On blades of daggers and shashkas used by the Terek Cossack Host in the late 19th to early 20th centuries

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Talantov S. V. (2023). O klinkah kinzhalov i shashek, bytovavshih u kazakov Terskogo kazach’ego vojska v konce XIX – nachale XX veka [On blades of daggers and shashkas used by the Terek Cossack Host in the late 19th to early 20th centuries]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 12, pp. 316 — 392. Talantov S. V. Abstract: The issues related to cold weapons of the Terek Cossack Host do not receive much attention in the known publications on Russian, Caucasian and Cossack historical arms. This may be due to the fact that the study of daggers and shashkas required research both of the production at the Zlatoust Arms Factory and in the Caucasus. This article is supposed to fill this gap. The article investigates the orders of shashkas and daggers at the Zlatoust Arms Factory. Most information about these arms is published for the first time. Regarding local Caucasian arms…

The Barrel Department and the Kremlin Armoury. Military Arms Manufacture at the Moscow Velvet Yard in 1700–1707

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Chubinsky A.N. (2023). Stvol’nyj prikaz i Oruzhejnaja palata. Proizvodstvo stroevogo oruzhija na moskovskom Barhatnom dvore v 1700–1707 gg. [The Barrel Department and the Kremlin Armoury. Military Arms Manufacture at the Moscow Velvet Yard in 1700–1707]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 12, pp. 163 — 222. Chubinsky A.N. Abstract: This research is the first attempt to collect reliable data on Russian Barrel Department (Stvolny Prikaz) which functioned from 1630s till 1700 as an independent state establishment, and from 1700 to 1711 as a structural part of the Moscow Armory Chamber. The office of the Barrel Department, its workshops and storehouses were located at the Velvet Yard (Barkhatny Dvor), which was founded in 1630s as a silk workshop. The Velvet Yard was built on the bank of the Moskva River outside the Kremlin walls. The Barrel Department’s archive dated before 1700 was unfortunately lost. Thanks to a large number of surviving…

Gunsmith Johann Joachim Grecke in Russia. New Biographical Data

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Efimov Y.G., Rodionov E.A. (2023). Oruzhejnik Iogann Ioahim Greke v Rossii – novye dannye biografii [Gunsmith Johann Joachim Grecke in Russia. New Biographical Data]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 12, pp. 56 — 67. Efimov Y.G., Rodionov E.A. Abstract: As in almost all other branches of developing Russian industry of the 18th century, foreign specialists played a significant role in weapon manufacture by working in factories or organizing their own workshops. Johann Adolf Grecke [son of Johann Joachim Grecke, a famous Stockholm gunsmith of German origin] was a particularly notable gunsmith among so-called “Russian foreigners” in Saint Petersburg. Information about his biography is highly scarce and contradictory. According to Russian weaponology literature, Johann Adolf was invited to Russia among other foreign masters in the 1760s, he became the gunsmith at the court of Catherine II in the 1770s and he was the head of the Rustkammer since the 1780s. His…

Fates of museologists and museum items. To the biography of K. Z. Kavtaradze

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Neratova E.I. (2023). Sud’by muzejshhikov i muzejnyh predmetov. K biografii K. Z. Kavtaradze [Fates of museologists and museum items. To the biography of K. Z. Kavtaradze]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 12, pp. 223 — 262. Neratova E. I. Abstract: This article is an attempt to show that circumstances affect not only fates of countries and people… but also fates of museum objects. And in this regard, the author presents four items of Caucasian arms (one dagger and three sabers), as well as describes the error that occurred during the registration of three of them in the museum collection and restores the collector’s name – Konstantin Zurabovich Kavtaradze (1879 – 1941). The fate of K.Z. Kavtaradze himself was quite unusual: a talented portrait painter, an art teacher who successfully tried himself in dental prosthetics, a creator of anthropological mannequins of the Ethnographic Department of the Russian Museum (now Russian…

Kubachi arms in Russian Museum of Ethnography. Part 1: Items acquired for the museum by E. M. Shilling

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Neratova E.I. (2023). Kubachinskoe oruzhie v Rossijskom jetnograficheskom muzee. Chast’ 1: Predmety, priobretennye dlja muzeja E. M. Shillingom [Kubachi arms in Russian Museum of Ethnography. Part 1: Items acquired for the museum by E. M. Shilling]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 12, pp. 68 — 108. Neratova E. I. Abstract: By this material, the author begins a series of articles on Kubachi arms presented in the collection of Russian Museum of Ethnography (RME). Each article deals with items acquired for the museum by different collectors. This one is dedicated to items acquired by Evgeniy Mikhailovich Shilling (1892 – 1953), a famous ethnographer and caucasiologist. In addition to description and attribution of items themselves, the article addresses some issues that will help to better present a number of features peculiar to Kubachi culture, as well as its place and role in the Caucasus. Expeditions led by E.M. Shilling were conducted…

