It's a shamshir?

ariel · 13th September 2006, 12:45 AM

The handle is quite strange, obviously replacement (and a clumsy one). The silver wire is wrapped unter the langet, whereas it should cover it.
As to the name.... Kilij (Kilic) is a generic Turkish word for a sword; just like "saif" is a generic Arabic one for same. My guess that a Persian would call any curved saber "shamshir", and the Ottoman Turk would call it "Kilic ajemi". Indo-Persian " Kilij"-type swords (with pronounced Yelman) were called Gaddara. Sword styles were so intermingled in that area, that it is often difficult to figure out the name: it probably depended more on the locality of the manufacture/usage and the nationality/ language of the user.
Short curved dagger would be called Jambiya in Western Arabia, Khanjar in Eastern Arabia, Koummya by the Moroccans, Shibriya by the Palestinian Arabs and Bebut by the Caucasians. Jim McDougall often brings an amusing example of us calling straight Sudanese swords "Kaskara", which would confuse any Sudanese: for them it is a "Saif". Indonesian islands have different names for perfectly similar swords/daggers.
There are far more languages/cultures than possible forms of the blades..... It makes life interesting and we can throw around fancy terminology to impress the "outsiders"

13th September 2006, 12:45 AM	#8
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	The handle is quite strange, obviously replacement (and a clumsy one). The silver wire is wrapped unter the langet, whereas it should cover it. As to the name.... Kilij (Kilic) is a generic Turkish word for a sword; just like "saif" is a generic Arabic one for same. My guess that a Persian would call any curved saber "shamshir", and the Ottoman Turk would call it "Kilic ajemi". Indo-Persian " Kilij"-type swords (with pronounced Yelman) were called Gaddara. Sword styles were so intermingled in that area, that it is often difficult to figure out the name: it probably depended more on the locality of the manufacture/usage and the nationality/ language of the user. Short curved dagger would be called Jambiya in Western Arabia, Khanjar in Eastern Arabia, Koummya by the Moroccans, Shibriya by the Palestinian Arabs and Bebut by the Caucasians. Jim McDougall often brings an amusing example of us calling straight Sudanese swords "Kaskara", which would confuse any Sudanese: for them it is a "Saif". Indonesian islands have different names for perfectly similar swords/daggers. There are far more languages/cultures than possible forms of the blades..... It makes life interesting and we can throw around fancy terminology to impress the "outsiders"