An interesting passage on yatagans

ariel · 19th September 2006, 04:13 PM

The old-timers always grumble, grumble, grumble...
The era of the sword was coming to an end. Firearms beat them to a punch.
Ottomans were quite late to recognize it and as a result lost several crucial wars (and the whole Empire ...).
Starting at about that time they invited the Germans to re-organize their military; the new swords were pretty yucky, but the seeds of future victories were planted. In the immortal comment from the "Graduate" ,I have only one word for you: Gallipoli.

Zifir · 19th September 2006, 06:56 PM

I don't want to be taken as a romaticist

It is just very interesting for me how yatagan became a distinguished symbol for the old order while the new order was symbolized with bayonet. Beyond these symbols, of course, what was at the stake was completely a different issue.

I was thinking if yatagan became the symbol for the old military order, did their manufacture come to a sudden halt in Istanbul after the 1820s?

ariel · 19th September 2006, 07:23 PM

Oh, no!
There are many, many yataghans dated second half of the 19th century. Many gorgeous ones, so your Old Turk was just a "Negative Nancy": Yataghan remained a symbol of Ottoman masculinity for a long time!
I do not recall seeing any of the 20th century (maybe one or two).
But then, again, Yataghans were produced in a multitude of former Ottoman "colonies" and I would guess that they got extinct even later....

19th September 2006, 04:13 PM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	The old-timers always grumble, grumble, grumble... The era of the sword was coming to an end. Firearms beat them to a punch. Ottomans were quite late to recognize it and as a result lost several crucial wars (and the whole Empire ...). Starting at about that time they invited the Germans to re-organize their military; the new swords were pretty yucky, but the seeds of future victories were planted. In the immortal comment from the "Graduate" ,I have only one word for you: Gallipoli.

19th September 2006, 06:56 PM	#2
Zifir Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Istanbul Posts: 228	I don't want to be taken as a romaticist It is just very interesting for me how yatagan became a distinguished symbol for the old order while the new order was symbolized with bayonet. Beyond these symbols, of course, what was at the stake was completely a different issue. I was thinking if yatagan became the symbol for the old military order, did their manufacture come to a sudden halt in Istanbul after the 1820s?

19th September 2006, 07:23 PM	#3
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Oh, no! There are many, many yataghans dated second half of the 19th century. Many gorgeous ones, so your Old Turk was just a "Negative Nancy": Yataghan remained a symbol of Ottoman masculinity for a long time! I do not recall seeing any of the 20th century (maybe one or two). But then, again, Yataghans were produced in a multitude of former Ottoman "colonies" and I would guess that they got extinct even later....