Analysis of Traditional Georgian Terminology for Bulat and Damascus Steel

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Dvalishvili L.B. (2023). Analiz gruzinskoj tradicionnoj terminologii, oboznachajushhej bulat i damasskuju stal’ [Analysis of Traditional Georgian Terminology for Bulat and Damascus Steel]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 12, pp. 109 — 162. Dvalishvili L. B. Abstract: The article deals with historically established Georgian terminology for Bulat and Damascus steel[1]. Samples of Damascus steel products have been seen in Georgia since the early Iron Age. The most ancient Bulat steel product in Georgia is a sword which was found by archaeologists in the Daryal Gorge and dates back to 1000 A.D. Analysis of existed terminology is performed using a comparative etymological analysis of specialized metallurgical terms, explanatory dictionaries and fragments of literary monuments. The author also relies on materials of field ethnographic research and takes into account historical cultural contacts of Georgia with neighbouring civilizations of the Near East. The article notes that in the Georgian spoken and literary language it…

Armoury Row in Tiflis from the 1630s to the 1920s

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Dvalishvili L.B. (2023). Oruzhejnyj rjad v Tiflise v 30-h godah XVII – 20-h godah XX veka [Armoury Row in Tiflis from the 1630s to the 1920s]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 12, pp. 4 — 55. Dvalishvili L. B. Abstract: For years Tiflis used to be a major economic center of the Caucasus. Its arms were well known and valued outside the region. Arms workshops were located in different areas of Tiflis, but most of them were concentrated in Armoury Row, which, at least since the 1630s, was located in the historic district between Sioni Cathedral and Anchiskhati Basilica, in the western part of King Square. It was probably due to King Rostom that rows of arms workshops were established in the form which remained until the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti was annexed by Russia. He moved the royal palace to the area between Sioni Cathedral and Anchiskhati Basilica and began…

Reconstruction of the Mounted Swordsmanship System According to “Rules and Regulations for the Sword Exercise of the Cavalry” With the Use of the Original Pattern 1796 Light Cavalry Sword

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Zvjagincev M.I. (2023). Opyt rekonstrukcii sistemy konnogo fehtovanija po «Pravilam i nastavlenijam po uprazhnenijam s mechom v kavalerii» s ispol’zovaniem originalov sabli legkoj kavalerii obr. 1796 g. [Reconstruction of the Mounted Swordsmanship System According to “Rules and Regulations for the Sword Exercise of the Cavalry” With the Use of the Original Pattern 1796 Light Cavalry Sword]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 12, pp. 263 — 315. Zvjagincev M.I. Abstract: The article analyzes reconstruction results of the mounted swordsmanship system developed by John Gaspard Le Marchant in his “Rules and Regulations for the Sword Exercise of the Cavalry”. The analysis is applied to the Pattern 1796 Light Cavalry sword which was presented in two original copies. Experiments, including performance of horse-riding techniques, established the aspects of adapting the Pattern 1796 Light Cavalry sword to the requirements of Regulations. The article reveals the peculiarities of sword techniques which either were not directly…

The Legend of “berendeika”. Historical and Linguistic Note

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Kurbatov O. A. (2021). Legenda o berendejke. Istoriko-lingvisticheskaja zametka [The Legend of “berendeika”. Historical and linguistic note]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 11, pp. 150 — 170. Kurbatov O. A. Abstract: The article is dedicated to simultaneous existence of two terms for a bandelier* in Russian historiography. One of them is bandeler which has occurred in documents since 1631 with a large number of variant readings. The word bandeler itself was borrowed unchanged from Western European military terminology alongside with other terms for items of equipment not yet known in Russia. The second term is berendeika which first occurred in the Military Dictionary by General Tuchkov S.A. in 1818. Tuchkov substituted the term bandeler with berendeika based on erroneous etymology. However, the final establishment of the word berendeika in military historical and reference literature due to its use in “Historical description of the clothes and weapons of Russian troops,…

Russian Combat Knives of XIV–XVII Centuries: Classification Error and Authentic Artefacts of the Kremlin Armoury Collection

