Analysis of the Persian shamshir

The Sword – Form and Thought: An International Conference

Deutsches Klingenmuseum Solingen, November 19-21, 2015

Dr. Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani

Analysis of the Persian shamshir
Analysis of the Persian shamshir
Different parts of a shamshir
 Different parts of a shamshir

1) daste (handle) also called mošte

 Different parts of a shamshir

2) kolāhak (pommel cap) also called sar-e daste

3) tahe šamšir (the end of the grip)

Different parts of a shamshir

4) bolčāq also called sibil or mohāfez-e daste

Different parts of a shamshir

5) mile-ye etesal (rivets, that attach the ivory or horn grip scales to the tang),
also called mix-e daste
6) tiqeye fulādi (steel blade) or tiqeye shamshir (shamshir blade)
 Different parts of a shamshir

7) badane (literally “body,” referring to the blade)

8) pahna (the width of the blade)
9) labeye pošt (back face), also called pošte tiq (back of the blade)
10) labeye ru (front of the blade), also called ruye tiqe (front of the blade)
 Different parts of a shamshir

11) Nish (the tip of the blade), also called nok (the tip of the blade) and sare
tiq (the tip of the blade)
12) Kalf (shoulders of the blade at the joint with the tang)
13) Um-e shamshir (tang)
14) Yalmān (raised back edge): it is not very common on Persian shamshir
 Different parts of a shamshir

15) mahal zadan zarbe (center of percussion)

16) jahar-e tiq (pattern of the blade)
 Different parts of a shamshir
16) jahar-e tiq (pattern of the blade)

- pāyhāye murče zabāne zanān (blazing ants' feet), lŏlŏ (pearl), bustāni (lit. like
garden, blackish color), kalāqi (crow-like), gŏhar-e hamvār (even/regular
pattern) (Nŏruznāme, Khayyam Neishaburi)
- parše (mosquitos), suf (sheep wool), abahrak (cloud), sabus-e gandom
(wheat bran) (Ta’id Besārat, Mirzā Lotfallāh, 1706- 1707 or 1696-1697.),
- bāxeri , rŏhinā (Al-Jamāhir fi Marefat al-Jawāher) (Beiruni, 1974),
- siyāhfām (blackish, black-colored), bigŏhar (without pattern), balārak, rŏhinā
(Gŏharnāme, Mansur, 1975).
- zomorrodfām (like emerald) (Zafarnāme, Yazdi, 1957),
- qaraxorāsāni (black watered steel from Khorasan) (Farhang-e Estelāhāt-e
Doreye Qājār: Qušun va Nazmiye, Modarresi, et al., 1991),
Different parts of a shamshir
16) jahar-e tiq (pattern of the blade)

- pulād-e jŏhardār-e qerq nardebān (watered steel with ladder pattern),

pulād-e jŏhardār-e mošabak (watered steel with net pattern), pulād-e
jŏhardār-e xati (lined watered steel) (Romanowsky, 1967).,
- kirk nardaban (forty steps), begami (a pattern of deep waves running
down the length of the blade), bidr or qum (gravel: unbroken ondulate
grapevine meandering the length of the blade), sham (Syrian: the least
esteemed; consists of only slightly undulating stripes running down the
length of the blade), double kirk nardeban (a double row of
rungs/ladders that appear close to each other), rose or circle, kirk
nardeban and rose , double kirk nardeban and rose , water pattern,
wavy pattern and network pattern (based on western sources).
Different parts of a shamshir
16) jahar-e tiq (pattern of the blade)
Different parts of a shamshir
16) jahar-e tiq (pattern of the blade)
 Different parts of a shamshir

17) qalāf (scabbard)

18) zāj-e sefid (alum for attaching the handguard to the blade)
19) qabze (grip scales)
20) saqāri (leather covering the scabbard)
 Different parts of a shamshir

21) varband (lens-like-shaped band with attached rings for hanging the saber) or baste qalāf (scabbard fittings)
 Different parts of a shamshir

22) tah-e qalāf (chape)

23) band-e shamshir (swordbelt), also called hamāyel
24) shamshir gardan (scabbard together with the sword belt)
25) simduzi (wire stitching on the back of some scabbards)
 Different parts of a shamshir

26) rismanbafi (the end of the scabbard that shows a knitted form of threads, normally of two different colors)
27) tazināt (ornamentation on the blade)
 Different parts of a shamshir

28) toranj (cartouche)

 Different parts of a shamshir

29) āhanak (grips straps of tang bands)

30) nāv (fuller): few Iranian shamshirs are fullered
Examples of Persian shamshir
Examples of Persian shamshir
Examples of Persian shamshir
Conclusion and questions and answers