Yatagan, or yataghan (Turkish: yatağan), is a single-edged weapon that can both pierce and cut and is intermediate in size between a saber and a fascine knife due to its length and double-curved blade design. Since the kopis, falcata, kukri, and fascine all have concave blades with sharpening on the concave side, it would be a mistake to describe the yatagan’s blade form as unique. Still, the yatagan has a blade that stays the same width even when it expands all the way to its tip, while in others, their blades get wider. Nonetheless, some rare outliers do exist: In the Golden Gate Museum in Russia, you may see a yatagan with a widening blade tip.
History of the Yatagan Sword
Yatagan means “laying down” or “putting to bed with eternal sleep” in Turkish. The sword looks rather similar to a karabela.
The oldest surviving yatagans date back to the late 15th and early 16th centuries. In the 16th century, the yatagan came into widespread usage for the first time.
The concave side of its blade (the reverse bend) is exclusively sharpened on this weapon. Because the other side of the blade is actually dull. Yatagan-wielders, notably Janissaries, used this blunt side to fight weaker opponents, which became a cultural thing around the weapon.
Origin
The yatagan was considered a highly effective close-quarters weapon and was used by most types of infantrymen, including the Janissaries.
The yatagan has always been associated with the Turkish Janissaries. The Sultan supposedly banned sabers for the Janissaries to use while the country was at peace. Janissaries, feeling defenseless, avoided the law by acquiring combat knives.
This is what led to the creation of the first yatagans. Like the Egyptian khopesh, certain yatagans feature a biconcave blade, curling backward towards the base and saber-like near the tip.
Name
Yatagan means “laying down” or “putting to bed with eternal sleep” in Turkish. The sword looks rather similar to a karabela.
According to one legend, the yatagan was first forged in the southwest Turkish village of Yatagan, Mugla. This might be where the name first originated.
However, the Katagans were also a medieval Mongol tribe related to Genghis Khan, and there are also the people of Uzbekistan named Kataghan, both of which are another probable inspiration for the sword’s name.
The Turkish word yatagan, which means “belt side” or “belt back,” also describes where the fighters originally wore this sword. So, there is also that.
Who Used It?
The Ottoman Empire wasn’t the only country whose armed forces made use of the yatagan; Middle Eastern, Balkan, South Transcaucasia, and Crimean Khanate nations all had it as well. The Uruk-Hai in The Lord of the Rings were armed with yatagan as well (!), albeit rather modified ones.
Like war trophies, yatagans were often given to the Cossacks (Slavic or Turkic people). The swords gained popularity among the Transdanubian Cossacks, who fought for the Turkish sultans during the Danubian Sich (1778–1828).
Yatagans were also installed as bayonets in many French firearms and rifles of the 19th century, including the Chassepot and Comblain rifles. When mounted, the yatagan bayonet’s signature curve did not prevent muzzle loading. Once it was detached, it could once again be used as a conventional sword.
What Made Yatagan Special?
The yatagan’s tip and concave side were used for most of the weapon’s attacking and striking. This blade’s design quirks made it possible for the user to chop and cut in a single attack, inflicting two wounds at once. Both the convex side and the non-pointed edge were used for defensive parries.
The concave blade allowed for a far firmer grasp on the opponent’s blade when parrying but also sacrificed the saber’s lightning-fast counterattacks. Thus, the yatagan was not without its flaws. The bulk of European soldiers at the time, including the Cossacks, favored both curved and straight blades.
Experts in the study of weapons largely regard the yatagan as the first illustration of a practically well-formed sword. Academics see it as both a practical weapon and a prestige symbol. Even among warriors, it was a very distinctive weapon, inscribed with the owner’s name.
As a Throwing Weapon
Some writers suggest that the yatagan could be used not just for close combat but also as an efficient throwing weapon. Its distinctive blade and grip form, culminating in two “ears,” contributed to its superior flight stability. According to the Children’s Military Encyclopedia, a yatagan thrown at a distance of 100 feet (30 meters) could easily pierce a wooden target.
Design of the Yatagan Sword
You can deliver cutting and stabbing strikes with a yatagan, despite its lightweight and relatively lengthy blade. The handle’s unusual design prevents the blade from slipping out of the user’s hand when struck with a chopping blow. This cold weapon is unique in that it is only sharpened on the reverse bend of the blade, or the concave side.
Weight and Dimensions
The weight of the yatagan without a scabbard is up to 1.8 lb (0.8 kg), and with a scabbard, it is up to 2.7 lb (1.2 kg). The overall length of the weapon is up to 32 in (0.8 m); the blade length is roughly 26 in (65 cm).
