Mystery Weapons from Bulgaria

TVV · 17th May 2005, 12:09 AM

Rivkin, you are right: kindjals came to Bulgaria before the Circassians with trade, and also let us not forget that some came not via the Ottomans, but via the Russians in the Russo-Turkish wars. However, the number of kindjals in Bulgaria certainly increased after Circassians were relocated to the Balkans.
I absolutely agree with your observations on the kindjals in the last photo I posted: there is a big variety among them and my guess is that this was the purpose of the display: the curators wanted to show together as many different knidjal types as possible. To be honest with you, the top one that looks Armenian as you point out (or Persian?), the one with the central fuller and the koftgiri on blade, is not one you would find easily in Bulgaria. The vast majority of what I have seen owned by collectors, offered for sale or in museums are kindjals with an off-centered fuller and very little in terms of decoration, and the already mentioned smaller kamas with a hilt encased in brass that are typical Bulgarian.
Interesting discussion so far, thanks to all participants, hopefully we will get some more clues about the three mysterious weapons I started the thread with.

17th May 2005, 12:09 AM	#6
TVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,666	Rivkin, you are right: kindjals came to Bulgaria before the Circassians with trade, and also let us not forget that some came not via the Ottomans, but via the Russians in the Russo-Turkish wars. However, the number of kindjals in Bulgaria certainly increased after Circassians were relocated to the Balkans. I absolutely agree with your observations on the kindjals in the last photo I posted: there is a big variety among them and my guess is that this was the purpose of the display: the curators wanted to show together as many different knidjal types as possible. To be honest with you, the top one that looks Armenian as you point out (or Persian?), the one with the central fuller and the koftgiri on blade, is not one you would find easily in Bulgaria. The vast majority of what I have seen owned by collectors, offered for sale or in museums are kindjals with an off-centered fuller and very little in terms of decoration, and the already mentioned smaller kamas with a hilt encased in brass that are typical Bulgarian. Interesting discussion so far, thanks to all participants, hopefully we will get some more clues about the three mysterious weapons I started the thread with.