Origins of shashka

ariel · 26th August 2019, 02:35 AM

Racha, church Nikortsminda, 1660-1670. Merav and Levan Tsulukidze, separately Kaikhosro Tsulukidze.

ariel · 26th August 2019, 02:39 AM

Same place/ time. Varadebul Tsulukidze. On the left actual photograph, on the right museum copy.

ariel · 26th August 2019, 02:43 AM

Imereti, Upper Vani, XVII century. Member of Chidjavadze family

ariel · 26th August 2019, 02:51 AM

Imereti, Kulashi church, XVII century. Member of Mikeladze family.

ariel · 26th August 2019, 04:19 AM

These iconographic evidences prove beyond doubt that a guardless saber worn edge-up was widely known in Georgia in XVII century. Such sabers were first attributed to Circassians and called shashka , bastadization of the local Sash-ho, big knife.
Obviously, Georgians did not called their sabers shashkas. The authors mention several variants: Lekuri, Tcholauri and Uvado Khmali ( " saber without a guard").

One can reassess images of guardless sabers shown in the 1757 miniatures of a Persian manuscript about battles of Nader Shah with the Afghanis. It was found by Alexej Kurochkin, appearing on this Forum as Mercenary. See attached pictures.

It is uncertain to me whether fighters carrying " shashkas" belong to Persian or to the Afghani army, or both.

The fighting part of Nader Shah's army consisted mainly of Caucasians; Georgians, Armenians, Circassians. They might have carried their national weapons.

The same was true of the Abbas I army: it consisted significantly of Georgians and the commander of the entire Persian Army was Allahverdi Khan ( Undiladze), a former ghulam. This army conducted a major war with Afghanis and Uzbeks at the end of 16th century, and Georgian weapons might have served as an inspiration of the Afghani ones during Nader Shah campaign.

The bottom line, we still know very little about the guardless sabers, but the article of Talantov and Dvalishvili gives us a real food for thought by re-dating the origin and the time of appearance of shashkas in Georgia.

Kubur · 26th August 2019, 08:56 AM

Hi Ariel,
I have two questions:
first your definition of the shashka is a guardless saber only or do you include the eared pommel?
Second question do you think that shashka and yataghan are related?
Thanks

ariel · 26th August 2019, 06:24 PM

This is a $64,000 question, but...
All frescoes show pommels in profile, and the better-preserved ones show them to be identical to the later Caucasian shashkas. None of them show a view along the edge. Thus, no conclusion can be made re. presence or absence of slits ( eared handles).

Bakradze and Kiziria published a highly-documented paper about guardless sabers of Western Georgia ( it is in Russian only, AFAIK), raising a question of them being forerunners of a classical shashka. Those Lekuris do not have eared handles.

The question of yataghan/shashka connection is tempting, but uncertain.

On the one hand, it is possible to assume that Western Georgian guardless sabers adopted the Ottoman fashion of "ears". Indeed, Western Georgia was under significant Ottoman influence ( and, occasionally, occupation). However, early yataghans ( Suleiman, Bayazet etc) did not have eared handles, and the origin of ears on later yataghans is a complete mystery. Who adopted it from whom, or was it just a parallel development still requires a lot of info we do not currently have.

On the other hand, shashka as such is not a yataghan. Yataghan was a secondary weapon of infantry, worn tucked under the belt, almost horizontally across the body, edge down, drawn directly by the right hand. Kind of a long knife.
Shashka was a primary infantry/cavalry weapon carried almost vertically along the leg, edge up, drawn by the dominant right hand reaching across the body. It never (!) had recurved blade. It was a slashing, not a cutting weapon, a saber rather than knife.

Again, the minutiae of weapons of that areal are either irretrievably lost, or not found yet. Let's hope that Turkish and Georgian weapon historians redouble their efforts to find the " pro's" and the "con's" of the potential connection between the two. They have access to primary sources that we do not have, as exemplified by the study of monumental art shown by Talantov and Dvalishvili. As of now, my answer to your question is purely circumstantial, and I shall gladly accept better evidence.

