The curved or bent angle of the zamshaar deals devastatingly long cutting wounds and is capable of drawing through several layers of heavy fabric and even mail. Beheading a target from full gallop with a single drawn-slash is a practiced Iztani feat. On foot the Iztani are skilled in disrupting the footwork and defensive capabilities of enemies by jumping into a fighting range of less than two feet or closer. The diraa, a small buckler, is kept close to the chest and thrust against an enemy's shield or face while the zamshaar is drawn across the opponent diagonally, and often up behind an enemy's shield. Iztani warriors were trained to draw strong, lighting-fast strokes utilizing their back muscles. There are stories of Iztani fighters who were capable of cutting the straps off plate armor with an alarming speed leaving an enemy wearing little more than a slashed hauberk, while simultaneously knocking him off his feat.

In the south of Iztan, infantry traded the zamshaar and diraa combination for two shorter, thicker zamshaars. These duel wielding fighters were known as il'khalidin or "un-killables".

The zamshaar is a beautifully designed sword with a graceful curve that either thins to a point or a thicker yelman at the tip. Swords of the southern regions have a more extreme and somewhat wicked-looking bend in the second half of the blade. All zamshaars have snaking quillions that curve down the posterior of the hilt to protect the wielder's hand and hook up along the anterior cutting edge to catch and break weapons caught between the quillion and blade. The hilts were glued and riveted affairs of decorative horn or ivory. The swords were such stunning works of art that, in the Elder Wars, as Haartian cavalry leaders acquired them, they kept them worn in parallel scabbardry as a sign of their status.

On the back of Kedteer, her armored lion, Ranraki favored a thin spear-like lance called a ramhkabir, but she was also a skilled Il'khalid. Joghâd & Hashtpâh or "Owl & Tentacle" were the name of her pair of zamshaari and they were always at her sides.