Crimean Tatars knives in the 18th century

[TVV]

Originally Posted by ariel

Only those two were bought by the Tsar himself from a Bakhchisarai knifemaker in 1837:-)

I read the description, but the picture is of a so-called double knife consisting of the two most popular types of shepherd's knives in Bulgaria in the 19th century - the smaller is a so-called Buynovo knife, after the village of Buynovo where the typical hilt form with a pommel cap originated, while the larger one is known as a "yalamiya" or "karakulak". There are thousands of these in Bulgaria and I have seen hundreds of them, to the point where I have absolutely no doubt as to what they are. I am not sure of how the Bakhchisarai attribution happened, but it is just plain wrong.