26th August 2019, 02:35 AM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Shashka 6 Racha, church Nikortsminda, 1660-1670. Merav and Levan Tsulukidze, separately Kaikhosro Tsulukidze. Attached Images

26th August 2019, 02:39 AM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Shashka 7 Same place/ time. Varadebul Tsulukidze. On the left actual photograph, on the right museum copy. Attached Images

26th August 2019, 02:43 AM	#3
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Shashka 8 Imereti, Upper Vani, XVII century. Member of Chidjavadze family Attached Images

26th August 2019, 02:51 AM	#4
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Shashka 9 Imereti, Kulashi church, XVII century. Member of Mikeladze family. Attached Images

26th August 2019, 04:19 AM	#5
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Discussion. These iconographic evidences prove beyond doubt that a guardless saber worn edge-up was widely known in Georgia in XVII century. Such sabers were first attributed to Circassians and called shashka , bastadization of the local Sash-ho, big knife. Obviously, Georgians did not called their sabers shashkas. The authors mention several variants: Lekuri, Tcholauri and Uvado Khmali ( " saber without a guard"). One can reassess images of guardless sabers shown in the 1757 miniatures of a Persian manuscript about battles of Nader Shah with the Afghanis. It was found by Alexej Kurochkin, appearing on this Forum as Mercenary. See attached pictures. It is uncertain to me whether fighters carrying " shashkas" belong to Persian or to the Afghani army, or both. The fighting part of Nader Shah's army consisted mainly of Caucasians; Georgians, Armenians, Circassians. They might have carried their national weapons. The same was true of the Abbas I army: it consisted significantly of Georgians and the commander of the entire Persian Army was Allahverdi Khan ( Undiladze), a former ghulam. This army conducted a major war with Afghanis and Uzbeks at the end of 16th century, and Georgian weapons might have served as an inspiration of the Afghani ones during Nader Shah campaign. The bottom line, we still know very little about the guardless sabers, but the article of Talantov and Dvalishvili gives us a real food for thought by re-dating the origin and the time of appearance of shashkas in Georgia. Attached Images Last edited by ariel; 26th August 2019 at 05:33 AM.

26th August 2019, 08:56 AM	#6
Kubur Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 2,145	Hi Ariel, I have two questions: first your definition of the shashka is a guardless saber only or do you include the eared pommel? Second question do you think that shashka and yataghan are related? Thanks

26th August 2019, 06:24 PM	#7
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	This is a $64,000 question, but... All frescoes show pommels in profile, and the better-preserved ones show them to be identical to the later Caucasian shashkas. None of them show a view along the edge. Thus, no conclusion can be made re. presence or absence of slits ( eared handles). Bakradze and Kiziria published a highly-documented paper about guardless sabers of Western Georgia ( it is in Russian only, AFAIK), raising a question of them being forerunners of a classical shashka. Those Lekuris do not have eared handles. The question of yataghan/shashka connection is tempting, but uncertain. On the one hand, it is possible to assume that Western Georgian guardless sabers adopted the Ottoman fashion of "ears". Indeed, Western Georgia was under significant Ottoman influence ( and, occasionally, occupation). However, early yataghans ( Suleiman, Bayazet etc) did not have eared handles, and the origin of ears on later yataghans is a complete mystery. Who adopted it from whom, or was it just a parallel development still requires a lot of info we do not currently have. On the other hand, shashka as such is not a yataghan. Yataghan was a secondary weapon of infantry, worn tucked under the belt, almost horizontally across the body, edge down, drawn directly by the right hand. Kind of a long knife. Shashka was a primary infantry/cavalry weapon carried almost vertically along the leg, edge up, drawn by the dominant right hand reaching across the body. It never (!) had recurved blade. It was a slashing, not a cutting weapon, a saber rather than knife. Again, the minutiae of weapons of that areal are either irretrievably lost, or not found yet. Let's hope that Turkish and Georgian weapon historians redouble their efforts to find the " pro's" and the "con's" of the potential connection between the two. They have access to primary sources that we do not have, as exemplified by the study of monumental art shown by Talantov and Dvalishvili. As of now, my answer to your question is purely circumstantial, and I shall gladly accept better evidence.