Review of "Arms and Armour from Iran" by M. Khorasani

[Rivkin]

By memory (can be imprecise):
Persia I think was completely conquered many times. Greeks, Arabs, Il-Khanid Mongols, Amir Timur... There would always some part remain where Iranian culture would preservere more, and some that were probably semi-independent, but the problem also is what do we understand by Iran, meaning what kind of boundaries do we accept as Iranian.

Iran de facto did not exist as a country for a very, very long time until Shah Ismail conquered most of it and established his Shia state.

Concerning things that happened to Persia in the mean time. Amir Timur organized massive deportations of all craftsmen to Bukhara and Samarkand, his capital. His favorite winter headquarters was Karabagh.
His favorite policy to resisting cities was to surround them, check the documents of exiting people, allowing craftsmen, sayed (i.e. "descendants" of Mohammed) and other "needed" people to proceed with deportation to Bukhara, then split the city into sectors, making each unit responsible for certain sector and requiring it to bring certain number of heads (calculated according to old maps and accounts on pre-war population). Then the heads would be deposited into huge piramids.
Not really much survived after these policies.

[Tim Simmons]

That is an interesting point. I have often wondered what weapons the nomadic peoples of Persia would have armed themselves with. Being rather keen on tribal rugs, from this I would think most of these weapons would not be the lavishly decorated ones. To the east of Persia the tribal weapons must have been the same as Afghan. People like Baluch, Timuri/Taimuri.

[Rivkin]

I hoped to see a lot about Steppe swords in this book, from Kalachuri to mongol weapons. However it seems that Iranian collections are not much better than the Western ones . It talks about crucible steel, mentions kalachuri, shows a tiny picture of seljuk sabre, and we arrive to shamshirs. There are a lot of Shamshirs in this book, hordes of them, but the information on pre-shamshir swords of Islamic period is relatively scarse.

[B.I]

Originally Posted by Rivkin

I hoped to see a lot about Steppe swords in this book, from Kalachuri to mongol weapons. However it seems that Iranian collections are not much better than the Western ones . It talks about crucible steel, mentions kalachuri, shows a tiny picture of seljuk sabre, and we arrive to shamshirs. There are a lot of Shamshirs in this book, hordes of them, but the information on pre-shamshir swords of Islamic period is relatively scarse.

the seljuk sabre is exceptionally important, and is arguably one of the most important early persian swords, given its fantastic condition. i know the present owner of this sword, and he wasnt too happy about its inclusion (done without his knowledge, hence the poor image). all the information included was taken from a publication by the previous owner, and much research has been done on it since.
i urge anyone in, or going to italy to go to the basilica. in the treasury room (ground floor) there is a persian dagger which they claim (with no real knowledge of the subject) to be of the 14thC. whether this date is accurate or not i dont know, as it is not my field. but, it is definately old and pre-dates the 16thC. the room is very dark, and photography is prohibited. i do have a few images somewhere, but they are poor and done quickly with no flash. as far as i know, the dagger has not been published. david alexander dismissed the 14thC date, but couldnt offer me an alternative. but, i have seen him get it wrong before, so the dagger is definately up for someone to research further!

[tsubame1]

Originally Posted by B.I

i urge anyone in, or going to italy to go to the basilica.

Sorry for asking, B.I., but here in Italy we've more "Basilica" that empty vodka bottles in Russia. Which one you refer to ? S.Pietro in Rome ?
I'm interested due to my capacity to go everywhere as far as Catholic Churches goes even to take pictures and handling material, or making somebody else allowed to make it.
It would be interesting to have further information.

[B.I]

hi tsubame,
sorry, i meant to write venice, italy!!
i am curious of your capacity to open the church doors. what is it you do?
a good image of this dagger would be fantatic, even if just to prove the date wrong and dismiss it. the room was extremely dark and the dagger was behind glass, which made it almost impossible to scrutinise properly.

[tsubame1]

Originally Posted by B.I

hi tsubame,
sorry, i meant to write venice, italy!!

San Marco ! I'm in Venice 4/5 times each year, but I always saw at the
"pala d'oro" with "Cristo Pantocratore" the few times I was in the Basilica. Didn't noticed that dagger. I always was much more interested in the Palazzo ducale armory and ca' Pesaro japanese collection.
A good piece to dig in. The treasure is usually well documented on where and when it was sacked by the venetian armies. But this might mean noting
about the real age of the item. Seem i'll need help of a specialist in easter weaponry.

Originally Posted by B.I

i am curious of your capacity to open the church doors. what is it you do?

My mother maiden name is "Casaroli" and was born in Castel San Giovanni, Piacenza. Google "Cardinal Casaroli"

You know, the two oldest lobbies in the world are jews and chatolic priests.
In venice you can find both. You definitively have to go to visit "Ghetto vecio" (the old ghetto). One of the least known and most beautiful sites in Venice.