idea.

Before the oil era, this scrap metal and carpets were, I suspect, the main sources of export coming from Iran. Having come through a multitude of dealers and pawn shops, they are now flooding the e-bay.

I would not touch them.

Well, maybe just a carpet :-)

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Cerjak

Thank you Ibrahiim,Ariel & AJ 1356 for yours answers.there isn't any screw turns in the axe handle.So it should be parade axe.
But could you explain me what means ceremonial axe ?Is it made
for tourists ?In this case this axe will not have any interest.

Sallams Cerjac ~I concur on avoid. What are worth collecting are the saddle axe variety not these fake so called parade axes which are as previously described ... tourist stuff. Regards Ibrahiim al Balooshi.