Kard


 * For the place in Armenia, see Kard, Armenia.



A kard is a type of Islamic knife found in Turkey, Armenia, Persia, and all the way to India. Mostly used in the 18th century and before, it has a straight single edged blade and is usually no longer than 41 cm in length. It has no guard, and usually the handle was bone, ivory, or horn. It was mostly a stabbing weapon, and commonly the point would be reinforced to penetrate chain mail. A major characteristic of a kard is that the hilt is only partially covered by the sheath.