Show us your pesh-kabz

[mariusgmioc]

Whether the term "KARUD", for the so called "straight pesh-kabz" is historically based or not is open to debate.

I have seen what I consider to be valid arguments for both opinions.

However, while there are many similarities between the classic recurved and the straight-bladed knives, there are also major, easily recognizable differences.

Therefore, for practical utility and in order to avoid possible confusion, I believe the use of the term "karud" is perfectly justified for the straight-bladed pesh-kabz.
Whether historically correct or not, the use of the specific term "karud" will allow immediate and precise distinction from its close recurved-bladed cousin, the pesh-kabz.

And this wouldn't be by any means without precedent as we use the term "kilij" for a specific type of Turkish Ottoman saber, while the term is simply a phonetical mis-spelling of the Turkish word "kiliç" that simply means sword in its most generic form.

Or the term "tulwar" that has become clearly associated with a specific Indian type of saber is nothing but a wrong, Europeanized spelling of the Hindi word "talawar" that again means sword in its most generic form.

And the same can be said about other terms like bichaq, kard, khanjar, and many more.

PS: As you may notice from the first photo of the Persian pesh-kabz, there is no indication of it being made of wootz. That is because that is the original photo from the seller. Meanwhile, I cleaned and re-etched the blade and revealed the beautiful wootz pattern.