Mystery sabre

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by ausjulius

very odd sword.. whatever it is its strange.. if somebody can read the etching would help becuse it made have some grammatic clues in it..

maybe its just me but it looks VERY chinese.. the handle with the ring for a tassel.. weird guard.. the sheath. the chape..
maybe from an area with a chinese muslim population.. burma.. yunnan ect

I am very much with you on this MOST fascinating anomaly!
It does have a very Chinese sense to it, possibly as the hilt resembles the Manchu 'horse hoof' types used in the 19th c. on their dao sabers.
This is not a distinct comparison, but more a styling gestalt.

Your suggestion of the possibility of a Chinese Muslim population pretty much 'rang a bell' as there is an Islamic character in this script, recalling the acid etched calligraphy in other ethnic situations, such as in Sudan (an analogy , not comparison).

Also, the character of this weapon recalls certain examples of similar types which I have seen attributed to Tibet, though probably produced in Chinese border regions either by Tibetan craftsmen or highly influenced in accord with Tibetan decoration and styling. Again, by gestalt, not direct similarity.

In regions of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin (basically Xinjiang), are the Uyghur people (much in the news of late ). These are a Chinese ethnic minority of Turkic-Mongol origins and have been primarily Muslim since c. 10th c.
They seem to have become situated primarily in the regions of Urumchi, which is where the notable "Mummies of Urumchi" were discovered early in the 20th century, and had distinct Caucasian character.

Apparently the Uyghur people have three dialects of their language which is a Turkic form, and uses four types of alphabetic script, basically Perso-Arabic.
I am certainly no linguist, but this may account for the elusive character of this particular decorative script on the blade.
It is noted that of the three dialects, the 'Central' is that spoken by 90% of the Uyghur population.

The Uyghur men have typically worn a type of knife called a 'pichaq' as a symbolic accoutrement of masculinity traditionally, and these handcrafted knives are produced in Yengisar in the Uyghur Autonomous regions.
Possibly this example, clearly of larger proportion, may be a more ceremonial or dress weapon that might have been created in this convention under Tibetan influences which would exist with that source in their history.

I would look forward to Philip's attention on this, and would of course consider his opinion most important on this theory.