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Novoselov V. R. (2021). Russkie boevye nozhi XIV–XVII vekov: proishozhdenie mifa i podlinnye pamjatniki iz sobranija Oruzhejnoj palaty [Russian combat knives of XIV–XVII centuries: classification error and authentic artefacts of the Kremlin Armoury collection]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 11, pp. 106 — 149. Novoselov V. R. Abstract: The article explores a set of historical arms which were published with illustrations as Russian combat knives of XIV–XVII centuries in “Historical description of the clothes and weapons of Russian troops, with illustrations” (1841) by Viskovatov A.V. The author manages to confirm the fact that all six depicted knives match real pieces of short blade arms that are still kept in the Kremlin Armoury. The author compares illustrations from Viskovatov’s publication with information from archival documents and attribution of these artifacts based on their modern scientific classification and data from written sources. However, it becomes clear that none of the artifacts…

Arms Production in Adjaro-Gurian region in the end of 18th – early 20th Сentury

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Dvalishvili D. B., Talantov S. V. (2021). O proizvodstve oruzhija v Adzharii i Gurii v XVIII-XIX vekah [Arms Production in Agjara and Guria in the 18th – early 20th Сenturyy]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 11, pp. 40 — 105. Dvalishvili L. B., Talantov S. V. Abstract: Arms produced in Adjara and Guria have long been barely described in Russian studies of Cauсasian historical arms, although there are numerous items of Adjarian and Gurian production in private and museum collections. The region of Adjara and Guria (located in the southwestern part of Georgia on the eastern coast of the Black Sea) included a part of historical territory of Shavsheti Machakheli, Adjara, Lower and Upper Guria, eastern Lazistan (currently part of Georgia) and a part of modern Turkey. There are numerous traces of medieval iron production by smelting local ores in the region. By the second half of the XVIII…

Kabardian Craftsmen in the XVIII Century: Production and Decoration of Arms

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Talantov S. V. (2021). O proizvodstve i ukrashenii oruzhija kabardinskimi masterami v XVIII veke [Kabardian craftsmen in the XVIII century: production and decoration of arms]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 11, pp. 21 — 39. Talantov S. V. Abstract: The article covers the issue of production and decoration of arms by Kabardian craftsmen in the XVIII century. The topic is determined by the fact that Circassians (also Cherkashenins, Cherkess) in Russian historical records of this period might have been a collective term for numerous representatives of Adyghe nation including Kabardians, Trans-Kuban and Black Sea Adyghe. Based on this probability, the author attempts to identify origins of craftsmen through analysis of written sources and documents. The article emphasizes the importance of economic factors in the study of arms production in the region and the population (i.e., its nationalities, class division, etc.) which used to create demand for arms. In this…

Iconography of Kite-Shields in the Western European Manuscripts of the Late X-XI Centuries

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Rybel D. A. (2021). Ikonografija mindalevidnyh shitov v manuskriptah Zapadnoj Evropy konca X-XI vekov [Iconography of kite-shields in the Western European manuscripts of the late X-XI centuries]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 11, pp. 8 — 20. Rybel D. A. Abstract: The article focuses on how such an item of protective equipment as a kite-shield appeared and was illustrated in Western European manuscript illuminations of the XI century. Archaeological data is insufficient for a full-scale study of shields of the XI century, and therefore the study of pictorial sources is of particular importance. However, the number of pictorial sources is quite large so the research was deliberately limited to analysis of miniatures from manuscripts in the first place. The author critically examines all available manuscripts of the end of the X-XI centuries which contain images of such shields and groups them by geography (France, England, Spain, Germany, Italy). The…

The Mysterious Mark of “Gevork”

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Neratova E. I. (2021). Snova o zagadochnom Gevorke [The Mysterious Mark of “Gevork”]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 10, pp. 69 — 77. Neratova E. I. Abstract: This article provides further analysis and interpretation of an inscription found within a stamp on some of Tiflis daggers. Previously, it was proposed that such a stamp contained the name “Heraclius” and, accordingly, these daggers were attributed to the works of the armory workshop of the king of the Kartli-Kakhetian kingdom of the late 18th century. In 2014, the author’s study indicated the absence of the name “Heraclius” within the stamp and suggested that the correct reading of the inscription gives the name “Gevo” (Gevork).  It was made evident through his study that these blades were manufactured by this Tiflis master in the early 19th century. In the present study, the author provides a detailed analysis of his interpretation of the inscription…