I have purchased this sword while deployed to afghanistan from a local afghan. He said the sword was used in the afghan army but couldnt give a time frame, though it looks somewhat antique. i have restored the sword as best i can right now (removing loads of rust, cleaning, oiling, conditioning the sheath, etc. the sheath has what appears ot be the national seal of afghanistan. If someone could provide any info on this sword I would appreciate it.

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afghan seal

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afghan sword [ Download ]

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grip [ Download ]

Hi Bryan,

Disclaimer: I know almost nothing about Afghan swords specifically.

That said, the verifiable Afghan army swords I've seen have copied European styles (or styles fashionable in Europe) and the 19th century Afghan arms and armor I've seen (swords, rifles etc) have featured the coat of arms, a domed mosque flanked by two flags in the center of a star. On swords this is stamped on the blade, near the hilt.

As a general comment, I would say the sword looks too new, there does not seem to be a natural patina.

i did spend many hours with various tools, stones, oils, etc, cleaning the various rust, stains, pitting and other discolorations. maybe i should have taken a photo of when i first received it. the sword has no stamp or marking that i noticed, but looked between 10-30 years old when i purchased it. I purchased it as a gift for a friend and would like to restore it to like new quality, so hopefully it looks even better soon. thanks for the response

My humble opinion would be that it was never intended for military use. Perhaps ceremonial ? The hilt,which appears to be one piece, cast in brass, definately reminds me of a cheap replica sword. The garish details and uneven lines don't show the attention to detail that you would see in a sword meant for business,so to speak. In contrast,observe this example here,also from Afghanistan http://art-of-swords.tumblr.com/post/50508865...dated-18th

The scabbard is rather intriguing,to me it looks like it may not have even orignally belonged to the sword, and is made with a bit more attention to detail. It's hard to tell with these sorts of things though... if only it could talk,right? And I also will state that i am certainly no expert on Middle-Eastern swords.

Also,I could be wrong,but it almost looks as if the coat of arms was added to the scabbard at a later date.

the Afghan that i bought it from did say the sword was only ceremonial, and may not have been a standard issue sword, who knows... the scabbard is wooden, covered with some type of animal skin. the seller had two of these swords. i believed that they appered to be between 10-30 years old, so not really an antique, but still a piece of history, just dont know exactly what piece. thanks for the insight

I spent about 3 years in afghanistan and have a lot of Afghan swords

That is not an Afghan sword, that is an Afghan antique made yesterday as we use to say

The only thing that was worth anything is the Gazni crest on the mouth of the scabbard and that has been ruined by the nails put through it. Even that is a late period 1970s peace.

You can find my collection hear for comparison
http://abnsmith.deviantart.com/gallery/
sorry, you were taken by an Afghan merchant

yeah i figured it wasnt an actual antique, the merchant didnt know much about it.