Rare Asian Shaska sword

A magnificent and scarce Asian sword, from the central asian region of Uzbekistan/Bukhara/Turkmenistan. This is a heavy and well made sword for fighting, the blade is very thick and well balanced, the rigidity is reduced by a deep fuller along the centre, the blade tip widening out towards the point. The forte of the blade has a well struck circular cartouche with arabic writing inside, presumably a makers or armoury marking. The hilt is formed of two slabs of horn with the typical split pommel found on shaskha type swords, the bolsters and hilt mounts are of steel. The scabbard has two steel hanging bands with strap lugs showing that the sword was hung blade up in the typical caucasian manner, the chape is of steel. The scabbard is covered with a hide leather material, the front has a small panel with some abstract wavy decoration. Dating to the 19th century.    shasqua, shaska, shashka, kindjal, samarkand bukhara, khazakstan afghanistan