e Royal House for oriental weapons is patent not 5, but equally in a listing made for Filipe II of Spain, JS items in the royal treasury,10 and which included )ly acquired for the ransom of captives in Morocco. :, with a blue crystal hilt and pommel and scabbard :I chain where it can be hung. In the chain it has a rls, another Indian dagger with a hilt and scabbard 1rquoise , another Indian dagger with a crystal hilt of rubies, turquoises and diamonds, and still some )e said that these references lo Indian daggers with y rare combination, suggest that they are a Gujarati collection there is a notable example similar to the ha gold hilt with rubies and turquoises.47
id another dagger with an ivory hilt and kris and d silver "from the work of modao (sic) and a hilt <karat pearl". In the list there are also registered i an engraved ivory hilt of "tanxia" made of gold ed silver and two tailizes with the hilts "of horn in 1e scabbards of wood lined on one side with gold, :ing with seven rubies"
h in Indian weapons would go on through the fol-717, the l't count ofSabugosa, 34th Viceroy of India, ::>m was accompanied by a short sword with hook, hilt, pommel and chape all in gold, garnished with nonds, of rose cul, twenty nine of which of
consid-well a headgear for his horse in gold, enamelled, ;tones, namely twenty six pearls, twelve of which , meaning in pendant shape. It also had several
ru-cut in the round and in the centre of the piece, a =Is, which were later evaluated by the court's ap-a Silvap-a, who did not keep from pointing out that
48
of goldsmith work in the creation of weapons in is practically lost in time, the Portuguese found rly in India, many workshops which now supplied sumptuousness which was truly unmatchable. On I, at least throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, to :h "invaded" the society of the time, as the
expan-=
itself. A fact that does much to explain the great ved among us and the influence which would mark in their most diverse regions, in the most diverse :ations.)I. in Nuno Vassallo e Silva, "filipe I e as j6ias da Coroa de e Ourivesaria, Porto, Universidade Cat6lica Portuguesa, 2009 (on
-_J .__J __ 1.-..l:-·-r , " . - 1 . 1 ... .J;'-;,... ... 11 .,... 1A'l
das para joias dos I labsburgos. O gosto cla Casa Real l)ortugucsa por arm as Orienta is C patentc nao .lpenas 110. in\'etltcfrios rcg1os, 111.lS igualmcnlc tllll11<1 listagem rcalizada para I ilipe II dl' [·pan ha, apo · 1580, de v,\rias prccio:id.l des do tesouro real. Listagem que conclu1ra pc~·as que provavelmcnlc foram adquirida para ore gate dos cativo em Marrocos. Dcstacam . c uma adaga da f ndia com pun ho em cristal anti e mac;ao e bainha tudo forrado a our com uma cadeia de ouro onde se pendura. Na cadeia pos ·ui uma ro ·a de rub is, dia mantc em perola ; outra ddaga da fndia com o pun hoc baia cm ouro chcias de rub is e turquesas; outra adaga da
f
ndia com o pun ho de cristal c cabos cbainha cheia de rubis, turquesas e diamantes, ainda algumas csmcraldds. Abrindo um parente e diga-se que estas referencias a adagas indianas com rubis e lurquesas, uma combina<;:ao muito rara, sugerem tratar-sc de uma prodw;ao, provavclmente, do Guzarate. Na colecc;:ao al-Sabat encontra-·e um notavel exemplar aproximado ao da primeira arma descrita, com o pun ho em ouro corn rubis e turque as.~0
No documento que seguimos encontramos outra adaga com o punh em marfim e eris e bainha de prata lavrada de relevo "de obra de modao"( ic) c
o pun ho lavrado de ouro com perola de sei quilates". No rol ainda ao rcgis tadas uma outra adaga pequena com punho de marfim lavrado de "tanxill" de ouro ea bainha de prata esmaltada e doi tailize com os pun ho "de arno com feic;:ao de feguras / e as bainhas de pao forada de hC1a da bamda de
ouro /ho deles tern ho emgaste douro com sete robi " Conclusao
A arte dos ourives nas armas lndianas prolongar-se-ia pelos eculos
se-guintes. Ainda em 1717, o F conde de Sabugosa, 34° vice-rei da fndia, no re gresso ao Reino acompanhava-se de um espadim com gancho, vi rote e punho
"de fio", mac;:a e ponteira, tudo em ouro, guarnecido com centro e noventa diamantes, de lapidac;:ao rosa, vinte e nove dos quais de considerc.lvcl tarnd nho. Trouxe ainda uma cabec;:ada para cavalo, em ouro esmaltado, guarn ci
-do com pedras preciosas, nomeadamente vinte e seis perolas, doLe das qua is maiores "apengentadas", is to e em forma de pingente. Possuf a igualmente varios rubis, o maior lapidado em cabochao e no centro da pec;:a, uma
gran-de esmeralda. Estas j6ias, que mais tarde foram avaliadas pelo contra te da Corte, Manuel Pereira da Silva, que nao deixou de destacar serem "obra da lndia".1
Com uma longa tradic;:ao do trabalho de ourives na realizac;:ao de armas em materiais preciosos, que praticamente se perde no tempo, os Portugueses en-contraram no Oriente, e especialmente na fndia, oficinas que !hes passaram a fornecer armas de uma sumptuosidade verdadeiramente inigualavel. Por ou-tro !ado testemunhava, pelo menos ao longo dos seculos XVI e XVII, um gosto pelo exotismo que "invadira" a sociedade de entao, como a pr6pria expansao de um imperio marftimo. Facto que em muito explica o grande interesse que mereceram entre n6s ea influencia que marcaria a pr6pria produc;:ao indiana, nas suas mais diversas regioes, nas mais diversas tecnicas e ornamentac;:oes.
'r .j. Sanchez Canton (ed.), lnventarios reales, bienes muebles que pertenec1eron a felipe JI, I vol., Ma-drid, Real Academia de la Historia, 1956, pp. 250-251.
• B.A. 49 X 3, fl. 489 -294v, pub!. in uno Vassallo e Silva,"! ilipe I e as j6ias da Coroa de Portu gal" in l\ctus do II Col6qwo de Ourivesaria, Porto, Universidade Cat6lica Portuguesa, 2009 (no prelo).
Robert Llgood, "\1ughal Arms and the Indian Court Tradition", p. 141.
Persian Swordmakers
Armeiros Persas
Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani
Introduction
imilar to high quality Japanese Nihonto swords that are signed with their 11 .1ker's mark, some high quality Persian swords also bear their maker's mark
in t e form of a gold-inlaid cartouche on the blade. However, most Persian \\ rds are signed on the blades unlike the Japanese swords, which are signed t the tang. Nevertheless, some high quality Persian swords are also signed
on their tangs. Unfortunately as Persian swords cannot be disassembled
eas-il) .is is the case in Japanese Nihonto, many researchers and museum cura-tors are not aware of this fact. Disassembling the handle of a Persian sword would automatically lead to the destruction of its handle slabs as they are glued to the tang.
rhe objective of this article is to introduce some famed Persian sword-rnakers and their work. The first part of the article deals with the legendary Persian swordsmith Assadollah. The second part introduces Kalbeali. The last part of the article discusses some Persian sword makers whose works are kept in the military museums of Iran.
The swordmaker Assadollah Esfahani ~~I ..iil.l.uil
The aura of mystery which surrounds the name of some makers of Nihonto swords such as swords by the legendary Masamune can also be found in Persian blades signed with the name of Assadollah Esfahani~~! .illl.l.uil. These swords are generally gold-inlaid with the following phrase: Amal-e Assadollah Esfahani
~·~1 .Jil..l.ot J= that translates into "The work of Assadollah Esfahani" and obviously/allegedly reveals a maker's mark. One factor that needs to be taken into consideration is that Assadollah is a name even used in today's Iran and it literally means "The lion of God" that was/is used as a title of the first Imam of the Shiites (Hazrat-e Ali) and the fourth Caliph of the Sunnites. Thus the phrase amal-e Assadol/ah Esfahani actually can be explained as follows: am al .J.= (n) means "work," Assadol/ah .illl.L:I (n) means "the lion of God," and Esfahani ~~I (adj)
means "from Esfah an". This maker's mark appears on a number of high quality Persian swords. Other variants of this signature also exist as Amal-e Assadollah .W\-4-t J..c.(The work of Assadollah), Amal-e Assad Esfahani ~~1 .i...,t J=(the work of Assad Esfahani), and Assadol/ah Esfahani~~\ .WIJ....:I (Assadollah Esfahani)1
•
Introdus:ao
A
semelhanc;:a das espadas japonesas de alta qualidade . ihonto, que sao assinadas com a marca do seu fabricante, algumas espada persas de grande qualidade tem tambem a marca do seu fabricante sob a forma de um cartucho embutido a ouro na lamina. No entanto, a maior pa rte das espada per a ao assinadas na lamina, ao contrario das espadas japone a , que sao as inadas na espiga. Contudo, algumas arma persas de grande qualidade sao tambem assinadas na espiga. lnfelizmente, visto que as espadas persas nao podem ser desmontadas facilmente, como e o caso das Nihonto japonesas, muitos investigadores e conservadores de museus nao estao ao corrente de te facto. Desmontar o punho de uma arma persa le aria automaticamentea
destrui-c;:ao do seu punho visto e tar coladoa
espiga.0 objectivo deste artigo e apresentar algun armeiros persas famosos e o seu trabalho. A primeira parte do artigo trata do lendario armeiro persa Assadollah. A segunda parte apre enta Kalbeali. A ultima parte do artigo disse1ta sobre al-guns armeiros persas cujas obras sao preservada nos museus militares d lrao.
