Bukhara knives
Early Bukharan knives were used as cutting tools and in military exploits. Nowadays, they are prized works of art and items of memory.
Text by Umida Qodirova
Photos by Mamur Khalimov
From the 6th to the 12th centuries, knife-making developed primarily for warfare purposes. At that time, cutting tools were bigger than they are now. The works and miniatures of Navoi and Babur showed that armies used different types of swords in the 15th to 17th centuries. After that time, knives were special decorations and every military carried them.
Year by year, knife-making was further developed across Uzbekistan, including in the Fergana Valley, Tashkent, Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya and Khorezm. Each had its own schools, such as Chust, Shahrikhan, Kara-suv, Kokand, Khiva and Tashkent.
An ancient city along the Silk Road, Bukhara is still a centre for knife-making. As early as the 10th century, Uzbek scientist Abu Raykhon Beruniy mentioned Bukharan knife-making skills in his writings. Across the city, hammers could be heard engaged in the manufacture of Damascus sabres and knives, medical instruments, plumbing and sewing accessories, which were valued among the merchants of the great Silk Road. Damascus knives and sabres were particularly prized. Central Asian ambassadors presented them to European dignitaries as gifts, and they began to be sought after as souvenirs and in domestic use, as well.
Sa’dullo and Sayfullo Ikromov are the most famous craftsman in Bukhara. The Ikromov brothers make uncopiable and unique knives – a form of art that is capricious as jewellery-making. Creating a Damascus knife requires around a week (or 120 hours) of work by two crafters, one who works the metal and the other to chop the blade. The handle is most often made of bone, horn or wood.
Damascus knives feature a unique, curved shape that is particularly useful for Bukharan gold embroiderers, as their shape helps easily cut complex, detailed patterns. Many also feature the image of a stork, which has long been a symbol of Bukhara. The stork often nested in the city and it was believed that if this kind of bird built a nest near a house, then its family would be prosperous and happy.
Damascus knives are made of titanium alloy and do not require sharpening. The Bukharan art of knife-making is of such high quality and importance that it stands alongside many of the traditional crafts already inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Knives produced in Uzbekistan are not only used as household items but are also considered a national work of art and highly valued as gifts for foreign visitors.
Note:
According to the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “On measures of state support for the further development of artistic-folk crafts and applied arts”, customs duty is not applicable when sold outside the Republic of Uzbekistan. Point 2 (Metal products with embossing, knives).
