Definition of a Greek yataghan?

[ariel]

Originally Posted by TVV

I would not trust the dealer, unless the mountains were to the south and he had to cross the Danube Bridge to get there.

I agree: dealer descriptions are notoriously unreliable and often frankly misleading.

Golden rule: Buy the object, not the story:-)

Could some Romanian shepherd get a Bulgarian karakulak or some Romanian village bladesmith make a “novelty” example? Possible. After all, there was and still is a common border between Romania and Bulgaria, although their status within the sphere of Ottoman influence differed.
But as a rule, different ethnicities and/or tribes tended to create weapons according to their deeply ingrained national/local traditions.

For me, the most stark example of it is the difference between kindjals from Meghrelia ( Samegrelo) and Guria. Both are tiny Western Georgian principalities next to each other. But the Meghrelians wore small to medium length narrow kindjals with sharp points, suitable for stabbing, whereas Gurians had gigantic wide ones with somewhat rounded points,- almost short swords, good for slashing. And I do not even start enumerating differences in decorative arrangements!