Quote:
Originally Posted by ariel
Yes, Shia.
My guess , this pseudo-shashka was not made in Afghanistan by the local Shia, Hazara or Quizilbash. Afghani-made weapons are usually simple and pretty crude.
I would guess it came from Iran, where there are significant diasporas of both tribes.
Shia Muslims were persecuted in Afghanistan and emigrated in droves. Just to mention wholesale slaughter and displacement of Hazaras by Abdurrahman in the early 1890s: it is claimed that fully half of their population were killed by government forces.
In Iran they settled in Khorasan, a famed arms- manufacturing province. That might explain the sophistication of that sword.
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Just to add a bit, yes the blade is Persian, however the scabbard fittings and Handle is clearly Afghan. This was a trade blade that a local sword cutler used to create an Afghan style Shashka.
In the late 19th century many of these cutlers were Bukharans who settled in Kabul- their main clientele at this point would have been Afghan Army officers who wanted a fancy private purchase sword as opposed to their bland government issued piece.