Cossack saber: description and photo. Ancient melee weapons

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Saber - a common weapon in Russia in the 16-19 centuries. Each variety has its own characteristics. The Cossack saber replaced other types of similar weapons. In the 19th century, it was the most common variant in Russia and the Caucasus. A saber of this type was also called a Cossack checker. With the development of firearms and the abolition of metal armor, the combat saber was used by almost all the soldiers of the imperial Russian army. In conditions of combat, in which bullets could pierce the iron armor of a warrior, an attack using a Cossack saber became more than relevant. This was possible due to a number of characteristics and features of this type of melee weapons.

General characteristics

Cossack saber is a piercing and cutting weapon with a rather long blade. It was used in combat and served as an attribute of military attire. Today, such a saber is a valuable antique melee weapon. It makes it possible to understand the tactics of warfare of those times.

The original Cossack checker consists of a blade and a hilt (hilt). The standard blade length reaches 1 m. It is single. But for the battle they used 2-bladed weapons. The blade itself wasslightly curved.

Efes has no cross. At its end, the handle forks. May have a round tip.

It is the Cossack saber that is called a saber. In this case, it's the same. But an ordinary saber is not equivalent to a checker. In the first case, only chopping wounds were inflicted, and in the second, the ability to stab and cut was added. This is a feature of the Cossack weapons.

There are two main varieties of checkers of this time: Caucasian and Asian samples. They have some differences. Cossack sabers also differ by year of issue.

Carrying and using checkers

The Cossack saber did not have a guard, a pronounced point. The curvature of the blade was minimal. All these factors caused it to be balanced differently than a regular saber.

The saber was kept in a wooden scabbard. Due to the way it was used in combat, the saber was placed forward with the butt. The scabbard was usually covered with leather.

A saber was attached to a belt or shoulder harness. For this, one or two rings were used, fixed on the curved side.

In dashing Cossack amusements, on the battlefield, one had not only to participate in battle, but also to repel sometimes sudden attacks. Therefore, in the sheath, she lay with the blade up.

The Cossack checker was easily snatched and did not require a change of hand. This is a handy weapon. According to the characteristics of the checker can be compared with the samurai katana. They have a similar blade shape, as well as application and wearing.

Origin of checkers

The word "checker" is borrowedfrom the Circassian or Adyghe language, where such weapons were called "sashkho" or "seshkhue". Translated, it means "long knife".

Circassian models were different from Russian ones. They were shorter and lighter. The progenitor of the Cossack saber sample of 1881, 1904, 1909 is a weapon of the 12th-13th centuries. Researchers found it in the Circassian lands.

This type of saber was first adopted by the Terek and Kuban Cossacks. They have a checker is considered a traditional part of a military costume. Already from the Cossacks, such weapons began to be used among the lower and higher army ranks.

As a statutory checker, it was used by the cavalry, gendarmerie, police, as well as among the officers. To this day, dashing Cossack amusements, military exploits are invariably presented in combination with a saber. It can be said that this is an attribute of the Cossacks.

Asian checker

Cossacks for a long time used Turkish and Persian checkers for their weapons.

Until the middle of the 19th century, there were a lot of sabers of the Caucasian type. But the most popular, regulated sword of the Cossacks in 1834-1838 was the Asian-style saber.

She had a single-edged steel blade with a twisted shape. The weapon had one wide fuller. The combat end was double-edged.

Its total length reached 1 m, and the blade - 88 cm. Its width was 3.4 cm. Such a weapon weighed about 1.4 kg.

Asian officer sabersample had decorations on the hilt and scabbard. Such weapons were assigned to the lower and higher army ranks of the Nizhny Novgorod and Seversky dragoon regiments, as well as sergeant majors of the plastun battalions and local teams of the Kuban Cossack army.

Later they were approved as military weapons in the Tver, Pereyaslavsky, Novorossiysk Dragoon Regiments.

Cossack draughts pattern 1881

After the defeat of the Russian Empire in the Crimean War (which lasted from 1853-1856), there was an urgent need to carry out reforms in the army, starting from the highest levels of government. This process was managed by the head of the Military Ministry D. A. Milyutin. After his resignation in 1881, the reform of the army ceased.

The establishment of a single model of weapons was made in the same year. All other models of edged weapons were abolished, and a single type of saber was introduced for cavalry, dragoon and infantry troops.

Very quickly, the Cossack saber of 1881 became the most common piercing and cutting weapon in the Russian army. They were of two varieties: for lower ranks and for officers.

The geometry of the weapon made it possible to inflict deep, severe wounds. This feature was the reason for choosing this saber as a single model in the Russian army.

Cossack checker of the lower ranks (1881)

The soldier's checker had a total length of 102 cm. Its blade standardly changed to 87 cm, and its width was 3.3 cm. The weight of the weapon was 800 g. The handle had a straight shape with a sharp bend at the end. It was made fromwood and had deep sloping grooves. The lanyard hole was shifted down to the stop for technological reasons.

