The Kilij Sword: Iconic Blade of the Ottoman Empire

Used between the fifteenth and early twentieth centuries, the kilij sword is a distinctive and iconic weapon of the Ottoman Empire, renowned for its unique design and formidable reputation. Indeed it not only exemplified the martial prowess of the Ottoman soldiers, the kilij became a symbol of their cultural identity and military dominance.

Let’s take a trip back to the Eurasian Steppes to discover the history of the Ottoman kilij, its origins, its role on the battlefield, and its unique design.

The kilij, the most famous Ottoman sabre, is a one-handed, single-edged curved sword that became a potent symbol of prestige and power, encapsulating the warrior spirit of the Ottoman Empire.

From the Turkish kılıç which translates literally as ‘sword’, the kilij is characterised by an often intricately-designed and beautifully-balanced hilt, a cross-shaped guard, and an L-shaped pommel that added weight to the sword and power to the strike. However the secret behind the sword’s efficiency is its unique blade.

At first glance, this Ottoman scimitar is similar in appearance to many other European and Eastern scimitar swords including the Persian Shamshir and the Indian Talwar, but on closer inspection, the curve is unique.

Constructed from high-quality carbon steel, the kilij sword was meticulously crafted by skilled Ottoman blacksmiths. Its blade featured a distinct curvature that allowed for powerful slicing strikes, making it particularly effective in horseback combat.

The blade of the kilij – between around 60 and 90 centimetres in length – started out straight from the neck, and graduated into a curve towards the middle section where it became quite thin. The distal half of the sword – the section of the blade extending from the midpoint to the tip – is the most fascinating. This end section is flared, known as a yalman, or yelman, which roughly translates as ‘false edge’, and it was fully developed during the Ottoman period, specifically during the sixteenth century, to enhance the sword’s cutting and thrusting capabilities.

The origins of this curved Ottoman sword can be traced back to the early Turkic tribes of Central Asia, who initially developed curved swords for mounted combat somewhere between the third century BC and the first century AD.

As these tribes migrated westward, they came into contact with many Middle Eastern civilisations, including the Arabs and Persians, influencing the evolution of curved sabres on the battlefield. The predecessors of the Ottoman kilij were used by the Seljuk, Timurid and Mamluk empires until it was refined and, some say, perfected, by the Ottomans.

This sword made its first significant appearance in the fifteenth century, during the height of the Ottoman conquests, and quickly became the weapon of choice for the empire’s cavalry. The kilij’s design was influenced by a blend of Mongol, Persian, and earlier Turkic swords, combining their best features to create a highly effective weapon of war, regarded as the father of the modern cavalry sabre.

Indeed the Ottoman scimitar was so highly regarded, armies from all over the world sought out Turkish swordsmiths to craft similar weapons, and it was adapted into various forms, influencing designs across Europe. It was also said that the kilij sword was the preferred weapon of Vlad Țepeș, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler, the fifteenth century Wallachian prince from modern-day Romania, however this particular fact is at best, speculative.

After the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans in the fourteenth century, a derivative of the kilij was used by the Hungarian hussar cavalry, while in the later years of the seventeenth century, a variation of the Ottoman sabre known as the karabela became popular in the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the early eighteenth century, the kilij sword was in widespread use throughout Europe.

The Ottoman kilij remained a dominant weapon throughout the Ottoman Empire’s expansion, from the fifteenth century until the early twentieth century. Its effectiveness in battle and symbolic significance ensured its continued use over several centuries.

However, with the advent of modern firearms and changes in military tactics, the popularity of the kilij began to wane in the nineteenth century when it became primarily a pattern dress sword, a distant cousin of which – the Mameluke sword – is still used today by the US Marine Corps.

The kilij left an indelible mark on the history of military weaponry and continues to be celebrated as a symbol of Ottoman martial heritage. Today, it’s revered not only as a historical artefact but also as an emblem of the skill and artistry of Ottoman swordsmiths.