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This zafar takiya is a composite piece, with an Indian jade chin rest and tip, fitted with an Ottoman cane and sheath. A number of crutch armrests from Mughal India and the Deccan were made of jade and in some cases carved in the shape of rams or floral motifs. This zafar takiya has an Indian handle made of grey-green jade with rounded ends curved downwards. This handle is decorated with small rubies and emeralds in the form of flowers, set on a gold background. The collar is studded with pink rubies. Further down, the upper section of the scabbard features openwork ribbons set with rose diamonds, rubies, emeralds and, at the ends, a small flower set with three sapphires; in the middle, on each face, a flower set with rose diamonds, with a blade and sheath in the shape of a cane.



The blade is entirely damascened with gold on the upper part, decorated with inscriptions on all four sides. In a large, inscribed cartouche, decorated with foliage is the date: "1127" Hijri, ca. 1715. The scabbard is round in section, enhanced with silver gilt and bears embossed decoration of flowers, foliage and geometrical figures. The scabbard ends in a jewel encrusted crown above a carved jade flower bud with a small, gilded silver tip that forms petals. Above the tip lies a small ring in gilt inlaid with flowers.



A zafar takiya was a chin or arm rest set on a cane used by Sufi followers and mendicants. The concealed blade could be used for protection from wild animals the followers might encounter while travelling and meditating. The note attached to the case attributes this zafar takiya to Sultan Abd-ul Hamid. Sultan Abd-ul Hamid II is said to have been a follower of Shadhili Sufism. “On Thursday evenings he would accompany Sufi masters in reciting the dhikr (rhythmic repetition of the name of God).”[i] It is said that he would attend the lessons of Shadhili Madani Sheikh, Muhammad Zafir al-Madani in disguise before he became Sultan. After becoming Sultan, Sheikh al-Madani became his close religious and political confidante. He was also trained in the Naqshbandi and Helveti orders, which had a significant following in the empire.[ii]

A Mughal jade crutch handle together with its jade shaft is illustrated in Teng Shu-p’ing, Exquisite Beauty: Islamic Jades, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, p. 116, pl. 137. Two other jade examples are in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (36.25.734 and 36.25.1001a,b). The scabbard and the sword are Ottoman in design. Such cross cultural hybrids have been seen in many noted public and private collections, where the hilt of a dagger is in jade, set with precious gems in a manner typical of India, and the sword and scabbard are from Ottoman Turkey. An example of this can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (36.25.994a, b). Their dagger, a set of daggers (23.232.1) and this zafar takiya were possibly from the same “group of flamboyant, gem-studded edged weapons that were possibly made in Istanbul during the second half of the nineteenth century. Common features of this group include the use of repousse silver-gilt or gilt coper sheet worked with dense designs of strapwork and split-leaf arabesques for sheathing scabbards; a lavish display of faceted gems or coloured glass set into applied filigreed strapwork settings; the frequent use of Indian hardstone hilts; and blades of crucible steel.”[iii]



[i] https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2015/12/16/straddling-two-worlds



[ii] https://historyofislam.com/contents/resistance-and-reform/sultan-abdul-hamid-ii/



[iii] Islamic Arms and Armor, p. 205