Dagger of Kabanbay batyr stored in Turkestan

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - In the state museum of history and culture "Aziret Sultan" in Turkestan there is a dagger which belonged to Kabanbay batyr (1691-1770), a famous Kazakh warrior and one of the commanders in the fight against Jungar invaders.

In the 1980s the descendant of the Kazakh hero Sakhi Romanov, national artist, presented the historical relic to the fund of the museum of history and culture, Kazinform reports.

The relic consists of two parts: a dagger and sheath. The length of the dagger is 34 cm, the length of the steel blade is 21,4 cm. In the upper part there are two incision lines. The handle is of semi-ellipse shape made of pure silver  framed with an ornament in the form of a flower. The second half of the handle is plated with lead-base alloy which is framed with semi-precious stones (turquoise) of blue and green colors in the shape of a square. According to the descendants, the handle is made of elephant teeth.  

The second part of the relic is leather sheath. The length of the sheath is 52 cm and is decorated with Kazakh ornaments in the shape of flowers. To keep the dagger sharp and to prevent cuts there is a smaller sheath made of wood which is tightly put on the big sheath.