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		#1 | 
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			 Member 
			
			
			
				
			
			Join Date: Sep 2014 
				Location: Austria 
				
				
					Posts: 1,912
				 
				
				
				
				
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			Can somebody please translate he koftgari on my Ottoman bichaq?!   
		
		
		
			 
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		#2 | 
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			Join Date: May 2019 
				
				
				
					Posts: 156
				 
				
				
				
				
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			The main inscription is, including the spelling mistakes that are typical on pieces of this type 
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
			لا فتا الا علي لا سيف الا ذا الفقار ما شاء الله "There is no hero but 'Ali, no sword but Dhu'l-Fiqar. What God wills" The date at the end is ambiguous, but my suggestion would be (سنة ٢٨٠(١ . "Year (1)280 (1863-4)" The Ottomans often omitted the initial one for a thousand, which I think is the case here. There is what could be a one beneath the main inscription, but I've never seen it placed there in that way. Last edited by kwiatek; 15th December 2019 at 11:17 AM.  | 
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		#3 | |
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			Join Date: Sep 2014 
				Location: Austria 
				
				
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			 Quote: 
	
 Thank you very much! You made my day!  
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		#4 | 
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			Join Date: May 2019 
				
				
				
					Posts: 156
				 
				
				
				
				
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			Welcome! Thank you for posting. I made a typo in the date, which I've corrected now
		 
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
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		#5 | 
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			Join Date: Jun 2013 
				
				
				
					Posts: 2,145
				 
				
				
				
				
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			I hope you noticed that Marius blade is hightly polished. 
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
	He is our Polish specialist  
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		#6 | |
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			 Member 
			
			
			
				
			
			Join Date: Sep 2014 
				Location: Austria 
				
				
					Posts: 1,912
				 
				
				
				
				
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			 Quote: 
	
 ![]() Polish specialist... not so much... Yet, I polished the blade but then I etched it so the wootz pattern is very visible. ![]() The photos are not accurate as they were modified so that the koftgari is more visible, then they were compressed & reduced in size. Last edited by mariusgmioc; 15th December 2019 at 09:14 PM.  | 
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		#7 | |
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			Join Date: Jan 2016 
				Location: Chino, CA. 
				
				
					Posts: 219
				 
				
				
				
				
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			 Quote: 
	
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