The karabela is a type of Polish sabre that became popular in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, evolving around 1670 from Ottoman Janissary kilij sabres, and it became the dominant sword form carried by the Polish military through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Polish fencer Wojciech Zablocki described it as a decorated sabre with its handle styled as a bird's head and fitted with an open crossguard, its curved blade reflecting the Ottoman influences that spread into eastern European swordmaking during this period. The origin of the name karabela is disputed, with theories tracing it to the Iraqi city of Karbala, a Turkish phrase for black bane, a Seljuk sword called Kara bela, or a Turkish place name. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category)Sword / Polearm / Bladed 1 Classification
Service Status Weapon Class Sources
1. Wikipedia: Karabela
- Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
- Weapon class (sword-polearm-blade) is a pre-industrial/melee weapon type by its own nature per the entity's own sourced description text; not carried in current active military service.
View the SourceWikidata: Karabela
Wikidata Q1437181, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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