The Cossack saber, like other types of edged weapons, occupies an important place in military-historical science. Their changes, the appearance of new models often had a decisive influence on the outcome of hostilities.
Cold steel is interesting from different angles. On the first hand, the military skill of technology is changing, which has absorbed the experience of wars in which the Cossacks appeared. On the other hand, it is a delightful piece of jewelry. On the third hand, it reflects the spiritual culture of that time.
Saber of the Cossack, like mother alone
"Cossack" is a free man, a warrior with arms, mastering the basic science of battle. Cossacks highly revered edged weapons. The whole way of life, from birth to death, was presented as preparation for battle. The Cossack had to be able to infallibly wield all types of edged weapons and clearly maintain the tact of military operations. No wonder the glorious Don army, known for many victories, Peter the first changed the Cossack coat of arms with a deer for the coat of arms with a Cossack and a saber, which existed for 100 years.
From the history of Catherine the second formed the Army of the faithful Zaporozhye Cossacks. At first, that army had no weapons. But, if available, they always had either a pitchfork or a cleaver made of a horse bone tied to a stick. The Cossacks themselves made few weapons, more often they used trophy ones. The main opponents were the Turks, Tatars and Poles, who widely use sabers.
Selected types of Cossack sabers
A saber is a melee weapon with a curved single-edged blade with or without valleys. In Russia, the saber has been known since the ninth century, and since the fourteenth century it has become the main type of cold weapon. The Cossacks were armed with a wide variety of sabers.
Cossack trophy - Shemshir
Saber from Muslim Persia. This weapon has a large arcuate curvature. The rider's edge was almost never used in battle, since it was useless due to the strong curvature. Asians widely used a pullback blow, for which the curvature of the saber was intended. Shemshir is very convenient for injecting from a horse without changing the position of the body. This saber was hung from the left side of the belt, with the blade down. Some Shemshir sabers are very expensive, they can have rare and expensive stones - emeralds, sapphires, jade. Some Persian sabers have an inscription in the language of the Arabs on the central position - "In the Name of Allah, the merciful, the merciful" The scabbard is covered with expensive fabric - velvet, the oriental pattern stands out - the gimp. The metal sections of the scabbard, the guard are highlighted with rosettes of vegetation with impeccable precious stones. A rare exhibit of historical value.
Cossack saber - carabela
Karabela was often used by Ukrainian Cossacks. Carabel sabers were given to servicemen as trophies, and sometimes such weapons were made on their own. The Karabela was influenced by Ukraine's proximity to Poland, but Ukrainian and Polish sabers differ significantly from each other. The sabers of the Zaporozhye Cossacks have their own symbols. One of the subspecies of the carabela, the "Eagle" battle saber, is of Ukrainian origin. The true length of the saber in the scabbard reaches up to nine hundred and thirty millimeters. The length of the blade is seven hundred and seventy millimeters, the width at the heel is thirty-five millimeters, the length of the scabbard is seven hundred and ninety millimeters. The saber handle is made of bone in the shape of a one-headed eagle.
The real master of the saber must be the foreman of the Cossack army. The eagle bird is a symbol of fearlessness, fortitude, courage. The saber blade is made of steel, with two valleys, which is made in Ukraine. There are no Arabic letters on the blade, at the heel there is a stamp of letters in Ukrainian with a horseman depicted. The scabbard is covered with a material made of leather, on the metal products you can see the blotches of turquoise gemstone. The carving is visible in some places. The mouth of the scabbard is interspersed with turquoise stone, which has been known since ancient times. Turquoise came to the European part from Persia, having made a long journey through Turkey. The color of this stone can be of different shades, because it contains a small amount of copper. The blue shades of turquoise are the most sublime and soulful, associated with power, justice and authority. More often it is installed on the handles of edged weapons. On the front of the mouth of the scabbard there is a very small icon - the Virgin Mary, which directly indicates that this carabel belongs to the Ukrainian Cossacks.
Cossack "gonorovaya" saber
This edged weapon is forged from the highest quality steel (Damascus) using precious metals - gold, silver. On the blade from the outer end are visible golden letters in Arabic "In the Name of Allah, merciful, merciful" and a spell from the enemy. The crosspiece has cabochons made of stone - garnet at both ends. The front side of the guard has the Old Slavonic words "Save", "Save", "Yu", "X", on the back the date - "1659". The entire surface of the guard is painted with patterns of plants and geometric shapes. The handle is made of bone, around the perimeter it is bound with a silver plate with jade cabochons fixed on it. The wooden scabbard is covered with leather (morocco) with a silver set completely decorated with floral ornament in the form of a curling hop. The inscription on the guard "Y" and "X", the ornament in the form of a curling hop, as well as the date served as the reason for the version that the saber is somehow connected with the legendary historical figure, the son of Bohdan Khmelnitsky - Yuri.
Russian saber of ancestors
Cossack guards saber, officer. In one thousand nine hundred and nine, an order was issued for the military department number four hundred and nine, which indicated that all Cossacks were allowed to serve with "grandfather's weapons", that is, with cold weapons inherited from their ancestors. This decision was also reflected in the armament of the Guards Cossack regiments, in which their samples of officer sabers, called fangs, were developed and adopted for wearing out of order. Four weapons are known: the tooth of the Cossack regiment, the tooth of the Atomansky regiment, the 6th Don Cossack battery of the guards horse artillery and the tooth of the Ural hundreds of the Consolidated Cossack regiment. These fangs repeated in the form and style of decoration of the scabbard the Cossack sabers of the late eighteenth - early nineteenth centuries.
Rules for marking Cossack sabers
To preserve the lower ranks on the weapon, military brands were put. In one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, the rules were established, according to which it was required to put a stamp only on the right side of the saber (when worn, this side is adjacent to the body), on the lower sleeve of the handle.
U. K. P. - Ural Cossack Regiment; A. K. P. - Astrakhan Cossack regiment; D. K. P. - Don Cossack Regiment; A. K. P. - Amur Cossack regiment; U. K. P. - Ussuriysk Cossack regiment.
Until one thousand nine hundred and seven, if the weapon was transferred to another military unit, then a new brand was not put on it. From one thousand nine hundred and seven, the old number on the weapon was knocked out with a new one, which was very difficult to see. They could have closed it with a brass plate with a new stigma, but this option is less common.
With the advent of firearms, edged weapons have not lost their importance. The cavalry remained the main type of troops for a long time, often deciding the outcome of the battle, and the main weapon of the cavalry was sabers and swords. In Russia, in the nineteenth century, the saber was replaced in almost all branches of the armed forces with the saber borrowed from the Caucasus.
