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Old 13th December 2019, 10:02 PM   #1
mariusgmioc
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Default Ottoman bicaq for translation

Can somebody please translate he koftgari on my Ottoman bichaq?!
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Old 15th December 2019, 09:32 AM   #2
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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 10:17 AM.
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Old 15th December 2019, 09:48 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwiatek
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 (1864-59)"

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.

Thank you very much!

You made my day!
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Old 15th December 2019, 10:18 AM   #4
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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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Old 15th December 2019, 01:08 PM   #5
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I hope you noticed that Marius blade is hightly polished.
He is our Polish specialist
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Old 15th December 2019, 02:14 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kubur
I hope you noticed that Marius blade is hightly polished.
He is our Polish specialist
Specialist?! Absolutely!

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.
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Last edited by mariusgmioc; 15th December 2019 at 08:14 PM.
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Old 23rd December 2019, 01:43 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwiatek
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.
So is that a shorthand then? Kind of like if I were to write 19' instead of 2019?
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