Pchak

Pchak or Pichak ( Uzbek. Pichoq - “knife” ) is the national knife of the Central Asian peoples - Uzbeks and Uyghurs . Traditionally, it has a straight wide blade of carbon steel with a wedge-shaped cross section with one-sided sharpening, sometimes with a narrow valley along the butt. A thin round handle in cross-section is attached at the level of the butt, expands slightly to the head, sometimes ending in a beak-shaped top. It can be made of horn , bone or wood, also stacked of colored stone. Pchak is worn in wide straight leather sheaths. Distributed throughout Central Asia with slight differences in ornament and proportions.

The knife itself is great for slicing meat and vegetables. It is considered a good gift to a man and an indispensable assistant in the kitchen.

Uighurs have traditions of everyday carrying cold steel, it is believed that every Uyghur man should always have a puppy.

Famous Uyghur knives with typesetting handles and a master's logo engraved in Arabic script on a blued blade lie everywhere. And dart in the dark figures with traditional knives on their belts.

- Roman Gruzov “On the Disappearing Nature of Kashgar”, Afisha-Mir. No. 034, February 1, 2007

Yangigisar , an ancient Uyghur city in East Turkestan , is the most famous region for manufacturing traditional knives. In this city there are ancient families of gunsmiths, from generation to generation engaged in this craft.

In Uzbekistan, they are considered one of the best bees made in Samarkand and Shahrikhan .

Currently, the company LLC Kizlyar, based on a knot-knife, has developed and produced a heavy knife, Burgut (Golden Eagle), which is in service with special forces of Central Asian states. Blade material - AUS-8 stainless steel (57-59 HRC). The handle is made of "elastron" (a modern material combining the best properties of rubber and plastic). Through installation of a blade. At the end of the handle of the knife there is a ledge “cullet” and an opening for the lanyard. The size of the Burgut knife is closer to a small machete .

Design Features

Blade

The blade of a beehive could be forged from steel of very different, but, most often, low quality, since it was these beehives that were "affordable" for the bulk of the population, mainly to the poor. Knives of this quality have developed a stable habit in people quite often, as if between times, periodically correct the cutting edge of the blade during knife operation.

Highly skilled masters, whose names were well known, did not stoop to such a "hack", trying to work only on order. Valuing their authority, which has been won over decades of hard work, they used only high quality steel for their knives, which they hardened in a special way, keeping it secret. For noble customers, blades were made from Damascus ( itzihikhon ) and, much less often, from damask steel ( bays ), which was used mainly for sabers.

The blade of the beetle has a wedge-shaped cross section and tapering to the tip of the butt. The blade is wide enough, which is further emphasized by a thin, shifted upward handle, so that its upper side continues the line of the butt. Often the blade has the same width along its entire length. In some breeders, especially those with a slightly raised point relative to the line of the butt, the blade may taper slightly from hilt to tip.

Pchaks, demonstrated at museum expositions and dating from the 19th-early 20th centuries, have blades, the shape of which is not typical for this knife. Their blade is narrow, and the rise to the tip is long and smooth. But this form of blade is explained simply. In these bees, the blades are sharpened to the limit, and the change in shape occurred as a result of prolonged practical use. That is why local residents easily parted with an unnecessary thing for them - to the delight of museum workers who came to Central Asia on ethnographic expeditions.

Archaeological material found in the sand on the sites of ruined old cities and burials of nomads, dating to the last quarter of the 14th century, shows very different knives. Blades found in blades are more universal in their form, suitable for both chores and military use. In addition, the shank of these ancient knives is ordinary, located along the central center line. It was intended for a handle mounted in a horseman way. Thus, the ancient knives that archaeologists found on the territory of Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries have the design usual for universal knives for everyday use, which were common in most countries of the world.

The blades of modern puchaks have three main options for execution, which is associated with the economic purpose of the knife, but all options differ in a rather sharp rise of the line of the blade to the tip of the blade, located on the line of the butt.

