Turkish/Armenian sword

ariel · 22nd June 2007, 11:51 PM

Ottoman Empire, especially in its beginning and middle age, was a fascinating societal phenomenon. It had state-maintained hospitals, homes for the elderly and hostels for the travellers. It allowed incredible degree ( for the time, especially when compared with Europe) of cultural and religious freedom and authonomy. Local "flavors" were flourishing, and it is not surprising that we can see weapons of a general Ottoman pattern, but unmistakably " local". Quoting Daskalov& Kovacheva's book "Weaponry of the past":
" In the course of half a milennium, Turkey remained a country of paradoxes where nothing was impossible. Savage fanaticism and surprising religious tolerance, brutal oppression and the magnanimity of knights, orderly state organization and astonishing anarchy, a first rate legal system and boundless arbitrary rule, all these existed hand in hand...This is to be seen particularly clearly in matters bound up with the production and possession of arms."
This is coming from the Bulgarians, whose country was dominated by the Ottomans for several centuries!
In a way, in many regards it was very similar to the Roman Empire, just not as well administered

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22nd June 2007, 11:51 PM	#10
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Ottoman Empire, especially in its beginning and middle age, was a fascinating societal phenomenon. It had state-maintained hospitals, homes for the elderly and hostels for the travellers. It allowed incredible degree ( for the time, especially when compared with Europe) of cultural and religious freedom and authonomy. Local "flavors" were flourishing, and it is not surprising that we can see weapons of a general Ottoman pattern, but unmistakably " local". Quoting Daskalov& Kovacheva's book "Weaponry of the past": " In the course of half a milennium, Turkey remained a country of paradoxes where nothing was impossible. Savage fanaticism and surprising religious tolerance, brutal oppression and the magnanimity of knights, orderly state organization and astonishing anarchy, a first rate legal system and boundless arbitrary rule, all these existed hand in hand...This is to be seen particularly clearly in matters bound up with the production and possession of arms." This is coming from the Bulgarians, whose country was dominated by the Ottomans for several centuries! In a way, in many regards it was very similar to the Roman Empire, just not as well administered