The scabbard did not have a bayonet mount. It was not intended for Cossack carbines. However, some regiments were issued at that time a scabbard with a closed block for the bayonet. By 1889, checkers of the Asian type were issued in all lower ranks. This exemplary weapon is referred to as the Cossack checker, the original of 1881.

Officer's saber 1881

In 1881, the General Staff of the War Department issued Circular 217. It provided a detailed description of the officer's checker. According to this document, the blade and hilt of the weapon were described in detail. Their components were discussed down to the smallest detail.

The blade consisted of a combat end, a middle part, a heel and a lower thickened rib (butt) and an upper blade. That part of the blade, which is intended for cutting, is called febel, and for repelling blows - forte.

The center of the blade is located at a distance of 0.25 arshins, measured from the tip. The valleys on the blade also end there.

The hilt consists of a nut, a head, a handle, its back and front rings, a bow and a leather ring.

The handle is made from a tree called backout. Sometimes other breeds were used for these purposes.

Antique edged weapons of the 1881 model have a cross-section in the middle part in the form of a tetrahedron, in which the corners are rounded. At the ends it has an oval shape. The back of the handle is slightly thicker than the front.

Materials

The blade of the presented variety of weapons was a "doll" made of steel. A variety of materials were used to make the hilt. The back ring was made of copper with gilding. This element had an oval shape. At the top of it was a slot for the bow. The front ring is also copper, gold-plated.

The nut located inside the hilt can be steel, copper or iron. It is screwed onto the tail of the blade very tightly.

The head of the handle is copper with gilding. It has the appearance of a whisk. The bow is made of the same material.

The ring, pinched between the hilt and the back of the heel, is made of leather. Cossack weapons of those times were made from the listed materials for both soldiers and officers.

The difference between the soldier's and officer's checkers of the sample of 1881

As for the lower ranks, and for the highest, almost the same type of edged weapons were used. The blade was no different. The difference was in the technology of attaching the handle.

The sleeve located at the top and the handle were attached to the blade shank with three rivets. Therefore, two veins were cut into the wooden base from the top to its middle. They were beaten off together with the tip. A middle rivet was passed through them.

Due to a change in design, the lanyard opening of the officer's saber was higher than that of the soldier's version of the saber. It was on the middle line of the handle.

However, the Cossack saber of the lower ranks was distinguished by the simplicity of fasteners. Over time, officer edged weapons began to be made using the same technology.

Chashka of the lower rankssample 1904

Cossack checker of the lower ranks was similar to the previous sample. However, there were some differences. Characteristic in such weapons was the application of abbreviations by etching. They were located on the inside of the blade and looked like this: "KKV" (Kuban Cossack army), "TKV" (Terek Cossack army). On the other outer side of the blade, there were also the letters "ZOF", which stood for the Zlatoust Arms Factory. The year of issue of the checker was also indicated here. This became a feature of the Cossack saber model 1904.

The sheath was wooden, covered with leather. The combat checker was sunk into them to the head of the handle thanks to the bell at the top of the wooden case.

The weapons of the lower ranks of the 1904 model weighed 1 kg. Its total length is 92 cm, and the blade is 74 cm. The width of the blade reached 3.5 cm.

This saber was adopted by the Caucasian Cossack troops for soldiers. Later it was slightly improved. But the general appearance remained almost unchanged.

1909 officer's checker

Circular of the General Staff 51 dated 1909-22-03 introduced changes to the regulations for the description of officer drafts. In its former form, the golden edged weapons of the highest army ranks and sabers with the Order of St. Anna 4th degree. Only the decoration on the booth and the back ring was added to them.

The officers' sabers of the 1909 model did not differ from the previous type of weapon in the blade area, except for the location onthe outer side of the blade named after the Sovereign Emperor. On the other side was the coat of arms.

The back ring was decorated with laurel branches, as well as the raised name of the Emperor. There were also decorative borders. The head of the handle was decorated with a vignette.

Later, other samples were developed, but in the post-war years (after World War II) such weapons were abolished. The saber has become a ceremonial attribute of the army, as well as an integral weapon of the Cossacks.

Today these are award sabers. To receive it is considered very honorable for military ranks. You can wear a checker only with permission, like any similar products. After all, this is a formidable military weapon.

Considering such edged weapons as the Cossack saber, one can delve deeply into the military organization of past times. In its own way, it was a formidable tool on the battlefield. With the regulation of this particular weapon, reforms and transformations began in the Russian imperial army. It was ubiquitous and was available to both ordinary soldiers and officers. Today it is an integral attribute of the Cossacks, which acts as a premium weapon, as a symbol of military honor and valor.