Weapons - Yataghan
Material: Steel, ivory, semi-precious stones
Size: 78 x 9 x 7 cm; blade length: 62 cm
Origin and time: Indian region, first half of the 19th century
Museum of Military History – Vienna, Austria
Inv. No. 1951/30/NI40264
Many of these very representative cold weapons can be found in the collections of the Museum of Military History. This particular sort of weapon originates from the Indian region. The hilt has no guard and was originally made of hollow bone. This "design" evolved leading to the peculiar two-wing or two-ear pommel still used to this day. Most grips are richly ornamented, often consisting of damascened-inlay silver. Several Yataghans have the manufacturing year as well as the artist's name engraved in Arabic characters; some of them even have blessings engraved. A vast majority of this sort of weapons date back to the first half of the 19th century and represent an interesting cross section of the contemporary Ottoman handicrafts.
