New Kindjals in the Collection

Pitt1999 · 4th August 2025, 01:45 AM

These two pieces came into my collection quite a while ago. I purchased these daggers in the hopes that they would give me more insight into another kindjal I covered before, whose own thread ended with no definitive origin being determined. I will attach a photo of the previously covered dagger first.

They both share interesting characteristics while also being completely different from each other. Both daggers have small "guards" which is an element not often seen on kindjals. They also have tang bands/straps that completely conceal the tang. A more subtle shared element are what I believe are known as "shoulders" on the hilt. On both examples you can see on the hilts just before the guard and ending just before the swell of the pommel are very narrow flat surfaces that terminate in these "shoulders" at either end. How I'm describing them is probably clumsy so they will be pointed out in the photos. This is where the similarities end, however.

The general feel of these two pieces are very different. One example has a comparatively narrow and thick unfullered blade while the other is much more light with a wider, thin, fullered blade. The light one also has interesting hollow tubular pins at the pommel end of the hilt. The light flat blade example I believe to be Greek due to the decoration on the blade. The thick blade piece has a date and some additional markings of unknown meaning on the tang band that remind me of regimental/company designations on military hand weapons.

Any and all insights or comments are welcome!

TVV · Yesterday, 07:01 PM

Nice kindjals. In my opinion, they are all Balkan, the first two potentially Bulgarian. I am basing the attribution on the hilt shape and construction of the first one. The second one has the date, which is followed by a Cyrillic "г", which stands for "година" or year in Bulgarian. There are photos of 3 different kindjals. The third one has a distinctly Greek floral motive on the blade, as you have pointed out, but this is a third separate piece unless I am missing something.

Pitt1999 · Today, 01:34 AM

This post is really about the two with the bone hilts. The dark horn hilt example has it's own thread and it's origin was never determined 100%. It's unusual in that it has 6 pins in it's hilt construction rather than the more common 3 in most kindjals. I assembled this group purely based on their features. The guards and tang bands seem to be found mostly on Greek/Balkan kindjals and not really being present elsewhere from what I have observed.

4th August 2025, 01:45 AM	#1
Pitt1999 Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 110	New Kindjals in the Collection These two pieces came into my collection quite a while ago. I purchased these daggers in the hopes that they would give me more insight into another kindjal I covered before, whose own thread ended with no definitive origin being determined. I will attach a photo of the previously covered dagger first. They both share interesting characteristics while also being completely different from each other. Both daggers have small "guards" which is an element not often seen on kindjals. They also have tang bands/straps that completely conceal the tang. A more subtle shared element are what I believe are known as "shoulders" on the hilt. On both examples you can see on the hilts just before the guard and ending just before the swell of the pommel are very narrow flat surfaces that terminate in these "shoulders" at either end. How I'm describing them is probably clumsy so they will be pointed out in the photos. This is where the similarities end, however. The general feel of these two pieces are very different. One example has a comparatively narrow and thick unfullered blade while the other is much more light with a wider, thin, fullered blade. The light one also has interesting hollow tubular pins at the pommel end of the hilt. The light flat blade example I believe to be Greek due to the decoration on the blade. The thick blade piece has a date and some additional markings of unknown meaning on the tang band that remind me of regimental/company designations on military hand weapons. Any and all insights or comments are welcome! Attached Images

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Yesterday, 07:01 PM	#2
TVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,668	Nice kindjals. In my opinion, they are all Balkan, the first two potentially Bulgarian. I am basing the attribution on the hilt shape and construction of the first one. The second one has the date, which is followed by a Cyrillic "г", which stands for "година" or year in Bulgarian. There are photos of 3 different kindjals. The third one has a distinctly Greek floral motive on the blade, as you have pointed out, but this is a third separate piece unless I am missing something.

Today, 01:34 AM	#3
Pitt1999 Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 110	This post is really about the two with the bone hilts. The dark horn hilt example has it's own thread and it's origin was never determined 100%. It's unusual in that it has 6 pins in it's hilt construction rather than the more common 3 in most kindjals. I assembled this group purely based on their features. The guards and tang bands seem to be found mostly on Greek/Balkan kindjals and not really being present elsewhere from what I have observed.