18th century AD. A hammer-welded single-edged blade with swept profile, cast guard with saw-tooth profile, wooden grip with projecting ears; silver-inlaid panels to each face, one with calligraphic inscription comprising Qur'anic verses. See Nicolle, D., Armies of the Ottoman Empire 1775-1820, London, 1998; Tirri, A.C., Islamic Weapons: Maghrib to Moghul, Indigo, 2003. 729 grams, 72cm (28 1/4"). Property of a London gentleman; acquired in the 1970s. The yataghan is a long knife or short sabre that lacks a guard for the hand at the juncture of blade and hilt and that usually has a double-curve to the edge and an almost straight back. It was one of the favoured side-arms of the Janissary infantry regiments in the 18th-19th centuries AD. These yataghans were carried by the Zeibeks, who lived on the Ionian coast, around Smyrna. Condition Report Very fine condition.