Yatagan, Khanda, and Jamdhar: Swords and Sabers of Persia and India

The important role that edged weaponry played in early Persia is evidenced by the region’s long history of metallurgic science, the sword’s mention in poetry, and its use as a sidearm to cavalry employing lance, mace, and bow. Edged weaponry proved no less important to the Ottoman Turks, who depicted the two-edged sword of Othman on the standard carried by the disciplined recruits, the corps of Janissaries, who served the sultan and defended the conquered Christian territories.

India, which ...