Shashka
шашка · šaška
Literally: long knife
Also known as: shashka
A single-edged, one-handed saber without a guard, pommel split into two ears, originating with Caucasian highlanders, from 1834 a Russian cavalry weapon too.
Quick Facts
About the weapon
The shashka is a single-edged, one-handed saber without a guard. It arose among the mountain tribes of the Caucasus, probably in Georgia; the word comes from Adyghe and literally means long knife. The earliest depictions date from the early 17th century in western Georgia, the earliest datable specimen from 1713, and the first known written mention of the word from 1747, from an inventory of Chechen weapons. The blade is curved and single-edged, usually 65 to 86 cm long; the whole weapon weighs about 0.3 to 1 kg. The pommel is hooked and split into two ears. The army model of 1838 weighed 1,067 g and measured 1,030 mm overall. The dragoon model of 1881, by contrast, resembled an ordinary saber because it had a brass hand guard. Russian troops encountered the shashka during the conquest of the Caucasus between 1817 and 1864 and preferred it to their own service sabers. In 1834 the Russian government issued the first army model, and during the 19th century the shashka gradually replaced the saber in all cavalry units except the hussars. Despite lacking hand protection, the army shashka was used similarly to the Western European saber. The Soviet model of 1927 was produced until 1946. Traditional Caucasian fencing with the shashka and buckler is called parikaoba or farikaoba. Flankirovka is the art of spinning the shashka; Cossacks also prepared for shashka combat by spinning wooden sticks and other objects.