with curved russet blade of finely watered wootz steel double-edged at the point in front of the shallow yelman, the forte on one side inlaid in gold with three cartouches inscribed respectively ‘Help from God and a Speedy Victory’, ‘Slave of the King of the Trusteeship (Ali), Tahmasp’ and ‘Work of Sadir Isfahani’, a gold-inlaid buduh (amulet) to the left of the first, all arranged above two diagonally placed couplets inscribed ‘On the day there is nobody to be my protector, O Murtaza, Ali you are my defender!’, all the inscriptions in thuluth, characteristic russet steel hilt decorated overall with symmetrical arrangements of silver-inlaid bunched reeds and ferns (some minor losses and tarnishing), comprising tapering langets with pointed tips, waisted quillons with button tips, recurved knuckle-guard with bud-shaped terminal, large disc-shaped pommel with pierced bud-shaped finial on a domed petalled mount, and swelling grip of flattened diamond section, 83.0 cm blade

The blade dates to the reign of Tahmasp II (1704? -1740) who ruled from 1722 to 1732 and was the penultimate Safavid Shah of Iran.

In June 1722 Tsar Peter the Great of Russia declared war on Safavid Iran to gain influence in the Caspian and Caucasian regions and to prevent the Ottoman Empire from further territorial expansion in the region. The Russian victory was ratified at the Treaty of Saint Petersburg in 1723, however by 1729 Tahmasp had regained control of most of the territory ceded to the Russians. Following his disastrous campaign against the Ottomans in 1731 he was deposed in 1732 by Nader Shah in favour of his son, Abbas II.