0 Armeiro Assadollah Esfahani ~~I ...JJl..l..1
A aura de mistfoo que rodeia o nome de alguns fabricantes dee padas ih nto ta! como o lendario Masamune pode tambem ser encontrado em lfunina persas assinadas com o no me de Assadollah Esfahani ~~1 .ilil .. i .... ..1. E ta espada ao geral-mente embutidas em ouro com a seguinte frase: Al'r\.a/-e AA idol/ah Esft.1ht'ini ..s-'~' .Jil-1....1 J..u:. que se traduz em "Obra de Assadollah Esfahani" e obviamente/alegada-mente revela uma marca de fabricante. Um factor que preci a de ser tornado em considera<;:ao e que Assadollah e um nome u ado ate no Irao de h ~e e que significa literalmente" 0 leao de Deus", que era e e u ado como um tfhtlo do primeiro Ima dos Xiitas (Hazrat-e Ali) e quarto Califa do Sunita . Logo, a frase mn 11-e As .. 1doll'ih
Esfahani pode na verdade ser explicada da eguinte forma: amal ._)..QC (s.) significa
"obra," As .. adol/ah ...u1.l...1(s.) significa "o leao de Deu ," e Es{t1/ii'ini ..s-'·~1(adj)
ignifi-ca "de Isfahan". Esta marca de fabricante aparece mun numer dee padas per as de alta qualidade. Tambem exi tern outras variantes de ta as inatura rn /una/-l• Assado/lah .uit.l-1 __:...= (Obra de Assadollah), Amal-e A. xid 8f~1ht'ini ~~1 ~' ...;..c (obra
de Assad Esfahani), e Assadollah Esfalit'i11i _)~1 .ili1.1 ... .J (Assad llah E fahani)'.
Among Iranian smiths, Assadollah Esfahani is supposedly the mo t famous
Iranian swordmaker, but although the blades signed with his name ar nu
-merou ', hi hi tory remains mysteriou 1
• It i even claimed that A sadollah Esfahani was a genius in making swords and that Assadollah' blades arc able to shave hair as well a cut iron bar 4
• They are reputedly still in excel
-lent condition today even after 400 years. The gold-inlaid mark Amal-e A ad Esfahani _;i4-i--ol.l..:I~ or Amal-e Assadol/ah Esfahani ~~1 .o.il.h..I J.=was gen -erally accompanied by another phrase, reading Bande-ye siih-e velayat Abbas ..rL.c. w.'i, ol.:. o.l.l.i that literally means, "The subject/ lave of the kingdom/ do -minion/trustee hip of Ali, Abbas." This translates into the following: "Abbas is the representative of Ali's rule and acts on his behalf." Note that bande
·~ (n) means "slave/subject," siih oL (n) means "king," and ve/ayat .. : .. J./'i _, (n) means "country, trusteeship," and Abbas ...r4c (n) is a king' name.
According to the Digital Lexicon of Dehxoda, bande.~ means "subject" or
"slave." Obviously, people who serve or inhabit the realm ruled by a king are
his subjects. Ve/ayat ~)!_,means "kingdom" or "ruled land"; therefore, a king has a velayat ~'i J to rule. Dehxoda further tates that the person to whom Ve/ayat-e A/i5 ..)c. ~'l J relates considers himself the representative of Emam
Ali . .)c i-1....1 and, consequently, rules and governs on his behalf. It is clear that this is very much a Shiite phrase, for the Shiites consider Hazrat-e Ali
c)c-w~ the true heir to the Prophet Mohammad. further, the Digital Lexicon of Dehxodii also tells us that there were different titles/names used to refer to
Hazrat-e Ali. These include amir al-momenin ..J:U.o_,..Jl-»"I, Assadollah .ilil.h..I, Hei -dar .J~. mo/aye motagiyan ..:;\.fo 0U.., sah-e mardan ..Jb ..J-" ,t...::,, and sah-e ve/ayat ~'l _, oL. Thus, siih-e ve/iiyat ~'l J oL (the king of the land) refers to Hazrat-e Ali as can be seen in old manuscripts, such as Futuvvatname-ye So/tani6. In the Qajar-period manuscript Rostam al Tavarix, a story is related about how Sah
Esma'il killed a bear when he was thirteen years old and also killed a lion while hunting when he was in Iraq, stating that Sah Esma'il inherited the bravery of hazrat-e sah-e velayat ~'l J ,t...::, ..::.,~(referring to Hazrat-e Ali). further, one should notice that in the manuscript Ta'id Besarat, it is reported that the period of the rule of a king asr-e padesah oL'.:..)~ ~ is written on
some swords7
• Thus, many researchers have assumed that the combination of two pharses Amal-e Assadollah Esfahani ~~\ .<i.il.h..I J.= and Bande-ye sah-e veliiyat Abbas...,..t...:. ..:...::'lJ .t...: .~indicate that the famed swordmaker Assadollah Esfahani should have lived during the period of Sah Abbas Safavid. But no
clear historical evidence could be provided to substantiate this claim.
Nev-ertheless, it is noteworthy that historical evidence for the existence of other
artists in other fields in historical chronicles, such as the calligrapher Mir Cmad, the painter Reza Abbasi Kasani, astronomer Molanajalaledin Moham
-mad Yazdi, the physician Hakim Safai Esfahani, the musician Masib Xan, the
carpet maker Nematollahjosqani, and the architect Ostad Ali Akbar Esfahani, just to name a few, are clearly mentioned8
• But all these manuscripts are si
-lent on the existence of a swordsmith named Assadollah Esfahani. As far as my research shows three manuscripts in Persian mention the name of Assad
as a swordmaker as will be described in the following.
In the Safavid-period manuscript Tazakore-ye Nasrabadi9, it is reported that a master swordmaker named Ostad Kalbeali, was talking about his father Assad .l.i...il:
. .:i.fi'-5"' Ji; .i.,,\ .:ip. ..l.ll_, jl ;.~ ~ .:iW...\
Ostad Kalbeali samsirgar az valed xod ostad Assad naql mikard.
[Master Kalbeali the swordmaker was talking about his father master Assad].
See Mayer (1957-59:1). See Kobylinski 2000:61).
•See Mir'i (l 970/ 1349:336).
1 for the usage of this phrase in the same context see the manuscript Abu Moslemname (Tartusi, 2001/1380:401; vol. 2).
'See Kasefi Sabzevari (1971/1350:6, 10)
See Mirza Lotfallah (1706-1707:1118 or 1108:1696-1697:[8]) 'See Mir'i (l 970/1349:305-336)
'See Nasrabadi Lsfahani (1941/1317:9).
L"ntrc OS ferrciros ir,111ianos, l\sstldollah I :-,fali,1111 e supostamente O mai fa-lllOSO arrnciro iraniano, mas apcsar de <lS l,'\111i11.is .issinada com o eu nome
e-rcm nurnerosc1s ',a sua hist oria 11lt1111 L'tll sc lllist c1 iosa .
