Weapons and Arms

Weapons and arms had high importance in Pshav-Khevsureti. Arms included rifles, pistols, swords, daggers, spears, whips, spiked rings, shields, coats of mail, armored gloves, knee plates, and other items. Smithery in Pshav-Khevsureti was a traditional and developed branch of craftsmanship. The locals used to forge swords and rifle barrels, Assyrian-type coats of mail, and shields that were painted black in order not to glimmer in the moonlight. The Pshav-Khevsur people produced a variety of rifles: istamuli (Turkish), khirimi (Crimean), mazhari (Hungarian), siata (French). They also produced a variety of swords: Khevsur prangula, davitperuli, dedal-pranguli (German and Austrian), mamal-pranguli (Italian), dedal-misruli (damask), khorosnuli. In addition, they produced several daggers: shamkhali, targho, lekuri, kisturi, etc.