A shamshir () is a type of Persian/Iranian sword with a radical curve. The name is derived from the Persian word ''shamshīr'', which is made of two words ''sham'' ("fang") and ''shir'' ("lion"). The curved " scimitar" sword family includes the shamshir,

kilij A kilij (from Turkish language, Turkish ''kılıç'', literally "sword") is a type of one-handed, single-edged and curved scimitar used by the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk Empire, Timurid Empire, Mamluk Empire, Ottoman Empire, and other Turkic khanat ...

talwar The talwar (), also spelled talwaar and tulwar, is a type of curved sword or sabre from the Indian subcontinent. Etymology and classification The word ''talwar'' originated from the Sanskrit Language, Sanskrit word ''taravāri'' () which means ...

pulwar The pulwar or pulouar () is a single-handed curved sword originating in Afghanistan. Origin The pulwar originated alongside other scimitar-type weapons such as the Arab Arab sword, saif, the Persian shamshir, the Turkish kilij, and the Indian ta ...

, and nimcha. A ''shamshir shekargar'' () is the same as a ''shamshir'', except the blade is engraved and decorated, usually with hunting scenes.

Description

Originally, Persian swords were straight and double edged. Curved sabre blades were Central Asian in origin. There is considerable disagreement between historians as to when these curved blades were first introduced from

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

into

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and over what period they became adopted and modified into the recognizable Shamshir. Curved blades began to appear in Persia in the 9th century, when these weapons were used by soldiers in the Khorasan region of Central Asia but were not widely adopted. The sword now called a "shamshir" was developed in Persia over a period of time following influence from the Turkic Seljuk Khanate in the 12th century, the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

of the 13th century, and finally taking a form distinct from earlier sabres by the 16th century. The Shamshir had "relatives" in Turkey (the

), the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

(the

), and the adjoining

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

world (the saif). Over the years blades might be produced in India or the Ottoman empire and rehilted in Persia, and vice versa leading to mongrel swords. The shamshir is a curved sword, featuring a slim blade that has almost no taper until the very tip. Instead of being worn upright (hilt-high), it is worn horizontally, with the hilt and tip pointing up. It was normally used for slashing unarmored opponents either on foot or mounted; while the tip could be used for thrusting, the drastic curvature of blade made accuracy more difficult. It has an offset pommel, and its two lengthy quillons form a simple crossguard. The tang of the blade is covered by slabs of bone, ivory, wood, or other material fastened by pins or rivets to form the grip. Many of the older Persian shamshir blades are made from high quality crucible wootz steel and are noted for the fine "watering" on the blades.

Etymology

Although the name has been associated by

popular etymology A false etymology (fake etymology or pseudo-etymology) is a false theory about the origin or derivation of a specific word or phrase. When a false etymology becomes a popular belief in a cultural/linguistic community, it is a folk etymology (or po ...

with the city of Shamshir (which in turn means "curved like the lion's claw" in Persian) the word has been used to mean "sword" since ancient times, as attested by

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

''shamshir'' ( Pahlavi ''šmšyl''), and the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

σαμψήρα / ''sampsēra'' (glossed as "foreign sword"). "Shamshir" is usually taken to be the root of the word scimitar, the latter being a broader term.A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, By George Cameron Stone, Donald J. LaRocca, 1999, pg. 550
/ref>

References

External links

Middle Eastern swords Persian words and phrases Single-edged swords Iranian inventions Turkish inventions Iranian martial arts Weapons of Iran Weapons of the Ottoman Empire Weapons of Ukraine category:Sabres {{Iran-hist-stub

Description

Etymology

See also

References

External links