E
ate di toque A sadollah l'sfoha11i era um gcnio no fabrico de csµ<1d,1s l' quc .1s laminas de Assadollah aocapazcs de rapar cabc lo bcrn corno dl' co rt ,1r b,m ,1s de ferro . Tern a reputac;ao de 'star hojc cm cxc 'lcntc co11di<;.'10 t11 's1110 <lpos '100 anos. A marca embutida a our A11wl c Assod E:sf~1ltl111i ,_, .. l~Ll. • .Jj...c. ou A111t1/ e As adol/ah Esfahani ~~1 .<ii\..1...I .J= er<l gcralrnc11lc i.lCOllliJ<lllhada µor out rt\ fr .1se onde se lia Bande-ye sah-e veli.iyat Abbiis ._....u:. __,,,-:r, .t..:. •.l.>.. quc signific.1 ltte1,1lrnente, "O sC1bdito/escravo do reino/domfnio/rcgencia de Ali, Abb<is." lsto l' I r,1du1ido co moo seguinte: "Abbas
e
0 rcprcscntantc do rcino dl' Ali l' agl' l'l11 SL'll lh)l)IC." Note-se que bande•.:i:., (s.) ignifica "cscravo/s<1bdito", 5t1/i0l.! (s.) signif1c,1 "rc1," e ve/ayat~-J (s.) significa "paf , regencia," c AbbJs ... '"Lie. (s.)co
nonw de urn rei.D acordo com o Di9ittil I exico11 o{ Dc/1xticl<1. L>,111de ·~ significa "subdito" ou
"e cravo." Obviamente, pesso,is quc 'iCrvcrn ou "I\ cm no reino governado por Um rei Jo 0, SeUS subdi!OS. \ic/c1yt1t ... :.: •Sl,~llif°JL,I "reino" OU "terra governada",
logo, um rei tern urn veltiyt1t ...,') Jsobrc o qu,11 'L)\L'111ar. Dehxoda diz ainda que a pes oa a quern Ve!tiyat c Ali ~ - '..' sc rckr\'. tl idera-se o representante do lmi'i Ali ...)c. i-1....1 c, consequenlemenll', rL'gc c g1)\ r d em seu nome.
E
claro quee ta
e
uma frase muito pr6pri.1 dos Xiii.ls,\ i to lll Xiitas consideramHazrat-e Ali . ..)<:. ...,_r-a..:...o verdadcir) herdeiro cln Pr fd t hammed. Para alem disto o
Digital Lexicon of Dcl1xoda ta1nbc111 lllb diz 1u1 1 t It m diferentes tftulos/nomes utilizados para sc rcfcrir a I lazrat l' Ii. I t
Assadollah .uil.l ... ..\, f!eidar J.:..i..::.., lllt)it~\t' 11ll1t.ic l)cl/l ...,:...:i.-. .sU... sah-e mardan .J1~>" oL, e sah-e vch1yat ~ 'J ol.: logo .. ,1}1 t' l't'ftl) lC...:...' ' • - rei da terra) refere-se a H
a-zrat-e Ali como pode ser "hto e111 ,111t igl) 111 nu os, como o Futuvvatniime-ye arix, uma hist6ria
e
contada1a treze anos e tambem um ma'il tinha herdado a cora
-gem de hazrnt e Slllr c 1•clayc1t ... ;; J .~ ~ ldo-se a Hazrat-e Ali). Para alem di ·to, deve-sc notar qm' 110 m.mu l rit Ii ·, "frat,
e
di toque 0 perfodo deo reinado de um rei Llsr 1' pcidc.\ili ~~-'-; ~ 1 t em algumas espadas7. Logo, muitos investigadores tern a ·sumido que a corn~ ic;ao de duas frases: Amal-e Assadollah Esfahani ~~ ....i1~1 ._:...c.. e Rinde )e velayat Abbas...>-~ ..:...::'l J • ' • ..., indicam que o famoso armeiro Assaclollah I al1111i deveria ter vivido durante
o perfodo de sah Abbas Safavid. Mas nenhulll, ~ rova hist6rica clara pode ser providenciada para sub tanciar est a afinn.1~"1 . L ntanto,
e
digno de nota que evidencia hist6rica para a cxistencia de oulro , ·thl 1s, noutros campos, em cr6-nicas hist6ricas, tais como o calfgrafo Mir I mad. l pintor Reza Abbasi Kasani, o astr6nomo Molanajalaledin Mohammad Y,ll(li, medico Hakim Safai Esfahani, o musico Masib Xan, o tecelao de tapctcs ematollah J0sqani, e o arquitecto OstadAli Akbar Esfahani, apenas para nomear un quanto . sao claramente mencion a-dos8. Mas todos estes manuscritos estao silcncioso no que diz respeito
a
existen -cia de um armeiro chamado Assadollah I sfdhJni. -'\o que a minha pesquisa indica tres manuscritos em Persa mencionam o nomc de A. sad como armeiro como se descrevera a seguir.No manuscrito do perfodo Safavida Tazakore yt NasrabadiQ, e dito que um mestre armeiro chamado Ostad Kalbeali, falava sobre o seu pai Assad .J...I:
.j.fi...s-" Ji; ..i....\ jp ..l.l\J j1 j.~ ~~\:,_I
Ostiid Kalbeali samsirgar az valed xod ostad Assad naql mikard.
[O Mestre Kalbeali o armeiro estava a falar obre o seu pai o mestre Assad].
Ver Mayer (1957-59: I). 1 Ver Kobylinski 2000:61). 'Ver Mir'i (1970/1349:336)
Para o uso desla frase no mesmo conlcxlo vcr o 111,11rnscrilo Abu Moslemname (Tartusi, 2001 /1380:40 J; vol. 2).
'Ver Kascfi Sabzcvari (1971/1350:6, 10)
Ver Mirza Lolfallah ( 1706 1707: 1118 ou I I 08: I 696 1697:[8]). Ver Mir'1 (I 970/l 349::l05-.l'.\(i).
Ver Nasrabadi I .sfahani ( J 941I111 7:9).
One should note that 1irza Mohammad Taher Nasrabadi Esfahani was
born in 1027 Hegira (1619 C.E.) and started to write the book Tazakore-ye Nasrdbadi in 1083 Hegira (1672 C.E.) and lived until the end of the rule of
sah Soleyman Safavid [Sah Soleyman Safavid ruled from 1052-1077 H
e-gira/1666-1694 C.E.]10
• Another mention of the name Assad ..l...\ as a swor
d-maker can be found in the manuscript Ta'id Besa rat written by Mirza Lotfallah in Persian in India. The date of completion is contained in the book: if the
Yai hamzatum is counted, as it is usually in such treatises, a most likely year would be 1118 Hegira (1706-1707 C.E.) and without Ya it would be 1108 Hegi-ra (1696-1697 C.E.). lf one takes both dates of completion into consideration,
namely 1706-1707 C.E. and 1696-1697 C.E., it is clear that the manuscript Ta'id Besa rat was written during the rule of Sah Soltan Hosse in Safavid (1694-1722
C.E.). ln the manuscript Ta'id Besarat, Mirza Lotfallah explains that the Ir
a-nian sword is called ikeri cSfa.\ by the Turks and is made in Esfahan (Isfahan)
especially by Assad .h..I, who, he says, is like the Saleh
c-JL.,
from India, and his son Kalbeali c)c-...,..JS. The Iranian swords [made by Assad ..i...I and Kalbeali._)c....,..JS and other Iranian smiths] cutjosan _:;;,.?.armor very well, and Mirza
Lotfallah explains that if he were to report all of the good qualities of Iranian swords according to what he had seen and heard it would seem like an exag
-geration. The text reads in original as follows:
j.. ..>--; J .:...;\-"--J~ :JL.., ~ ...S .i....\ )5. ~'"" ~ ~1..i.l.i...,, .Jl;p ...S fa\ ,)5. y ...S ._,;ly,I ~ .s~ y ~~ a..i..ll+o ~~~JI ,~ J o.l,!.l j..y, j.1 .i.>!..s" )~ :_...:._..:~ •..>#- J _,.k...,.jS i'.l -'fa ....i....o..i J ..:...,\ .l _,! ~ ...S.>!'J) J °'Y..s" _,.,_,;.. _:;\S..I fo. >Jj ..:...1 ~;&I\.,,..::...\ ~..s-! J .l.J_,;....s" ~ y~ ..:..,~ .J.l .}.;.l ,slj:..\ \., jJ!\....,, J •.JL..,,,;. y.. )) _)I ..:...I ~.l "-! J.;)~i ..::_1 J~i
J ~LI_? jl _;... ~~I .i..; )i;-o ,\.Z.; rt..:; JJi; :) ~ .i.:~ ~\j ~\ ,...> r° y, ~._....; p >"
J.l ~ _y. J:...ol ~ jl ..::...,\ .l'l ~ ~ J ..s" y fa~...:;, J ..:...;.\.:...'., ..:...1 ..:...::'l J .>-~ ...;\.>.'..,. J ..,...! . ..i..:, .i..;1_,:;,wfol ~ J..y .J.l J ..:...;.L ~lji,W ~ J• ,)=. .... ~ .J.i .i...l...>" ~ j1 .i .y ..:.;:_,
(Mirza Lotfallah, 1706-1707:1118 or 1108:1696-1697:[36-37])
Samsir-e irani ke torkan ikeri guyand safahanist xosus kar-e Asad ke me/-e sa/eh-e hendustiin ast va pesaras Kalb-e Ali va qeire ji5san besyar miborad agar bores dide va senide u tafsil konam mojamelan mobaleqe savad dar saxtbori binazir ast ba. inke hame -bor ast zereh beqadr-e emkan xub miborad va zerehbori samsir-e fulad ast va nesf-e taraf-e dam abdar ast abdariya5 be dohniyat ast az roqan-e osare va sabun ba ajzaye
digar dar sedat-e zarb xam mixorad va hargez nemisekanad bar dam ham aksar qayem
mimanad mobseriin be zoq-e tamiim negah midarand esfahani behtar az xoriisani va qomi va jahaye digar-e velayat ast senaxt velayati ta naqla5 narmi va keyfiyat fulad ast az qabil-e asil har cand dar velayat fulad az hend miresad dar hendustan be an keyfiyat nemitavanand siixt va dar bores ham anqadr nemitavanad sod.
