Saber with Scabbard. Culture: grip, Indian; guard, scabbard, and decoration on blade, Turkish; blade, Iranian. Dimensions: L. 39 3/4 in. (101 cm); L. of blade 33 in. (83.7 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 8 oz. (1129 g); Wt. of scabbard 2 lb. 4 oz. (1023 g). Date: grip, 18th or 19th century; guard and scabbard, 19th century; blade, dated A.H. 1099/A.D. 1688; decoration on blade, 19th century.The most important ceremony in the inauguration of many Islamic rulers was the investiture with a sword, rather than a crown. This extravagantly decorated saber traditionally is said to have been refitted in 1876 for the investiture of the Ottoman sultan Murad V (reigned May 30-August 31, 1876). He suffered a nervous breakdown before the ceremony and subsequently was deposed and kept a prisoner until his death in 1904.The sword was probably assembled by a court jeweler, using a seventeenth-century Iranian blade, an eighteenth-century Indian jade grip, and gem-studded gold and gilt-brass mounts of contemporary work