khevsur pranguli for comment

[ariel]

Kronckew asked how old it was.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by ariel

Kronckew asked how old it was.

yes, haven't got a reply yet but is suspect from the description (and the fairly low price) it is not an old antique. still looked like a reasonably nice traditionally made weapon. the seller had a decorated and very similarly made but curved blade a bit cheaper but i did not want to buy that one and find it would not get thru customs as for some odd reason we peasants are not allowed to import curved swords of over 50cm in blade length unless they are 'traditionally hand forged' or 'antique' over 100 years old. straight blades are not so limited & can be imported. was suspicious the seller might not be able to prove that. he has said he needs to get an export permit tomorrow before he ships it...

[ariel]

This is, perhaps, the strangest governmental regulation defining which swords are kosher and which are not:-)

BTW, do you know why these are called Pranguli?

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by ariel

This is, perhaps, the strangest governmental regulation defining which swords are kosher and which are not:-)

BTW, do you know why these are called Pranguli?

no, found the name here in the forum posts as being the one they use for the straight rather than the curved ones. i note amongst the scabbard decorations there are crosses like the georgian flag, red cross of st. george, like the english flag, but with maltese crosses added to the 4 white quarter panels. probably should call it a palash.

found this page which contains an interesting video: http://www.gfmstudio.com/productions/lostcrusaders

read somewhere that the khevsurli culture stubbornly resisted change of any sort and continued making swords like this well it the late 1930's when stalin finally broke them.

the UK reg. evolved after a knee-jerk reaction to a politician being killed with one of those cheap SS 'samurai swords' so they got together and passed a law to protect themselves and banned samurai swords.

then a bunch of re-enactor and martial arts groups as well as collectors had a fit & we managed to convince them that there was a valid legitimate use for the antiques, and for new ones that were art pieces, ie. hand forged and expensive art pieces, and they compromised so any post 1950 machine made 'samurai' sword was banned.

then they had to define 'samurai sword' so they changed it to any curved sword over 50cm. ( i recall a media article about someone was arrested in possession in public of a six inch (5.25cm.)samurai sword ).

then the martial artists got them to exempt traditionally hand made swords from japan, which being very expensive would not likely be used illegally. then the quietly dropped the japan bit after they were informed that they were being racist as other cultures made traditional swords by hand forging, including a number of UK blacksmiths.

for some reason straight swords never came into the equation, so were thus permitted. unlike germany, where anything not permitted by law is verboten, UK works on the opposite, if anything is not forbidden by law it is allowed.

they also allow martial arts practitioners who are members of an approved and insured martial arts club, or re-enactment group members that belong to an insured group can import curved swords.

it's what happens when you allow politicians to actually try to think for you.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by kronckew

no, found the name here in the forum posts as being the one they use for the straight rather than the curved ones. i note amongst the scabbard decorations there is the georgian flag, red cross of st. george, like the english flag, but with maltese crosses added to the 4 white quarter panels.

the UK reg. evolved after a knee-jerk reaction to a politician being killed with one of those cheap SS 'samurai swords' so they got together and passed a law to protect themselves and banned samurai swords.

then a bunch of re-enactor and martial arts groups as well as collectors had a fit & we managed to convince them that there was a valid legitimate use for the antiques, and for new ones that were art pieces, ie. hand forged and expensive art pieces, and they compromised so any post 1950 machine made 'samurai' sword was banned.

then they had to define 'samurai sword' so they changed it to any curved sword over 50cm. ( i recall a media article about someone was arrested in possession in public of a six inch (5.25cm.)samurai sword ).

then the martial artists got them to exempt traditionally hand made swords from japan, which being very expensive would not likely be used illegally. then the quietly dropped the japan bit after they were informed that they were being racist as other cultures made traditional swords by hand forging, including a number of UK blacksmiths.

for some reason straight swords never came into the equation, so were thus permitted. unlike germany, where anything not permitted by law is verboten, UK works on the opposite, if anything is not forbidden by law it is allowed.

they also allow martial arts practitioners who are members of an approved and insured martial arts club, or re-enactment group members that belong to an insured group can import curved swords.

it's what happens when you allow politicians to actually try to think for you.

That is of course assuming that they do in fact think...........

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

That is of course assuming that they do in fact think...........

q: how do you tell a politician is lying?
a: their mouths move.

q: how do you tell a politician is thinking?
a: smoke comes out of their ears and their brains melt and run out the nearest orifice, their anal sphincter.

back on track (ish)

another video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzaRUQ7_7cA

[ariel]

Our political leaders work very hard:-)

Pranguli is a Georgian way of saying Firangi, European swords being straight.

There is a Khevsurian legend that a band of Crusaders got lost on their way to the Holy Land and... you can guess the rest:-) That apparently explains the occurrence of blonde and blue-eyed Khevsurs, just like there are similarly-looking Afghanis who trace their origin to no less than Alexander the Great and his Macedonians.

Directionally challenged men rule! :-)

They are taller than other Georgians and at the old bazaars in Tbilisi carpets were measured as heigths of either regular men or of a Khevsur who was conveniently located nearby at all times:-))

There is a famous story about a sudden appearance of a band of mounted Khevsurs wearing chain mails, swords and shields in Tbilisi in the summer of 1915: they just heard that the Russian Tsar was at war with .. who knows whom ... and wanted to join his army. The news did not reach their mountain villages on time and the winter snows blocked the gorges. So, they came as fast as they could:-)

They had their peculiar weapons: satiteni ( fighting rings) and Dashna, short swords made of broken sword blades. Both were in active daily use as late as 1960s. Kind of, never leave home without it:-)

Splendid bastards. For Clauzewitz war was yet another instrument of politics, but for Khevsurs it was a way of life.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by ariel

BTW, do you know why these are called Pranguli?

Are you going to tell us?