[Iranian sword, which is called ikeri by the Turks, is from Isfahan, e
spe-cially those made by Assad, who is similar to Saleh from India, and his son Kalb-e Ali and others. It cuts jofon [a type of armor which is a combina-,
ti on of plate and mail] very well. If I explained its cutting [ability] which I have seen and heard it would sound like an exaggeration. It is the best in cutting hard objects. Although it cuts everything it cuts mail armor well as far as possible. Cutting mail armor is due to the steel sword. Half of the side of the sword towards the edge is hardened. And its hardening is
due to oiliness/flexibility which is done in oil essence and soap and other
ingredients. Upon hard strikes it bends, but it never breaks. It keeps its strong edge most of the time as well. [Sword] connoisseurs keep it with lots of interests. Swords from Esfahan [Isfahan] are better than those from Xorasan [Khorasan] and Qom and other places in the country [ veliiyat].
Recognizing the swords from the country [ve/ayat; referring to Iran here]
'°Allan and Gilmour (2000:102) report about the mention of the name of a swordsmith named Assad.
Deve tomar-se nota que Mirza \ohamma nasceu em 1027 Hegira (1619 E.C.) e c m (ou, :\ilsrabadi em 1083 Hegira (1627 E.C.) e \ i\eu a Soleyman Safavid [o Sah Soleyman Safa\'1d rt ra/1666-1694 E.C.] ·. Outra menc;ao do nome i ser encontrada no manuscrito TJ '1d Be:t'ir 1t es<
persa na fndia. A data da sua finalizac;ao
e
c r Yai hamzatum, como e usual nestes tratado , Hegira (1706-1707 E.C.) e sem o Ya eria 110tomar em considerac;ao ambas as datas de final 1707 E.C. e 1696-1697 E.C., torna-se claro que on crito durante o reino do Sah Soltan Ho ein afa nuscrito Ta'id Besarat, Mirza Lotfallah explica qu ikeri ...;.fi-:' pelos turcos e feita em Esfahan (l fah ~1, que, ele diz, e co mo Saleh :...'...o da f ndia, e c
espadas lranianas [feitas por Assad .!...I e KalbE
iranianos] cortamjosan ~.?.armadura muito b
que se ele fosse relatar todas as boas qualidac
acordo com o que tinha visto e ouvido dizer pa
ginal diz o seguinte:
_':.. _)-J ~·~ ..,...;...\ :..:_,Q ~ ~ _:__ .... .s ._,>A ... ~ - -~...i....;:i -_;~ .):. .:.;--u_;~ ~ ~ ~ j :i-;.-J !';.__ - -... . } ,)o..:-..1.J.o ~!...:.__-:.' ... ·r~ ...3.r_... ....
,,-=-
-..s--
..
~-__. j .:....1.r..s:""~ -~ ...:..~ _;-~...; ..r - ... ...' .. _,;:Ii J~..J...o=. .. J-J..s-- r ~ i:-r....r~ -.... ~ .)~ .>~~;.:..._~-... _)-~ ~ ~ ~ .... ~ .:.~· ... -.i..S J ~..r ,__a.. - ..s-' .. ~.: _.:..!.:..,;~ .... ~ ~ _,:....r._,,- J__::. _ _ _ .::._.._~·<_.. ... (Mirza L tfallah, 1706-1/07:1~ 1 ~ r 11 ~:10<1 Samsir-e iriini ke torkan ikeri gL1yand samltll Sdleh-e hendt1sll111 ast va pesaras Kalb-e Ali va qE bores di :le va senide u tafsil konam mojamel m mob( ast ba inke hamebor ast zereh beqadr-e emka.n xubfu/ad ast va nesf-e taraf-e dam abdiir ast ilbdc1riya: I
va sabun ba ajziiye digar dar sedat-e nrb xun m
bnr dtm1 ham aksar ql'iyem mimanad mobseriin bt' esfaht'i.ni behtar az xoriisO.ni va qomi vaj(1ht'iye dig'
ta
naqlas narmi va keyfiyat fulii :t ast a: qubil-e 1si hend miresad dar hen iustan be an keyfiyat nemitc anqadr nemitavannd sod.[Espada iraniana, que
e
chamada ikeri pel1pecialmente aquelas feitas por A sad, que e ~
seu filho Kalb-e Alie outros. Cortajosan [um t
combinac;ao de coura<;a e cota de malha] mu seu [poder de] c rte que vi e oun pareceria corte de objectos duros. Ape ar de cortar tud tanto quanto
e
possf el. 0 corte de cota de J ac;o. Metade do !ado da espada em direcc;aoa
Iendurecimento e devido
a
oleosidade/fle ·ibiessenciais e sabao e outros ingredientes .. Dob1
nunca se parte. Mantem tambem a sua forte la po.
c
nhecedores [de espadas] mantem-na co de E fahan [lsfahan] ao melhore do que a •Qom e outros sftios do pafs [vc/aynt]. 0 recot
ih Esfahani is supposedly the most famous
the blades signed with his name are nu-~rious1. It is even claimed Lhal Assadollah
swords and Lhat Assadollah's blades are
n bars4
• They are reputedly still in excel -years. The gold-inlaid mark Amal-e Assad adolliih Esfahani~~\ ...ill.i...I J.=was
gen-rase, reading Ban de-ye siih-e veliiyat A bbiis
;, "The subject/ slave of the kingdom/ do- ·
fhis translates into the following: "Abbas
:
rnd acts on his behalf." Note that bande ....::. (n) means "king," and velayat .::..O.:'l J (n) \bbas ..yL,.c (n) is a king's name.
of Dehxoda, bandeo~ means "subject" or
e or inhabit the realm ruled by a king are
ngdom" or "ruled land"; therefore, a king
further states that the person to whom
:lers himself the representative of Emam ~s and governs on his behalf. It is clear ase, for the Shiites consider Hazrat-e Ali
et Mohammad. further, the Digital Lexicon !re different titles/names used to refer to
nomenin j,Wi ,..JI?'. Assadollah ...ill.i...I, Hei
-»
sah-e mardan .jlJ.JA oLl, and sah-e veliiyat~(the king of the land) refers to I lazrat-e
:s, such as Futuvvatname-ye Soltani<'. In the
Tavarix, a story is related about how Sah
thirteen years old and also killed a lion
:i. stating that Sah Csma'il inherited the
'i J ol..::. w~ (referring lo I lazrat-e Ali).
he manuscript Ta'id Besarat, it is reported
1g asr-e padesah .,L:d:; ~ is written on
1ers have assumed that the combination
Ahani ~~\ ...i.Jl.i...\ J...c. and Bande-ye sah-e
:e that the famed swordmaker Assadollah the period of Sah Abbas Safavid. But no Jrovided to ubstantiate this claim. N ev-)rical evidence for the existence of other
chronicles, uch as the calligrapher Mir 1i, a tronomer MolanaJalaledin Moh am-·ai Esfahani, th musician Masib Xan, the
1d the architect Ostad Ali Akbar Esfahani,
:ioned8
. Bul all these manuscripts are si -ith named Assadollah Esfahani. As far as
>ts in Persian mention the name of Assad ::l in the following.
