Show us your pesh-kabz

[mariusgmioc]

Whether the term "KARUD", for the so called "straight pesh-kabz" is historically based or not is open to debate.

I have seen what I consider to be valid arguments for both opinions.

However, while there are many similarities between the classic recurved and the straight-bladed knives, there are also major, easily recognizable differences.

Therefore, for practical utility and in order to avoid possible confusion, I believe the use of the term "karud" is perfectly justified for the straight-bladed pesh-kabz.
Whether historically correct or not, the use of the specific term "karud" will allow immediate and precise distinction from its close recurved-bladed cousin, the pesh-kabz.

And this wouldn't be by any means without precedent as we use the term "kilij" for a specific type of Turkish Ottoman saber, while the term is simply a phonetical mis-spelling of the Turkish word "kiliç" that simply means sword in its most generic form.

Or the term "tulwar" that has become clearly associated with a specific Indian type of saber is nothing but a wrong, Europeanized spelling of the Hindi word "talawar" that again means sword in its most generic form.

And the same can be said about other terms like bichaq, kard, khanjar, and many more.

PS: As you may notice from the first photo of the Persian pesh-kabz, there is no indication of it being made of wootz. That is because that is the original photo from the seller. Meanwhile, I cleaned and re-etched the blade and revealed the beautiful wootz pattern.

[ariel]

Extremely nice wootz pattern! Excellent job.
Wish I could do half as well:- (((((

As to the name ( kard, karud, pesh kabz), it depends exclusively on the form of the blade, not on the materiel of it.

But I do not wish to argue about the use of the term « karud” in casual conversations. It would be just like pedantically opposing “ booze” instead of “ alcoholic beverage”. I am only suggesting that this term is wrong from the professional point of view: it never was the real name of the dagger, it is just a local pronounciation of “ kard” , akin to to the Southern “ taar” instead of “tire”, “ eiah” instead of “ air” or “ lemme” instead of “ let me”. One can hear at the gas staton somewhere in Alabama “ lemme put eiah in your taar” and still know that nothing bad is going to happen: the attendant just wants to inflate you leaking tire. But by the same token, one would never put that sentence phonetically into his/her MS thesis on managing practices in the Alabamian “ Discount Tire” shops:-) That’s all..

[Saracen]

Ariel and Marius, thank you for your explanations.
Here is the karud (pesh-kabz) that I wanted to show...

Removed at the requirement of Mariusgmioc (inconsistency with the topic)

[mahratt]

Marius, thank you very much for the interesting topic.
Persian pesh-kabz from my collection:

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,
It took a while, but I finally got my hands on one of these. Persian, but with a later scabbard.
Cheers,
Bryce

[Turkoman.khan]

Originally Posted by Bryce

G'day Guys,
It took a while, but I finally got my hands on one of these. Persian, but with a later scabbard.
Cheers,
Bryce

Excellent pesh-kabz. Congratulations.
I think the old handle was replaced with a new one in the 20th century

[Bryce]

G'day,
Yeah I agree. The grip scales have probably been replaced at some point.
Cheers,
Bryce