Afghan shashkas

Cthulhu · 5th December 2019, 06:21 PM

I can't see any evidence of drags in the circled photos Mahratt posted, leaving me a little confused on terminology. I know in some cases the term "drag" is used interchangeably with the whole chape. I've edited one of Mahratt's photos to clearly show what I call the drag, distinct from the rest of the chape.

I'll note that at least in the random sampling of European saber photos I looked at, the larger side of the drag always leads, thus providing equal or greater protection to the front side of the chape that's clunking into the ground as you walk. Looking at Mahratt's shasqa sheath, the larger side of the drag is on the concave side, meaning the concave side is downward, matching the orientation of the other mounts. The chape hasn't been removed and reversed, as the carved side and plain side on it match the face and back side (stitched side) of the leather.

All that aside, these are lovely shasqas people have. I really like the shasqa's clean lines and simplicity. I'll have to dig mine out of storage and provide a photo, but it's not in the league of the ones shown here, not by a long shot.

ariel · 6th December 2019, 12:58 AM

Well, if one looks carefully at your delineation of the drag, it is the convex side that seems to be wider, suggesting that the sword was worn “ saber- wise”, not “shashka-wise”. That would prove that the slit on the throat originally was on the upper side, and that the seller intentionally reversed the direction of the suspension fitting to give a false impression that this pseudo shashka was worn like a Caucasian shashka.

The only problem with the drag is that we have no idea whether the sword was worn low ( touching the ground) or not. My guess not: dragging was fashionable among European cavalry officers, just to impress their dancing partners. Afghanis did not care about such niceties:-)

Cthulhu · 6th December 2019, 02:59 AM

My apologies, my post was pretty ambiguous. Instead of "larger" I should have said "longer." The longer side of the drag is in the direction of travel, that is, on the underside, on every European saber where I've looked. I'm assuming this was for the functional reasons I've mentioned, and even if the sword wasn't to be dragged around it would be done in the same way. Of course there's no way to know how a non-European maker would orient the drag. However if we assume these things were done capriciously, we stop being able to say much of anything about anything.

5th December 2019, 06:21 PM	#1
Cthulhu Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Central Valley, California Posts: 46	What a drag I can't see any evidence of drags in the circled photos Mahratt posted, leaving me a little confused on terminology. I know in some cases the term "drag" is used interchangeably with the whole chape. I've edited one of Mahratt's photos to clearly show what I call the drag, distinct from the rest of the chape. I'll note that at least in the random sampling of European saber photos I looked at, the larger side of the drag always leads, thus providing equal or greater protection to the front side of the chape that's clunking into the ground as you walk. Looking at Mahratt's shasqa sheath, the larger side of the drag is on the concave side, meaning the concave side is downward, matching the orientation of the other mounts. The chape hasn't been removed and reversed, as the carved side and plain side on it match the face and back side (stitched side) of the leather. All that aside, these are lovely shasqas people have. I really like the shasqa's clean lines and simplicity. I'll have to dig mine out of storage and provide a photo, but it's not in the league of the ones shown here, not by a long shot. Attached Images Last edited by Cthulhu; 5th December 2019 at 08:32 PM.

6th December 2019, 12:58 AM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Well, if one looks carefully at your delineation of the drag, it is the convex side that seems to be wider, suggesting that the sword was worn “ saber- wise”, not “shashka-wise”. That would prove that the slit on the throat originally was on the upper side, and that the seller intentionally reversed the direction of the suspension fitting to give a false impression that this pseudo shashka was worn like a Caucasian shashka. The only problem with the drag is that we have no idea whether the sword was worn low ( touching the ground) or not. My guess not: dragging was fashionable among European cavalry officers, just to impress their dancing partners. Afghanis did not care about such niceties:-)

6th December 2019, 02:59 AM	#3
Cthulhu Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Central Valley, California Posts: 46	My apologies, my post was pretty ambiguous. Instead of "larger" I should have said "longer." The longer side of the drag is in the direction of travel, that is, on the underside, on every European saber where I've looked. I'm assuming this was for the functional reasons I've mentioned, and even if the sword wasn't to be dragged around it would be done in the same way. Of course there's no way to know how a non-European maker would orient the drag. However if we assume these things were done capriciously, we stop being able to say much of anything about anything.