Tazakore-ye Nasrabiidi~. it is reported that a
•ea/i, was talking about his father Assad .l....ol: ~JW....1
1d ostad Assad naql mikard.
>\/as talking about his father ma ter Assad].
~xt see the manuscript Abu Moslemncime (Tartusi,
.696-1697:[8)).
Entrc o ferrciros iranianos, Assadol!Jh Esfahani
e
supo tamcntc o rncii fomo o armc1ro iraniano, mao; apcsar de as lamina a inadas com o seu non1e
se
rem numcrosas , a sua hist6ria mantern-sc mi teriosa3
•
t
ate dito quc Assadolli.ihLsfahani era um genio no fabrico de cspadas e que as laminas de Assc1 follah Jo
capa1cs de rapar cabelo bcm como de cortar barra de ferro1
•
rem
a reputa<;-c.1ode e tar hoje cm cxcelente condi<;-ao me mo ap6s 400 anos. A rnarca embulida
a ouro Amal e Assad Esfahc"ini s24i--ol.l .. JJAC ou A111al-e Assodo/16/i L'sf(1/i 111i ~~1
.Jil.l....I J.w::. era geralmente acompanhada por outra frase onde se lia Bandc-ye sah-c ve/ayat Abbas ._r..,C. ~-,· J .~ • .i.::.. que significa literalmente, "O subdito/escravo do
reino/domfnio/regencia de Ali, Abbas." I toe traduzido como o eguinte: "Abba
e o representante do reino de Ali age em seu nome." Note-se que bande0~ (-. )
significa "escravo/subdito", siih•L (s.) ignifica "rei," e ve/ayat.::..O.:'Y 5 ( .) significa
"pafs, rcgencia,'' e Abbas -..rlic (s.) e o name de um rei.
De acordo com o Digital Lexicon of Dehxoda, bande ,~ signifirn "sC1bdito" ou
"escravo." Obviamente, pessoas que servem ou vivem no reino governado por
um rei sao os seu subditos. Ve/ayat .::..0.:. JSignifica "reino" ou "terra governada",
logo, um rei tern um veliiyat .::..o.:. ,sabre o qua I governar. Dehxoda diz ainda que a
pessoa a quern Ve/ayat-e Ali'' ..)c. ~ , se refere, considera-se o representante do
Ima Ali._)::. i>L.1 e, consequentemente, rege e governa em seu nom .
t
claro qucesta e uma frase muito pr6pria dos Xiitas, visto que os Xiitas con ideram I
lazrat-e Ali . ..)c. ..::.i.>-"'-"'o verdadeiro herdeiro do Profeta Muhammed. Para alem disto o
Digital Lexicon of Dehxoda tambem nos diz que existiam diferente tftulo /names
utilizados para se referir a Hazrat-e Ali. Estes incluem amir al-momenin ..J:ilA ,...i1 ?1.
Assadollah ...ill.l..-1, Heidar ..J~. mo/aye motagiyan j~ __,u.., siih-e mardiin .:;1..i Yo • ....:.. e
sah-e ve/ayat ..:'...i.; J 0L:.. Logo, sah-e ve/ayat ..:'..J.;':l 5 oL (o rei da terra) refere-se a
Ha-zrat-e Ali coma pode ser visto em antigos manuscritos, como o Futuvvatname-ye
Soltani6
• No manuscrito do perfodo Qajar Rostam al Tavarix, uma hist6ria e contada
sobre como Sah Esma'il matou um urso quando tinha treze anos e tambem um
leao enquanto ca~ava no lraque, dizendo que Sah Esma'il tinha herdado a
cora-gem de hazrat-e siih-e ve/ayat ~'15 ,\....'.. -.::., ~ (referindo-se a Hazrat-e Ali). Para
alem disto, deve-se notar que no manuscrito Ta'id Besarat, e di toque o perfodo de
o reinado de um rei asr-e padesah ·ol..'.:J ., .r= e escrito em algumas espadas . Logo,
muitos investigadores tern assumido que a combina~ao de duas frases: Amal-e
Assado/lah Esfahani ~~\ ...ilb ... J J.= e Bande-ye sah-e ve/ayat Abbas-~~ ---;'i,
·'---.~ indicam que o famoso armeiro Assadollah Esfahani deveria ter vivido durante
o perf odo de Sah Abbas Safavid. Mas nenhuma prov a hist6rica clara pode ser
providenciada para substanciar esta afirma~ao. No entanto, e digno de nota que
evidencia hist6rica para a existencia de outros artistas, noutros campos, em cr6-nicas hist6ricas, tais como o calfgrafo Mir Emad, o pintor Reza Abbasi Kasani, o astr6nomo Molanajalaledin Mohammad Yazdi, o medico Hakim Safai Esfahani, o mu ico Masib Xan, o tecelao de tapetes Nematollahjosqani, e o arquitecto Ostad
Ali Akbar Esfahani, apenas para nomear uns quantos, sao claramente
menciona-dos~. Mas todos estes manuscritos estao silenciosos no que diz respeito
a
existen-cia de um armeiro chamado Assadollah Esfahani. Ao que a minha pesquisa indica tres manuscritos em Persa mencionam o name de Assad como armeiro como se descrevera a seguir.No manuscrito do perfodo Safavida Tazakore-ye Nasrabiidi9
, e dito que um
mestre armeiro chamado Ostad Ka/beali, falava sobre o seu pai Assad .h..I:
.:J.fi~ Jii .l..-1 JP. :;J1 5 } j,~ ~ ..iti ... J
Ostad Ka/beali samsirgar az va/ed xod ostad Assad naql mikard.
[O Mestre Kalbeali o armeiro estava a falar sobre o seu pai o mestre Assad].
Ver Mayer (19"7 59:1).
Ver Kobylinski 2000:61 ).
· Ver Mir'i (l 970/U49:336).
Para o uso desta frase no rnesmo contexto ver o manuscrilo Abu Moslemname (Tartusi,
2001/ 1380:40 I; vol. 2).
Ver Kasefi Sabzevari (1971/1350:6, 10)
Ver Mirza Lotfallah ( 1706 1707:1118 ou 1108:1696-1697:[8]).
\'l:r \11r'1 ( 1970 1349:305-336).
Ver asrabadi lsfahani (1941/1317:9).
One should note that Mirza Mohammad Taher asrabadi Esfahani v as
born in 1027 Hegira (1619 C.E.) and tarted to write the book Ti121kore-ye
Nusravadi in 1083 Hegira (1672 C.E.) and lived until the end of the rule of
Sah S I yrnan Safavid [Sah Soleyman Safavid ruled from 1052-1077
He-gira/ 1666 l694 C.E.]10
• Another mention of the name As ad .l....ol a a
word-makcr can be found in the manuscript Ta'id Be arat written by Mirza Lotfallah
in 1.>ersian in India. The date of completion is contained in the book: if the
Yai hamn1tum is counted, as it i usually in such treatises, a most likely year would be 1118 Hegira (1706-1707 C.E.) and without Ya it would be 1108 Hegi
-ra (1696 1697 C.E.). If one takes both dates of completion into consideration, nam ly I 706-1707 C.E. and 1696-1697 C.E., it is clear that the manuscript Ta'id
Besa rat wa written during the rule of Sah Sol tan Hosse in Safavid (1694-1722
C.L:.). In the manuscript Ta'id Besarat, Mirza Lotfallah explains that the Ir a-nian word is called ikeri t.Sfa.1 by the Turks and is made in Esfahan (Isfahan)
c ·pecially by Assad lo..>I, who, he says, is like the Saleh c:JL:. from India, and
hi· son Kalbeali ._)::.~.The Iranian swords [made by A sad ..l-ll and Kalbeali
._)::...lS and other Iranian smiths] cutjosan
J:i_p.
armor very well, and MirzaL otfoll<lh explains that if he were to report all of the good qualities of Iranian
words Jccording to what he had seen and heard it would seem like an exa
g-geration. The text reads in original as follows:
~:..r-: , _._,.i:... ~\...., ~ ...S .>-\)Su->~ ~U.LL.o ~fl 0fa1 .:.JSy ...S .._,.jly,1 ~
..; ;,_,..:. tiJt.,... ~ ~ J...aii JI ·~ J o.l!,:i J•y j.1 :iyu-" .J4-i ,>:.y;. ·~;~..,_,is
>-_,yo ~ J .:,...,1 :,':J,3 ~ Jy>.Jj J :iyu-" ._,.,_,;.. ,jlS..1 fa •.Jj-::.._\ ~ ...s..;i 1..;-::.._1 fa._r.
