The yatagan is a kind of oriental knife with characteristic “ears” on the ends of the hilt, and with a straight or with a double-curved blade. The blade is protected with a scabbard that will be more or less decorated. The yatagan was worn tucked almost horizontally into a broad belt, sometimes by itself, sometimes in a pair, and sometimes combined with pistols. The yatagan was a component part of the folk or national costume of the inhabitants of the Balkans from the mid-18th to the end of the 19th century. As far as is known to date, the yatagan started to be used by the janissaries in the centre of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul. We hypothesise that at that time the yatagan was worn as part of the janissary’s regalia – as an emblem of honour and status – rather than as a combat weapon. The fashion for wearing the yatagan was taken by the janissaries from Stamboul to the far parts of the Empire to which they were posted.
The yatagan was particularly enthusiastically accepted by the Islamised inhabitants of the Balkans. As they did with certain other parts of Islamic costume, they adapted it and fused it into their tradition, integrating the knife into their system for the signification of honour, dignity and manliness. The Christian population also took adopted the habit, and transmitted the fashion of wearing the yatagan to the other side of the Border – to Venetian Dalmatia, and to the Austrian Military Border. There, as weapon that they chose and procured themselves, it was worn by Borderers of various irregular groups and bands. It was also worn at their belts by the serezhans – founded at the end of the 18th century as a kind of Border militia and to serve as customs officers. Serezhans, armed with yatagans, fought in 1848 under the command of ban Josip Jelačić in Vienna.
In the historical sources and in the popular heritage, memories connected with the yatagan are somewhat ambivalent. On the one hand, there are memories of the bloody victories won actually thanks to the weapon, then the descriptions of defeated soldiery hacked to pieces with the yatagan, and mentions of heroes’ heads lopped off with the knife. On the other hand, the yatagan was ascribed miraculous and healing powers. If a yatagan was only in the close vicinity of a woman in labour, a sick child or a wounded hero, their pains would be assuaged and their recovery accelerated.
The hilt of the yatagan would be made of plates of bone, metal or wood; in the upper part, it finished in a pommel with the characteristic ears that recalled a butterfly’s wings. If the plates were made of light-coloured bovine thighbone, the yatagan would be known as bjelosapac, and if they were made of dark bison horn or wood, then it would be called a crnosapac or dark yatagan. Bone and horn plates on the handle were carved in such a way as to end either smoothly or in undulations. Only in rare examples was the surface decorated with inlays of little nails or brass wire. If the plates of the handle were metal, these were of silver or brass. The surface in the silver-mounted plates was richly and total covered with decorations done in filigree work, niello, engraving, applications of little metal plates, and cloisonné work with little pieces of coral, semi-precious stones and glass paste. The brass plates of the yatagan handle would be richly cast with plant ornamentation. The plates of the handles were bound together with a metal band called a hasherma, also richly ornamented, or embossed with a vine tendril pattern, or filigree, niello, engraving and cloisonné beads. The plates of the handles and the joining band were fitted into the lower ferrule, which visually, and sometimes physically too, went on into the metal leaf-like fitting of the upper part of the blade called the parazvana. The decorations on the ferrule and parazvana were correspondent with the decorations on the hasherma band. And then if the yatagan were furnished with a metal scabbard, the decorations on the handle would be repeated and multiplied on its surface.
The blade of the yatagan – about 50 to 60 cm long – could have a double curve or it could be straight. One with a curving blade would be called a krivac / curver and that with a straight blade was called a pravac/straight one. Looked at from the handle downwards, the curved blade bent concavely, spread out in the bottom third, and would then be bent convexly towards the point. Both straight and curved blades were made to very high quality specifications, with a strong back and with one or two fullers running along it. On most of the blade there would be plant decoration, and calligraphically written Arabic inscriptions, either engraved, or damascened with pewter, silver, brass or gold wire. The inscriptions in Arabic would mostly contain the name of the master craftsman who had made the yatagan, the name of the owner and the person who commissioned it, the year if was made (according to the Islamic calendar, in the year of the Hegira) and some motto or saying from the Muslim tradition, placing the owner under the divine protection and protecting him, as possessor of an amulet, from all evil. The light and airy decorations of tendrils, trefoils and other floral motifs were gracefully intertwined with the Arabic inscription, giving the blade a light and elegant appearance..
The choice of materials from which the short swords were made and the harmony and kind of decorations on the yatagans were not accidental, and should not be considered only decorative elements. In the spirit of Islamic art, every detail used had a certain symbolism, and a particular signification. For example, the bone on the handle would suggest the pith and marrow of each creature, and the use of light metals and alloys (silver and pewter) would suggest purity. The pieces of coral on the hilts of the yatagans had an apotropaic function, in preserving the bearer’s health and invulnerability. Each of the precious stones had its own magic power, but since Mohammed was himself “a precious stone among stones” the use of them would ensure the particular protection of the Prophet. The magic symbols of the Seal of Solomon and the Sun had deeply religious meanings of the interfusion of the divine and the earthly worlds. The floral elements, including the cones, cypresses, tulips, carnations, palm branches, and the crescent moons and stars, were signs that did glory to Allah or were synonyms and symbols of His power, and suggested the life beyond the grave. Their purpose was to give special strength to the knife and its owner, who, trusting in God and his sword, would enjoy the protection of providence through the presence of these symbols.
The names of the craftsman makers and the owners of the swords are entirely Muslim, some of the names being accompanied by military or esnaf (guild) ranks or titles. Although we have far too few details still about the production and sales of the yatagans, it is obvious that they were made by highly skilled craftsmen. Further research into the preserved collections of yatagans in the one-time Ottoman craft and commercial centres in the Balkans will help us to define, on the basis of style and manner of production, to which workshop any given yatagan can be assigned.

Dora Bošković, museum advisor