18cm (length)

The hilt is damascened in gold with hexagonal compartments containing 98 of the Asma’ al-Husna (the ‘Ninety-nine Names of God’), to protect its owner from harm in battle.

D. Alexander, The Arts of War. Arms and Armour of the 7th to 19th Centuries, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume XXI, London 1992, cat.131, pp.196–7. J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.414, p.348.