J ; ; "'..r"..,.. ._,., ~ ..::.,lo'., .J:, }'7.:, 01)?.I l; ..)}!\...., J, )\....,c. J:-J.)} ..::...,1 ~;, 4-1 ~.:.;}.1,>I .:.,..,I .Jl.l,>l
..r w...,.;~1 .1.i).J,!.oo ,&.; r'-4:.i j 3:i, .)~ .l.i~ H\j }&IF rj y ~~ j.y,
JJ "' ,..,_,,1~j1-::.._1;,'J}~Ju-"Y._;r;:,i:,~'J)..:.i.;.L'...:,...,1w,'JJ..f.-:;,-sU. . J~
_ .1.il~.J.i.iil F J..r. .J:i J ..:...;.L..., .i.;;1~ ~ :_;L; ..Jr....,J~ y ;,....,.As"~) :,'J>9 w, J
(Mirza I otfallah, 1706-1707:1118or1108:1696-1697:[36-37])
:),vn:ir c iriini ke torkiin ikeri guyand safahiinist xosus kiir-e Asad ke mel-e Saleh-e
he11du. tii11 llSt va pesaras Kalb-e Ali va qeire josan besyar miborad agar bores dide va senide u tafsil konam mojamelan mobaleqe savad dar saxtbori binazir ast ba inke hame -bor ti. t zcrch beqadr-e emkan xub miborad va zerehbori samsir-e fulad ast va nesf-e taraf e dam abdar ast abdiiriyas be dohniyat ast az roqan-e osare va sabun ba ajzaye digar dar scdat-e zarb xam mixorad va hargez nemisekanad bar dam ham aksar qayem
mimanad mobseran be zoq-e tamam negah midarand esfahiini behtar az xorasani va
qomi vajt'il1iiye digar-e ve/O.yat ast senaxt velayati ta naqlas narmi va keyfiyat fiilad ast az qabil-e ti. ii har cand dar velayat fulad az hend miresad dar hendustan be an keyfiyat
nemitavdnand siixt va dar bores ham iinqadr nemitavanad 5od.
[Iranian sword, which is called ikeri by the Turks, is from Isfahan, espe
-cially those made by Assad, who is similar to Saleh from India, and his son
Kalb-e Ali and others. It cutsjosan [a type of armor which is a combina
-tion of plate and mail] very well. If I explained its cutting [ability] which I
have seen and heard it would sound like an exaggeration. It is the best in
cutting hard objects. Although it cuts everything it cuts mail armor well
as far as possible. Cutting mail armor is due to the steel sword. Half of
the ide of the sword towards the edge is hardened. And its hardening is
due to oiliness/flexibility which is done in oil essence and soap and other
ingredients. Upon hard strikes it bends, but it never breaks. It keeps its
strong edge most of the time as well. [Sword] connoisseurs keep it with
lots of interests. Swords from Esfahan [Isfahan] are better than those from
Xorasan [Khorasan] and Qom and other places in the country [ velayat].
Recognizing the swords from the country [velayat; referring to Iran here]
'Allan and Gilmour (2000:102) report about the mention of the name of a swordsmith named Assad.
Dt.>\ t' to mar- e n ta que Mirza Mohammad Ta her Na rabadi Esfahani
11<1s ·eu em 10~7 Hegira ( 1619 E .C.) e come<;-ou a escrever o livro Tazakore-ye
tLfibli ti em 1083 Hegira (162"' E.C.) e vi\eu ate ao fim do reinado do Sah
Sole) man Safa\ id [o Sah Soleyman Safavid reinou entre 1052-1077
Hegi-ra/1666-1694 f.C.] ''. Outra men<;-ao do nome Assad .l-1 como armeiro pode
er encontrada no manuscrito J:i 'id Besdmt escrito por Mirza Lotfallah em
p r a na fndia. A data da sua finalizac;ao
e
contida no livro: se se contar oYai ham?atum, comae usual ne tes tratados, o ano mais provavel seria 1118
Hegira (1706-1707 E.C.) e cm o Ya seria 1108 Hegira (1696-1697 E.C.). Se se
tomar em considerac;ao ambas as datas de finaliza<;-ao, nomeadamente
1706-1707 E.C. e 1696-1697 E.C., torna-se claro que o manuscrito Ta'id Besiirat foi
es-crito durante o reino do Sah Soltan Hossein Safavid (1694 -1722 E.C.). o
ma-nuscrito fo'id Besarnt, Mirza Lotfallah explica que a espada iraniana chamada
ikeri ...;fa.I pelos turco e feita em Esfahan (Isfahan) especialmente por Assad
.l..-1, que, ele diz, e como Saleh ;::JL:. da fndia, e o seu filho Kalbeali ~...,,.;.s. As
espadas Iranianas [feitas por Assad .i....1 e Kalbeali
_;c__;s
e outros ferreirosiranianos] cortamjosan ~?.armadura muito bem, e Mirza Lotfallah explica
que se ele fosse relatar todas as boa qualidades das espadas iranianas de
acordo com o que tinha vista e ouvido dizer pareceria exagero. 0 texto
ori-ginal diz o seguinte:
J-.>-' J ,_.__;'.:i...J~ ;::]'~ ~ ....s ~\ ;'.£ .Y>r= .:____;,·,,,.~:...JS ..3fa _·s...r ....s ..r / ~
...5~ _;-! .!~ ~°t~ ~ ~ ~ J' ,,~ _! ,,.!.;.! _._y _; :...r..54 _;~ _._y.. ;,_r-j ~_:_s
i"J. ._J~ ~ J ..:__1 ~ ';3 ~ ...5_?.)) j ::...r....sA ~?-~· .;..:.!.. ~.,.,; ..::__ >~ '\S: ...: ..:.__ ~...r
5 )..).,;.....-4 ~ ~~ ~.!...::. .)~
h.! ..;...:
...?.-' 1-1 ._;_r~ J :.)-~ J:. J_; .~ ..:.__ ~- ~ _:..:-' .:_.~..:__ __...:... 3 _,.;up. jl Yr. .s'y_.,1 -'-')~ .& w ,:,,_,_, j~ .:.: ... ,..:'..!JS .... ,._ .r. ~ ... ..J..r)~ ~ y>o j,....,I ~ _,1-::.._1 ~ ·,;~ JJ"'YJ~'.:__;..;';;--:..-'--'- ~·.:J .J-~..3..:.~ '~ .~ lil~.)~1 ~ .J:..y, .J.! J ~L ~I~~...;"--:...;----~ J,.:. :.__;...r ~ __, ::.'_'Y-:.'-'J
(Mirza Lotfallah, 1706-1707:1118 or 1108:1696-1697:[36-37])
Samsir-e irani ke torkan ikeri guyand safahl'inist xosus h'ir-e Asad ke mel-e Saleh-e hendustan ast va pesaras Ka/b-e Ali va qeire j6sa11 besyt'ir miborad agar bores dide va senide u tafsil konam mojamelan mobaleqe StlVad dar saxtbori binazir
ast ba inke hamebor ast zereh beqadr-e emkan xub miborad va zerehbori samsir-e
fulad ast va nesf-e taraf-e dam abdar ast abdariyas be dohniyat ast az roq m-e os Ire va sabun ba ajzaye digar dar sedat-e zarb xam mixornd va hargez nemisekanad
bar dam ham aksar qayem m imanad mobseran be zoq-e ta111ii111 neg ah mid 'ir mt
esfahiini behtar az xorasani va qomi vajiihaye digar-e veliiyat u sen lxt velayati
ta naqlas narmi va keyfiyat fulad ast az qabil-e asil har ean id l r velt'iyat fuliid az
hend miresad dar hendustiin be an keyfiyat nemitaviinand sO.xt va dar bore: ham
O.nqadr nemitaviinad sod.
[Espada iraniana, que e chamada ikeri pelos turcos, e de Esfahan,
es-pecialmente aquelas feitas por Assad, que e similar a Saleh da f ndia, e
seu filho Kalb-e Alie outros. Cortajosan [um tipo de armadura que e uma
combinac;ao de
coura~a
e cota de malha] muito bem. Se eu explicasse oseu [poder de] carte que vi e ouvi pareceria um exagero.