The most common form of the blade of the Uzbek bee, considered universal and used in the manufacture of knives for urban residents, is called kaike . The tip of this blade is located on the line of the butt or slightly raised above it.

The second of the commonly used forms of the blade is called tolbarga (willow leaf). In a blade of this type, at a distance of about 1/5 of the length of the blade, the butt, when approaching the tip, is slightly lowered. Thus, the edge of the blade is located slightly below the line of the butt, which is considered convenient for the work of butchers who cut carcasses of animals. When working with such a knife, the inverted bee’s butt glides over the muscles, but the point does not cut into them, but only cuts the skin and tendons.

Another original form is attached to the blade of the povak, which is used by fishermen. It is especially common among the inhabitants of the Aral Sea coast, mainly Kazakhs and therefore is called Kazakh . The line of the blade of the kazakh blade from about the middle of the length forms a smooth recess, rising again to the point located on the line of the butt-hilt. The resulting recess is sharpened by means of small descents running along the side surface of the blade to the recess. To do this, the metal of the blade under the recess is removed from one or both sides. Turning the knife over, it is very convenient to clean the fish from scales with a part of the blade with a recess.

On the blade, the pichak tradition obliges the master to cut one or two dolas, “coma”. The valleys are narrow and extend over the entire length of the blade. If one dollar cuts through the blade, then it is obligatory on the part of the “tamga” stigma. Dales can pass on top of the blade on both sides of the blade parallel to the butt. In rare cases, the dale extends along the lateral surface of the blade, coinciding with its center line. The presence on the blade of the pechak of dolas - “coma” is not caused by functional necessity. This is a rudiment imitating a “T” -shaped butt of medium- and long-blade weapons. Dales are needed only to increase the prestige of the pekak, as an object that has a certain significant significance in society. Thus, the beetle is given an external resemblance to military weapons. In the USSR, dol was considered a sign of a combat knife (the groove on the blade was called - "bloodstream"). For the manufacture of a knife with dales on the blade, the craftsmen could be prosecuted. Therefore, the dows of the bees, in their mass production, ceased to be cut.

The stigma ("tamga") must have existed on any high-quality bee. The central element of the stigma has always been the image of the crescent. In Islam, months of the year are counted according to the lunar calendar, so the crescent has become a symbol of faith. In addition, “tamga” may contain elements that make up the personal brand of the master and some sayings from the Koran.

The blades of the beekeepers are most often dark - gray with a blue or yellow tint for which the blades were processed in a liquid solution of clay of a certain composition.

Stick

The shank of the puchak blade (“sop”) follows the shape of the handle. It expands somewhat towards the top, ending with a hook-like bend down. The top of the handle ("chakmok") of this form makes the retention of the stick of the beak comfortable.

Several holes (“teshik”) are punched in the shank, through which rivets pass, fastening the dies on both sides to form the handle.

Before the dies are attached to the shank, a strip of copper or brass is bent and soldered along its perimeter. It has a thickness of 0.5-1 mm and a width of 4-6 mm. The width of this strip of metal should be proportional to the total length of the knife and all Pichakchi masters follow this rule. Its edges evenly project above the lateral planes of the shank. It is on the protruding ends of the “brincha” strip that the stick dies are superimposed. Thus, an air gap is maintained between the sides of the shank and the dies. Masters explain this traditional design by the fact that as a result the stick of the bee is light. The second explanation is that thinner plates for dies are used.

On the hilt of the bee, near the hook-shaped bend of the pommel, there is always or only a small notch under the little finger is indicated. Often in this place a sharp transition of the handle to the top - “chakmok” - can only be outlined. This traditional detail of the Uzbek bee suggests that the craftsmen in the manufacture of the handle of the knife sought to copy this detail from weapons more prestigious than an ordinary knife. And this weapon had a separate top, possibly covered with metal, in the construction of its handle.

