Talantov S. (2019). Klejma oruzhejnikov iz Kazi-Kumuha (Dagestan) serediny XIX veka na francuzskom jazyke [French-language Marks of Blade Smiths from Kazi-Kumukh (Dagestan) in the 19th Century]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 7, pp. 108 — 115.

S. Talantov

Abstract: The problematics of the investigation of Dagestan weapons dating back to the first half- middle of the 19th century stems from the absence of the background information about the masters due to the continuing military campaigns in the Eastern and Southern Caucasus during the Caucasian war. The Lak village of Kazi-Kumukh is famous as the motherland of seasonal masters such as widely known Guzun Guzunov, Osman Omarov and others who worked in Vladikavkaz in the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century. Kazi-Kumukh was the principal village of the Kazi-Kumukh khanate and one of the centers of the weapon manufacturing in Dagestan. The author managed to find and attribute shashka blades dating back to the 19th century which were marked with the names of the Kazi-Kumukh masters, written in French. Consequently, the author not only ascertained the names of two novel blade smiths but on the grounds of the specific features of the attributed blades provided the basis for the future researches and discovery of other novel names.

Keywords: shashka, Caucasus weapons, marks