Hand-Forged Persian Shamshir, Upswept Point

The hilt is. The blade is not, quite, and we would rather open with that than let you find out. A shamshir hilt is compact, built from slab scales pinned through the tang, and finishes in a pronounced angled or hooked butt. That is exactly what this has.

A shamshir BLADE is narrow, of near-constant width, deeply and continuously curved, and runs out to a fine point. This blade is deeply curved and single-edged, but it broadens through the forward section and finishes in a wide upswept point. That is closer to the Ottoman kilij family than to the Persian one. We sell it as a Persian shamshir because the hilt, the curve and the whole character of the sword belong there, and because the name in the title tells you about the point before you have scrolled anywhere.

Because it was forged that way, and it changes what the sword does. A narrow constant-width blade puts very little mass out toward the tip, which is what makes a true shamshir feel almost weightless and cut by speed and draw rather than by weight. Broadening the forward section does the opposite: it moves mass forward, which gives the cut more authority and costs you some of the quickness.

Neither is wrong. They are two different answers to the same problem, and the broader one is the answer the Ottoman smiths preferred. What we will not do is call this a narrow Persian blade while showing you a broad one. If you want the narrow profile, see FAQ 5.

Three of those are real weapons and one is a word Europeans used when they did not know which. Scimitar is an exonym, applied carelessly for centuries to almost any curved Eastern sword, and it survives because it is the term English speakers still search for. It describes a shape, not a type.

The three real ones separate cleanly. A shamshir is Persian: narrow blade, dramatic continuous curve, compact slab hilt with an angled butt. An Ottoman kilij is generally broader and often carries a yelman, a widened flared section toward the point that puts authority into the last few inches. An Indian tulwar is usually identified by its hilt rather than its blade — the distinctive Indo-Muslim disc pommel. This sword has a Persian hilt and a blade that leans Ottoman.

It is heavier, and this is arithmetic rather than an impression. This sword is 940 grams with a 27 inch blade. The Metropolitan Museum holds an eighteenth-century Iranian shamshir at 784 grams with a 32.75 inch blade, and a second whose blade and hilt together come to about 785 grams over a 34 inch blade.

Per inch of blade, the museum pieces sit around 23 to 24 grams. We are at nearly 35 — roughly 48 per cent more steel for every inch of length. That figure is not a flaw so much as a measurement of the point above: a broad blade weighs more than a narrow one, and the scale says so before you ever put a ruler across the blade. Expect a sword with real authority in the cut and noticeably less of the shamshir's famous lightness.

Yes, at no extra cost, and if you care about the type this is the build we would steer you toward. A proper Persian profile means near-constant width from the forte to well past the middle, a continuous parabolic curve, and a fine point rather than a broad upswept one. It will come out lighter, quicker, and considerably more accurate to the surviving examples.

Say so in the order note. You can also specify a longer blade at the same time, which is the other thing that would move this closer to period — see FAQ 11. Both changes together give you something a collector of Persian arms would recognise without qualification.

No to both, and both are worth explaining. Historic Persian blades of the first rank were crucible steel — pulad, what the trade calls wootz or watered steel — whose surface pattern comes from the structure of the ingot itself. We do not forge it. Everest Forge works in mono-steel 5160 throughout, by choice, and we do not make pattern-welded or laminated blades either. A blade sold to you as ours will never pretend to be something it is not.

As for signatures: the most famous name on Persian blades is Asadullah of Isfahan, and it appears on blades dated across four centuries, which means most of those signatures were never his. We will not add one, nor any reproduction arsenal or armoury mark. A marked blade outlives the person who commissioned it, and at that point a stamp ordered as decoration is indistinguishable from one meant to deceive. Your own name, initials or a dedication, gladly.

Carefully, and the scabbard has to be built for it. A deeply curved blade cannot be drawn from a straight scabbard at all — the geometry simply will not allow it — so the scabbard is shaped to the curve of the blade and the sword comes out along that arc rather than in a straight pull. Ours is, which is why it looks the way it does.

There is a further problem with blades that widen toward the point, and it is the reason Ottoman scabbards for kilij blades often have an opening near the throat: a blade wider at the front than at the back cannot pass through a close-fitting throat at all. This blade broadens gently enough that a conventional shaped scabbard works. A true stepped yelman would not, and if you order one we will build the scabbard to suit.

Slabs of dark timber pinned through the tang, with a polished steel cross and a large oval langet covering the blade shoulder, finishing in a hooked butt formed in the timber itself rather than capped in metal. Total hilt length is 6 inches with a 4.4 inch grip, which is compact by design: a shamshir hilt is meant to be small and to sit tight in the hand.

The hooked butt is doing real work. On a draw cut the sword wants to travel forward out of the grip, and the hook is the backstop that stops it. It also brings the butt into contact with the heel of the hand, which lets you drive the cut with more than fingers and wrist. Grip material and pommel form are both selectable — see the build options.

Yes, sharpened along the full edge and ready to use, unless you tell us otherwise. On a blade of this curve the useful cutting section is the forward belly, and that is where the edge is finished most carefully.

Unsharpened builds are available at no extra charge for display or for an awkward import. So is a stage combat build — rebated edge, rounded tip — balanced for the work. Add that exact wording to your order note if it is what you want.

Further forward than a true shamshir, because of the broader front end. We do not publish a single point-of-balance figure, since hand-forged blades vary and a number that is two inches out is worse than none at all.

Ask before dispatch and we will measure the actual sword we are sending you, from the cross, and send you the figure. Our sword balance guide explains what the measurement means and why it is worth requesting from any seller.

Yes. Surviving Persian blades generally run around 80 to 90 centimetres, which is roughly 31 to 35 inches, and the Metropolitan examples cited above are 32.75 and 34 inches. At 27 inches this is a compact sword, 33 inches overall.

That is not automatically a fault. Shorter curved sabres were made and carried, it handles in one hand more easily, and a great many buyers want a sword they can actually swing indoors and hang on an ordinary wall. But if you want period reach, ask for a longer blade. It costs nothing and it is the second of the two changes that would make this fully defensible as a Persian piece.

Nothing is held in stock. Every blade is forged after the order arrives, which is why the profile, the length, the grip and the edge specification are all free to change — we have not already made the standard version. Standard builds dispatch in 2 to 3 business days; genuinely custom work runs 4 to 6 weeks depending on the queue.

The sword ships sheathed and braced in a rigid carton with the scabbard packed so nothing bears on the blade, by DHL or FedEx with tracking, typically 7 to 14 business days from Kathmandu. Import duty and local taxes are the buyer's responsibility and vary by country.