E
a melhor nocorte de objectos duros. Ape ar de cortar tudo, corta cota de malha bem
tanto quanta e possfvel. 0 corte de cota de malha e devido
a
espada dea~o. Metade do !ado da espada em direc~ao
a
laminae endurecido. E o euendurecimento e devido
a
oleo idade/flexibilidade quee
feita de oleosessenciais e sabao e outros ingredientes. Dobra- e ob golpes forte , mas
nunca se parte. Mantem tambem a sua forte lamina a maior parte do
tem-po. Conhecedores [de espadas] mantem-na com muito interes e. Espadas
de Esfahan [Isfahan] sao melhore do que as de Xorasan [Khora an] e de
Qom e outros sftio do pafs [velayat]. 0 reconhecimento das espadas d
as they explain i due to its flexibility and the quality of its steel similar
to asil [noble] swords. Although the teel of the country [velayat] come from India, In India they cannot make the same quality [swords] and they cannot reach their cutting ability].
This again proves that that there wa not only one mith called A adollah
who lived during the reign of Sah Abba Safavid who ruled from 1587-1629
C.£. In the Daeratolmaaref-e Bozorg-e Es/ami (The Great Islamic Encyclopae
-dia), Semsar11 wrongly assumes that the fir t time the name of the mith
Assadollah was mentioned was in the )ografiya-ye Esfahan (The Geography
of Esfahan) which was written in 1294 Hegira (1877 C.E.). In the manuscript
)ografiya-ye Esfahan the name of Assad Esfahani is mentioned as follows12:
~ Jy • .i:. I~ ~ ~ ~}.;,,. ..:J_,J ..>.!I j,l_,I. ~ _;'u.-. )IL,. J .Wy .i\.!j jel... jL~ ..:..c.4 .y,I . .Jfa~ ,.1_,.i ~l.J.j .j_,...::... J J_;..;.,. j~ jl:i..._,~ Jl4}S J _,.i~I .i....I ) ~._,.:::Ir; ..::..;.4
-:-I J~_?. ~ J~ jW.~ j'il ..!..'.:4...:..!l.J j~I_,:,. ~I ~j\...+- '°"'_,:,. r"' j\...j
)ema'at samsirsaz. Sabeq ziyad budand va ha/a besyar kam. Avaye/ in do/at-e
javid moddat yek saxsi peyda 5ode bud samsir misaxt be marateb behtar as Assad
Esfahani va karhiiye hendustan. Con mostari va mosaveq nadast davam ham peida
nakard. ln zaman ham xub misazand aqar xahan daste basad, a/Ian mata'esan besyar
kam xaridar ast.
[Swordmakers: There used to be many in the past but they are only few
now. At the beginning of this "eternal government" [referring to the
peri-od of Nassereldin Sah Qajar], there was a person [smith] who made better
swords than Assad Esfahani and the [other
J
swords made in India. He [theswordsmith] did not have any supporters and clients, his work did not sur
-vive. But, they can still make good swords if there are clients, although there
is not enough demand from buyers to commission swords].
As shown before, the assumption of Semsar is not correct as the name of Assadollah was already mentioned in the manuscripts Tazakore-ye Nasrabadi
and Ta'id Besarat. But as it is clear from all three manuscripts, reference to
As-sad is anectodal. It is noteworthy that all manuscripts refer to him as Assad and not Assadollah and only one manuscript uses the last name Esfahani.
The problem of the existence of a large number of swords signed with the
signature of Assadollah was already recognized by early research that assumed
that some of these cartouches were added later to the blades to increase their
value for sale to the European markets13• Research in 2000 assumed that there
were more than 200 blades bearing the signature of Assadollah Esfahani in larg
-er, [known] private collections and museums outside Iran and the same number
could presumably be found in smaller collections, raising the number to at least
400 to 500 swords carrying his signature; it is highly unlikely that Assadollah
made all these blades14• Additionally, many of his blades outside Iran are dated,
the oldest known date being 811 hegira (1409 C.E.), while the most recent one
is 1223 Hegira (1808 C.E.)15• Other researchers provide a time span of over three
centuries for dated blades carrying the signature of Assadollah16
• Another factor
to be taken into consideration is that the style of calligraphy and handwriting are often very different from one blade to another, making it impossible for all these
blades to have been crafted by one swordmaker. Additionally, the techniques of making these signatures vary drastically as does the handwriting17
•
See Semsar (1997 /1377:257).
'' Tahvildar Esfahani (l 964/1342:107).
'See Zeller and Rohrer (1955:98-99).
11 Kobylinski (2000:61); also see Mayer (1957-59:1). ·Kobylinski (2000:62).
'See Lebedynsky (1992:71).
Lebedynsky (1992:71) and Kobylinski (2000:62).
---
----.---....-.
paf [vc/dyt1t; refcrindo SL' ,1qui ,10 lr«W] tOlllO cks explicam e de\·ido
a
SU<l flexibilidadc ca qualidadc do seu ai;o sc'm >lhant e ao das e pada asil[nobres]. Ap ar do ac;o do pafs [vclayc1t] vir d,1 111di.1, na fndia nao
conse-gucm fo1cr a me ma qualid,1de ldc csp,1d,1sJ l' n,10 con eguem chegar
a
qu didadc de cortc].
I topr vaoutravc1qu n;1ocxisli,1urnst1krrl'irod1amadoA sadollahque
viveu durante or ino do Sah Abbas SaL1vid quc govcrnou de 1587 a 1629 E.C.
No Diicrntolnw<lrcfc Bozor9 <' E shl111i (A Grande I mil lopedia lslamica), Sem ar11
erradamente assume quc a primcira vez quc nomL' do ferreiro Assadollah
foi mencionad foi no Jogn1fiy<1-yc I sf~1!1a11 (A Gcograf 1a de Esfahan) que foi
e crito em l294 I lcgira ( 1877 l..C.). No rn.111uscrito /09n1fiya-ye [sfahan o nome
A ad E fohani
e
mcncionado da forr11<1 seguintc~.i_,..,.i....I~ ~~~,L:...:J,.i.Y.IJ.1 I, ..S _,....__" .:... ;L,jjeL. jL~..:,e4
j;il . ..ifaf"" <'1,.i ~l.li j_,...::... J ..;~ ..J~ ~ ... ,.:...;-")SJ ...r'-0-'-> _1 j1 Y..., ~l.JA! -:.6.c....+-~l Jl:!.? ,..SJ'..o..-..J..JL:...c."""~']'.:._'-'-...:.;J..;-" pl.J.jj4 .,..,,=-,,,,,jl...j
)emii.'at :amsirsaz. Selbe</ ziyiid Liud1rnd w litilL! bt )•l' kam. Avayel in dolat-e
jiivid moddat yek 5tixsi peydii sodc bud SLlllL~ir mb<lX! bt' 11 arateb behtar as Assad
Esfahdni va kdrhiiye ii<'11dustii11.
C\m
1110.~t<1n 1•<1 llltb<11, n 1dast davam ham peidanakard. /11 zcin1t"ln halll xub 111is<lZLll!d Ll</<lr ·l!lilin f!'re
1,
-
a a/Ian matii'esan besyar kam xaridar ast.[Armeiros: Co tumavmn existir muito tll µ, -existem apenas
pou-cos agora. No infcio deste "governo erL'rno'' [ rl fc rm i 'ao perfodo de
Nasse-reldin Sah Qajar]. havia uma pe so.i [k•rTL'in
1
u melhores espadas doque Assad Esfahani c do quc as [outrds) est .1 l. it.1 fndia. Ele [o armeiro]
nao tinha quai qucr patronos OU c11-.nll' 'l) l u tra l nao sobreviveu. Mas
podem ainda fazer boas e p,1d,1 · 'L' lwU\ l r Ii nt . p ar de nao existir
sufi-ciente procura da parte de compradorcs pt11·d L n rn 1 l lrem espadas].
Como descrito ante , a conclu ao de Scm ar n.i correcta visto que o
nome de Assadollahja era mencionado no nw1u nt) Tazakore-ye Nasrabiidi
e Ta'id Besarat. Mas como
e
claro cm todos os trc 111<111uscritos, referencias aAssad sao circunstanciais. E digno de nota qu1: l i o manuscritos se
refe-rem a ele com Assad e nao A adollah e apena um m.111uscrito usa o ultimo
nome Esfahani.
