Quadarra or Dashna

[Interested Party]

I had been saving this piece till I had a chance to do a test etch for answers on its construction, but with Ariel bringing up quaddaras today http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27100 I thought this would be a good timed to show this piece and hopefully the two threads would feed off each other and fuel a discussion of Transcaucasian short, single edged weapons.

It appears to be a cut down saber in what I would say to be Persian/Caucasian style. The blade has had several forms in its life. There is an obvious scarf joint beginning where the edge ends and the tang begins. Three stress cracks on the spine. The area near the edge across from the cracks has a wavy feel as if it was flattened during repair. The spine curves to left over the length of the blade. The tang and the handle fit very nicely with an onion shaped pommel. Brass and white metal decorate the front of the handle. The back has washers made from what I believe to be 19th century Persian coins. The front of the blade has amazingly poor koftgari in imitation of Tiflis style, attempting duckheads and a vessel. There is a narrow, and a longer, wider fuller present. Both are well made and extend to the end of the blade. It is light and nimble in the hand. A slicer and thruster. Not a chopper. The external fittings of the sheath are brass formerly blackened. The internal fittings (throat and chafe) are iron holding wood, all covered by black decrepit leather sewn with thread.

Blade lenght;38.4 cm
Overall length of knife; 52.5 cm
Blade width; 3.8cm at base, 4.0 above the damaged area.


1) My first question is what would you call it? I do not believe it to be Khevsurian therefore I would rule out dashna, plus it is a bit small and it carries cocked towards the right hand not upright. Is it a quadarra, a kindjal, or a knife?

2) Was the blade shortened due to impact or a flaw in heat treatment? This is almost impossible to answer, as the cracks and waves in the blade can come from either, but in my experience the blade's edge stress-cracks more than the spine in quenching accidents making the damage more likely impact related. Was the blade reprofiled extensively when it was remounted? Anyone have ideas on what was it originally?

3) Tourist piece or functional weapon? Did it begin life as a functional piece? Was it remade to be a functional weapon? The fit of the handle to me argues towards functional but the scarf joint so close to the tang/handle meeting is a questionable choice.

Thanks in advance for any feedback or discussion.
I.P.