Indian made Kilij

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by ALEX

To A.alnakkas - as for the "other saif": any evidences that it was "actually owned by the sheikh"? The blade decorations are awfully crude and low-quality. What makes this sword any good?

Hey Alex, sorry about the late reply.

I thought the inscription were good enough actually. It said something "Shaikh someone - Nejd" it testifies that its made in nejd, a place where you wouldnt expect fine inscriptions to be found on swords. Also, people overrate the quality of fittings + decorations on blades used by bedouins. A bedouin shaikh is not necessarily someone who can afford a fine sword (by fine I mean a persian assad Allah saif with fine fittings) Most of the fine golden fitted swords were done after the oil boom in the gulf and alot of them trace back to gifts given by the Saudi Royals. and finer wootz blades are still actually refitted in such gold fittings etc in Bahrain, KSA and Qatar. Syria aswell.

Also, I have a random picture of one of the emirs of Kuwait wielding a rather normal quality saif while greeting a British ambassador. Heirlooms of tribal shaikhs also tend to be of average quality. For example, sword of a known Otaiba shaikh who also happened to be a famed warrior/poet, is crude and ment for business.

I think also, Ibn Saud's famous sword was actually called Al Ajrab (means the scabbed one. A testimony to its crudeness and rust marks) So its not all glamorous for older generation shaikhs who were actually shaikhs because they deserved it ;-)

It could be a fake though :P