Pala made in Bosnia and/or Bulgaria

[TVV]

Kubur,

You pose an interesting and very difficult question. I do not know enough about Bosnia, but here is my best attempt at an answer regarding Bulgaria.

As much as it has been written on the production of firearms in Bulgaria, in centers such as Sliven, there is little to nothing ever published on the production of edged weapons in Bulgaria. This is most likely due to lack of research, as Gabrovo, among other towns, is mentioned as a bladesmithing center. Also, since gunsmiths thrived, one has to assume that bladesmiths should have had equally good conditions to practice their craft: the raw materials, technology and economic infrastructure were in place in the Ottoman Empire.

I assume that if one searches the esnaf (guild) records of the Ottoman Empire for the lands predominantly inhabited by Bulgarians (say, corresponding to the Bulgarian Ekzarchy as established in 1870 within the Empire), there will be lists of bladesmiths, some of them specializing in swords. Elgood in his book only examines Western Balkan centers, so he includes towns like Tetovo, Debar Skopie, etc., but provides little on the Bulgarian arms manufacturing centers outside of Macedonia.

That being said, finding a pala example that can be attributed to Bulgaria 100% may be difficult or impossible. Unlike with yataghans, I am personally not aware of any features that can distinguish palas based on their place of production. There is a pala in the Bulgarian National Military Museum in Sofia with a Cyrillic inscription in Bulgarian, but it proves nothing, as it was probably captured from an Ottoman soldier or officer as a trophy and the inscription added later.

To find a pala with a maker's inscription which lists his name AND a his hometown, situated in what is nowadays Bulgaria, will be hard, and even if you do, I doubt it would look any different than a pala made and mounted in any other part of the Empire.

Regards,
Teodor