Unusual Blade Design
There is no crossguard on the hilt of a yatagan, but there is an extension near the pommel for the hand’s support. The blade of a Turkish yatagan is curved upwards towards the tip, downwards near the hilt, and straightened out in between.
As a result, the tip is sharpened on both sides and is placed parallel to the handle for more efficient thrusting strikes. The blade’s reverse bend improves its chopping, stabbing, and cutting efficiency.
Since the blade is more or less straight across its midsection, it is less likely to flex laterally. Yatagan shows that the effective length of a weapon can be increased when a straight middle section is added to the blade instead of a traditional smooth bend.
Unique Handle Shape
The handle of the yatagan is often made of bone or metal. When performing chopping blows, the yatagan, like any other weapon, has a tendency to “escape” from the hand owing to the influence of centrifugal force. Therefore, clever solutions were created to enable the fighter to perform chopping attacks for a longer amount of time, even in a condition of weariness:
The palm was completely encircled by the handle, which formed distinct projections (called “ears”), and the handle occasionally continued with a support for the second hand, which was held at right angles to the blade’s straight section. There were carvings, notches, and inscriptions all over the blade and handle.
Scabbard
Like daggers, yatagans had scabbards and were carried on the belt. The scabbard might be made of wood, leather, or metal. Since there is no crossguard on the yatagan, the whole blade and a good chunk of the handle go inside the scabbard.
Yatagan’s Construction
The yatagan’s form is a derivative of older versions; for instance, the Egyptian khopesh has certain similarities with this weapon. The khopesh was an Egyptian weapon used approximately 1600 BC, during the New Kingdom. The thin, long Russian daggers, which were commonly used as a bladed weapon in Rus’ in the 16th century, and the bronze daggers of Luristan, which date back to the 3rd to 1st millennium BC in the realm of Iran, both show traces of the yatagan’s design and manufacture.
The yatagan was typically sharpened along its concave part, while some examples may have had an extra bevel along the outside edge of the blade’s top third. The blade and handle were forged together to form a single unit, with ribs added to the blade at strategic troughs. Overlays of metal, wood, or bone (ivory) were fastened using specific rivets to decorate the handle.
Scabbards protected the weapon and were often crafted from wood, with leather or metal decorations. The yatagan was worn on the belt like any other knife. With the scabbard, the weapon weighed about 2.7 lb or 1.2 kg which means the sword weighed 1.8 lb (0.8 kg).
It was common practice to adorn both the blade and the scabbard with designs inspired by geometry and nature. There were two different uses for these patterns:
- In one design, the sword was carved out, and the resulting holes were filled with molten metal (usually gold or silver). Due to the expensive nature of this method, it was seldom employed.
- In the second method, the decorations were hand-woven from gold or silver wire and then fastened to the weapon’s handle, blade, or scabbard. Gold, silver, and valuable stones were used to decorate them.
Inscriptions were often added to yatagan, and they could contain a prayer, an old saying, a proverb, a poem, the name of the creator, the year it was made, and the owner’s name.
Characteristics of This Weapon
- High-quality steel was used to craft the yatagan, and the use of Eastern Damascus steel for the blade is what gives it its special qualities. The cold did not weaken such a blade, and neither did the occasional nick in its surface. Even with a notch spanning a third of the blade’s width, genuine Damascus resisted further cracking.
- Despite its many iterations, the yatagan’s wall thickness never exceeded 0.12 in (3 mm), a feature that contributed to the weapon’s portability and agility.
- The yatagan’s “ears” were the protruding projections (pommels) that extended to the right and left of the handle. These “ears,” in addition to looking good, had the practical purpose of keeping the blade in the user’s hands during a strike and making drawing the weapon from its scabbard a breeze.
- The blade of a yatagan is one of its defining characteristics since it does not broaden as it approaches the tip. A yatagan with an elongated blade, however, is one of the exceptions, and it can be seen at the Golden Gate Museum in Vladimir, Russia.
- The yatagan was versatile; it was designed to be used with either hand.
- The weapon lacks a crossguard, which allows for unobstructed combat maneuvers, and the grip is designed specifically to prevent the blade from accidentally slipping out.
Yatagan Varieties
- The Istanbul Yatagan is a telltale sign that a Yatagan was crafted in the Turkish capital. The finest bladesmiths from throughout the globe aspired to make Istanbul their permanent home, bringing with them their own distinct styles of blade-making and an array of materials and finishes.
- The Anatolian Yatagan is distinguished by a wide variety of blade curves and complex shapes, especially in larger sizes. Copper and silver accents were utilized sparingly on the handle, which was otherwise composed mostly of bone. The blade was likewise elaborately decorated.
