Persischer Säbel

The gilt inscription on the blade of this sword includes the date 1813 and a reference to Fat’h-Ali Shah Qajar, who ruled Persia from 1797 to 1834. Fat’hAli was a scion of the Turkmen Qadjar dynasty, which had had seized power in Persia in the 1790s and ruled until 1925.

We do not know how this sword came to Vienna. It may have been a diplomatic gift sent to the imperial court in 1813, the year in which Persia was forced to sign the Treaty of Gulistan that ended the Russo-Persian War, which had broken out in 1804 and saw Russia and Persia vie for dominance in the Caucasus. Russia’s use of modern military technology ensured its victory. Persia relied on French and then British support in its ultimately unsuccessful attempts to defend its territories. In the treaty concluded in 1813, Persia was forced to accept extensive territorial losses, having to cede the area north of the Aras River; today, most of this is part of what is now Azerbaijan and Georgia. A Persian gift of honour sent to the Austrian emperor in 1813, during the final phase of the Russo-Persian War, may have been part of an attempt to broker an alliance between the two countries to counterbalance Russia’s growing power.

As befits a diplomatic gift, the sword is lavishly decorated. The grip is made of ivory, and the pommel, crossguard, and ornaments on the scabbard are studded with large green sapphires. The reverse of the crossguard and the ornaments on the reverse of the scabbard are decorated in polychrome enamel. Note also the medallions with idealized portraits of Persian ladies in floral frames on the crossguard and the two belt buckles, and the floral decoration on the scabbard chape.