PIERCING, CUTTING, AND BLUNT COLD WEAPONS IN THE WRITTEN SOURCES OF THE TIMURID PERIOD AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION

Abstract

This article analyzes information on cold weapons recorded in the written sources of the Timurid period, with the aim of classifying them according to functional characteristics into piercing, cutting, and blunt weapons. The study is based on data drawn from the works Zafarnama by Nizam al-Din Shami and Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi, Baburnama by Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, as well as other historical sources. On the basis of these materials, the terminology of cold weapons, their fields of application, and their role in military practice are clarified. The article examines such types of cold weapons as the spear, sword, dagger, shashpar, mace, kestan, tabarzin, and battle axe, analyzing their varieties and characteristic features.