O problema da existencia de um grande nt."u11L'ro dL L padas assinadas com
a assinatura de Assadollah era ja reconhecido pelas pnmeiras investigac;:oes
que assumiram que alguns destes cartucho foram adicionados mais tarde as
laminas de forma a aumentar o cu valor para o mcrcados europeus13•
ln-vestigac;:ao em 2000 estimou que cxi tiam mai -de 200 IJminas assinadas por
Assadollah Esfahani em grandes [conhecidas] colecc;oe1., priavadas e museus
fora do lrao e o mcsmo numero poderia presumivclrm nte ser encontrado em
colecc;:oes mais pequenas, levando o numero a pclo mcnos 400 a 500 espadas
com a sua assinatura; e muito improvavel que Assadollah tenha feito todas
estas laminas14
• Para alem dislo, muitas das sum, laminas fora do Irao estao
datadas, a mais velha conhccida scndo de 811 Hegira (1409 C.E.), enquanto
a mais recente e de 1233 I Iegira (1808 LC.) . Outros investigadores dao um
perfodo de tempo de mais de tres seculos para laminas datas com a
assinatu-ra de Assadollah16
• Outro factor a ser Lido em considcrac;:ao e que o estilo de
caligrafia e escrita
e
frequentcmcntc difcrcnlc de uma lamina para a outra,Ver Semsiir (1997/1377:257).
rahvildar I.sfahani (1964/1342:107).
Ver Zeller e Rohrer (1955:98 99).
'Kobylinski (2000:61); ver tambcm Mayer (1957 59:1).
"Kobylinski (2000:62).
'ver lebedynsky (1992:71).
Next to the association of As adollah with the era of Sah Abbas the Great
(15 5-1627 C.E.), there are al o ugge tion that that since many blades
carrying the ignature of Assadollah \.\ere made after the era of Sah Abbas
the Great, Assadollah presumably lived in the era of Sah Abbas Ill (1731-36
C.E.). Nevertheless, research points out to the existence of a blade signed
with the signature "The work of Kalb Ali, the son of As adollah" in the i 71h century, indicating that a certain smith named As adollah must have lived
during the era of Sah Abbas the Great18
•
just in the collection of Henri Moser in Bern, Switzerland, there are 13
Persian blades signed with the signature of Assadollah spanning a time
span of 140 years, including the kingdoms of 4 successive Iranian kings
from the Safavid period19
• In the collection of Henri Moser in Bern, there
are no blades signed with the signature of Assadollah that can be traced to
the era of Sah Abbas 20
• However, in the Military Museum of Tehran alone, the Palace of Sa'dabad, there are four swords attributed to Sah Abbas I that are signed with the signature of Assadollah Esfahani. Another magnificent
dated sword from the Military Museum Bandar Anzali (number 6) with
the cartouche Amal-e Assadol/ah Esfahani 107 is clearly dated to 1107 hegira,
which was made during the reign of Sah Abbas I Safavid, who ruled from
996-1038 Hegira (1587-1629 C.E.).
There are also suggestions that the signature of Assadollah may have
been used as a sign of a workshop21
• On the one hand, there are no signs of
such a workshop in Iranian chronicles; on the other hand, one should reject
the possibility that these blades are counterfeit since a counterfeiter would
have copied the exact cartouche instead of creating new styles. Further,
due to the fact that the dates on these blades vary dramatically from one
to the other and encompass a wide range, a counterfeiter would have also
included the exact date of the reign of Sah Abbas rather than inventing
different, unrelated dates. It is not even clear which Sah Abbas is actually
referred to since there were three kings by that name: Sah Abbas I (1585
-1627 C.E.), Sah Abbas 11 (1642-1667 C.E.), and Sah Abbas Ill (1732-1736
C.E.)22• The dates on the blades signed with the name of Assadollah kept
in European museums range from 1408-1409 C.E.23 until 1808 C.E.24 and the
cartouches carry the names of almost all Safavid kings, such as Sah Esmail,
Sah Tahmasp, Sah Abbas, Sah Safi, Sah Hossein, Sah Soleyman, and even
Atsarid Nader Shah25• Research also suggests the theory that the name of
Assadollah was used in his workshop so that the swords could continue to
be made under the name of the master26
• However, in the same research it
is stressed that two sons of Assadollah signed their blades with their own
names and it is concluded that the very name of Assadollah was used as a
sign of quality and excellence after his death27 •
Dated swords with this maker's mark complicate the issue even more.
There are seven dated examples that, rather than solving the mystery behind
the smith Assadollah's life, only complicate the matter as the time span over
which these swords are purported to have been constructed is too long for a
normal human life, let alone the active life of a smith. Among the swords
discussed in the book Arms and Armor from Iran: The Bronze Age to the End of the
Qajar Period, the earliest date is 992 Hegira (1583 C.£.), and the latest is 1135
18 See Zeller and Rohrer (1955:100).
'9 See Zeller and Rohrer (1955:99 100). '0 See Zeller and Rohrer (1955:100) 2 See Kobylinski (2000:62). "See Mayer (1957-59:1).
This saber is in the Royal Scottish Museum. ''This saber is in the Wallace Collection in London. 25 See Mayer (1957-59:2).
26 Ibid. -Ibid.
tornando impossfvel que todas e ta lamina_ t~
s6 armeiro. Para alem disto as tecnica · parJ faz
drasticamente tal como o estilo dee crita .
Lado a lado com a associac;:ao de A sadollah
Grande (1585-1627 E.C.), existem tambem pini6
minas com a assinatura de Assadollah foram feiU
Grande, Assadollah viveu na era do Sah Abba· Ill
a pesquisa efectuada aponta para a exi tencia de
a sinatura "Obra de Kalb Ali. o filho de A sadollal·
que um certo ferreiro chamado Assadollah de e
do Sah Abba o grande ".
Apenas na colecc;:ao de Henri Moser em Bern<:
persas assinadas com a assinatura de A sad 1lah
140 anos, incluindo os reinos sucessi\·os de 4 reis
vida . a colecc;:ao de Henri Moser em Berna ,1ac
com a assinatura de Assadollah que possam er
Abba '. Contudo, apenas no Museu .1ilitar de Te
exi tern quatro e pada atribufda a Sah Abba- I
as inatura de Assadollah Esfahani. Outra magnffi
Militar Bandar Anzali (numero 6) com o car uch
107 e claramente datada com o ano 107 Hegira.
Sah Abba I Safa\ id, que reinou e 996 a 103 Heg
Ex1 tem rnmbem opinioe que a a ·-in:nura d1
u ·ada como o .;,,imbolo de um a ofi 'ina2 • Por un 3
tal oficina em cronicas iranianas. por ourro ladl) 3
erem faL a de\ e ·er re_ieitada \ i-ro un falsano e1 ro em \eZ de criar e:tilo 110\0:. Para ell m due•.
ne ms lamina· \ ariarem dra ti 'ameme de uma p
longo penodo. um falsario teria tambem inclurdo a
Abba em \ ez de im entar data diferente· e nao
claro qual Sah Abba
e
referido \ i toque exi ·tira1 Abba I (I 585-1627 E.C. ). Sah Abbas II ( 16-+2- IE( 1732-1736 E.C.f~. As data nas lamina a inada~
mantidas em mu eus europeus Yao desde 1-+0c -
l-e os cartucho tern os nome de quase todo os re
Esmail. Sah Tahma p. Sah Abbas. Sah Safi. Sah
ate AtSarid Nader hah25. imestiga<;:ao efectuada · o nome de A adollah foi usado na sua oficina pa1 continuar a er feita sob o nome do me·tre2
''. ~o
ga<;:ao e ublinhado que o dois filho de A sadolla
com o eus proprios name e e concluido que o p
usado como um sinal de qualidade e ex.cdencia ap
Espadas datadas com a marca do fabricante c
mai . Existem sete exemplos datados que, em vez
tra da vida do ferreiro Assadollah, s6 complicam o
de tempo em que
e
suposto terern id construfduma vida humana normal, muito menos a vida act
Lebedynsky (1992:11) e Kob) linski (~000:62). ->\.er Zeller and Rohrer (1Q55:100).
Ver Zeller e Rohrer ( 1955:99-100).
'ver Zeller e Rohrer (1955:100)
'ver K0b\ linski (2000:62).
\er Ma\:er (195--59:1 ).
E te saber esta no RO\ al Scotti h \luseum. • Este saber esta na W;llace ollection em Londres.
\er \Id) er (195~-59:2).
ibid. ibid.
