Long Sword and Scabbard Slide in Asia

Abstract

The scabbard slide is a distinctive carrying device developed 2,500 years ago for the long, iron, equestrian sword. The history of the long sword and scabbard slide in Asia begins and ends in the same region, the steppelands of the southern Ural mountains. The association of this weapon and its suspension device endured for a thousand years, during which time it may be observed among many settled and nomadic cultures between China and the Mediterranean, and even beyond, as far west as France and England. The present study is an attempt to evaluate the significance of this association in its broadest cultural sense in terms of an aspect of weapons history among the peoples in Asia who employed the long sword and scabbard slide.