Inscription on Yataghan

ham · 17th May 2005, 02:48 AM

Gentlemen,

Though it is not executed in a particularly literate hand, the inscription appears to read AGHA 'ALI.
When a given name, in this case 'Ali, is preceded by the word AGHA on an Ottoman weapon or piece of military equipment, it may generally be taken as the name of the head- or leader- of the military corps or unit to which the owner belonged. When the term AGHA follows the given name, it is more generally an honorific like 'lord.' Since this type of yataghan was often used by Ottoman village constabularies, it may be that 'Ali was a chief of police.

sincerely,

Ham

17th May 2005, 02:48 AM	#2
ham Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 190	Gentlemen, Though it is not executed in a particularly literate hand, the inscription appears to read AGHA 'ALI. When a given name, in this case 'Ali, is preceded by the word AGHA on an Ottoman weapon or piece of military equipment, it may generally be taken as the name of the head- or leader- of the military corps or unit to which the owner belonged. When the term AGHA follows the given name, it is more generally an honorific like 'lord.' Since this type of yataghan was often used by Ottoman village constabularies, it may be that 'Ali was a chief of police. sincerely, Ham