On the shank, near the blade, two small recesses are formed at the top and bottom, forming a “neck”, which is necessary for the tin to form a “gulband” (replacing the crosshairs and sleeve adopted in the design of European knives), held on the metal of the blade. However, this design somewhat weakens the shank at the critical point of transition of the blade into the handle, and is already quite thin.

The metal strip - “brinch”, encircling the handle from above and below, ends just in the place where the shank begins to thin out, turning into a “neck”. The dies from which the knife handle is made are superimposed on the “brinch” along with gaskets made of leather, cardboard or other thin and elastic material. Thus, the internal hollow cavity of the handle is protected from moisture, and thin color pads additionally create a decorative effect.

Sheath

The shepherd’s sheath, in Uzbek “ hin, ” was made from a piece of leather or sewn from dense matter.

The knife is inserted into the sheath without additional fixation - very deep. Only a small part of the handle and “ chakmok ” (tops) protrude outward .

In order not to cut the scabbard when removing the bee, wooden safety inserts could be installed inside.

The seam on the scabbard was located on the back side along the center line. Old scabbard is characterized by a free suspension to the loop into which the belt was threaded.

In the 20th century, the sheath was increasingly being made from leatherette (dermatin or oilcloth). The loop to the scabbard was sewn stiffly.

Ornament

The blades of expensive bees can be decorated, besides the inscription and “tamga”, with the national Uzbek floral ornament “islimi” in various canonical variations that do not allow arbitrary changes in the pattern. The more valuable the blade is considered, the more carefully the ornament is applied to it.

The sticks of the bees are decorated with colored circles (“kyoz”). Decorative elements - “kyoz” - are made of bone, mother of pearl, non-ferrous and precious metals or plastic. They are pressed into recesses made specially for this purpose in the dies. Unhandled semiprecious stones, mainly turquoise, are set in the hilt of expensive puchaks, most often of Bukhara work. (In this case, in contrast to the flat “kyoz”, polished flush with the dies of the handle, the stones protrude somewhat above the handle.)

Sometimes each circle - “kyoz” - is additionally surrounded by a “notch” - a row of small metal dots or triangles. Along the perimeter of each of the dice sticks can be applied another decorative element - "Chermakh". These are dots or wavy lines made of metal (copper or silver).

Regarding the appearance of these details of the decoration of the handles of a traditional povak, it is impossible to say anything concrete. But there are some speculations on this subject. The circle depicted in the ornament of many ancient peoples symbolizes the sun and carries a certain magical load. This happened in those days when the pagans saw in the sun one of the most important deities, commanding their lives. The points forming a ring or a wavy line in the ornament almost always symbolized not just water, but raindrops and even clouds.

The scabbard is decorated with a simple ornament consisting of colored dots. Often these dots are simply painted. For dear puchaks, the sheath is made of high-quality material, and the ornament is applied to them by the application method.

Classification of Breeders

Knives-bees differ in purpose, shape of the blade and the method of mounting the handle.

By destination:

• Naryn Pichik - a beehive for cutting dough,
• Cassob Pichik - meat beetle,
• Bola-pichok - souvenir beek, etc.

According to the shape of the blade:

• Tolbargi pichichk - a blade with a lowered butt, similar to a willow leaf;
• Tugri pichik - a beetle with a direct butt;
• Hissori pichok , Kozoki pichok , Bodomcha pichok - the blade ends with an almond-shaped tip;
• Kayiki pichok - the blade has a tip raised in the manner of a boat;
• Soilie Pichik and Komalak Pichik - the blade has a groove-dol running along the butt;
• ': Kushkamalak spike - the blade has a double groove.

By handles the following types of bees were distinguished:

• Sukma dada is a one-piece hilt made of horn, wood, bone or metal, mounted on the shank of the blade;
• Yerma dasta - false handle;
• Nakshinkor dasta - the hilt is decorated with a floral pattern (in Khiva it is called Guldor dasta );
• Chilmikhgulli dada - the hilt is decorated with a pattern of tin carnations.