- The Balkan Yatagan, which was primarily distinguished by its silver fittings, was crafted in the Balkan region. The silver filigree work on the handle of this weapon was exquisite. Both the ‘ears’ and the ‘head’ were angular.
- The Eastern Anatolian Yatagan sets itself apart from other varieties by its modest length, curved blade, simplicity of shape, and basic finishing. It was produced in the province of the modern-day Caucasus. Metal was often used for the handle, and the ‘ears’ were usually rather far apart. The workmanship is usually sloppy, and there are typos in the inscriptions.
Myths and Legends Surrounding the Yatagan
- Claim: As a throwing weapon, the ‘ears’ on the grip were designed to stabilize the flight of the sword when it was thrown.
- Fact: According to one source, the maximum possible distance for throwing the sword was 100 feet (30 m). But this claim is very dubious since actual testing has proven that the furthest you can throw the sword is only around 16–20 feet (5–6 m).
- Claim: The “ears” on the yatagan’s handle were designed specifically as a support bracket for rifles.
- Fact: The length of the yatagan is obviously too short for this, and it is far simpler to lay on the ground with a rifle and shoot from this posture than to stand bent or on the knees.
- Claim: Yatagan was the weapon of equestrianism.
- Fact: A mounted warrior is often depicted carrying a yatagan in works of historical fiction. In actuality, it is useless in equestrian combat because of its small weight and odd shape. The yatagan was one of the most dangerous weapons for an infantryman to go up against in close quarters.
- Claim: Yatagan was solely used by the Turkish Janissaries.
- Fact: Many countries in the Middle East and the Far East had access to these swords, including those in North Africa, Egypt, Russia, South Transcaucasia, and the Balkans. Not only did the regular army use these weapons, but so did the irregulars; the infamous “bashi-bazouk” (Turkish meaning “uncontrollable” or “sick in the head”) detachments were notorious for their courage.
- Claim: A Turkish Janissary armed with a yatagan was merciless.
- Fact: A unique culture emerged with the skill of yatagan-wielding; when the owner of a yatagan, including a Janissary, faced a lesser opponent, he would fight using the yatagan’s blunt side instead of the deadly sharp side.
Yatagans in Museums
Only a handful of the original Yatagans survived. The oldest surviving yatagans date back to the late 15th and early 16th centuries. These relics were presumably sent as gifts to the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, they never took part in any fighting and were well-preserved. They were nevertheless a symbol of social standing.
Some of the oldest and best-preserved yatagans are on display in museums now. Most of these specimens do not include the distinctive “ears” on their grips because pommels with these extensions began to appear in the 17th century.
The first known example of this weapon is Suleiman the Magnificent’s yatagan, which dates back to 1525 or 1526. The blade is engraved with the owner’s name and the names of the weapon’s creator, Ahmed Tekelü, and “Yatagan Suleiman the Magnificent.” The phoenix and a dragon are carved in relief on the weapon’s handle, which points to Chinese inspiration. Gold notches decorate the leaves and stems. The weapon’s handle is made of ivory, and it doesn’t have any “ears.” The handle is additionally embellished with valuable stones, including rubies, and a variety of decorative methods. The Topkapi Palace in Istanbul is now housing this exhibit. The overall length, including the handle and the slightly curved blade, is 26 in (0.66 m), and the blade’s tip is curled outward. The edge of the blade is sharpened on the inside.
The second yatagan also dates to the same time period (c. 1526–1527) and was also owned by Suleiman the Magnificent. The same great artist, Ahmed Tekelü, is credited with creating both. Pearls, rubies, turquoise, gold, and silver were utilized for the embellishment. The blade is 18.4 in (46.7 cm) long, making the total length of the sword 23.4 in (59.3 cm); it weighs 1.52 lb (691 gr) without its scabbard. The ivory grip doesn’t have any ‘ears,’ either. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA, is home to this one-of-a-kind work, which they also called a “short sword.”
There is every reason to think that Ahmed bin Hersek Han’s yatagan is the work of master Ahmed Tekelü, since its outward characteristics and age are very similar to those of the yatagans of Suleiman the Magnificent. It was likely not designed for use in battle and has a beautiful ornamentation style from the early 16th century.
Towards the end of the 16th century, master craftsman Mustapha bin Kamal al-Ashkeri created Sultan Bayezid II’s yatagan for the eighth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The weapon is elaborately decorated with Arabic calligraphy that includes the name of the Sultan. The handle has no “ears” to keep the blade in the hand, although it does include a lanyard hole. The blade is somewhat curved; it expands in its middle section and narrows as it approaches its point. It is presently shown in Doha, Qatar, at the Museum of Islamic Art.