"Mad Mahdi" Dagger

[Aurangzeb]

[COLOR=Green]Greetings To All !

Here is one of my recent finds at a militaria show at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
I believe it to be a late 19th Century Sudanese dagger. I don't think it is an 'arm dagger', it does not have a arm strap or any evidence of ever having one.
Since this does not appear to be an arm dagger, how would this be worn since it does not have a 'belt loop' either ?

"Damn you Fuzzy Wuzzy with a bone stuck through your hair, you're a bloody heathen but you broke a British square"
- Kipling

Any comments / information would be most welcomed and appreciated !

Thank you and enjoy the posted pix !

Mark....

[Conogre]

Three things pop immediately to mind, one being that many in the Sudan don't wear "belts" as such , but rather a wound sash......of what use is a "belt loop" to a person wearing a sash?
Likewise, many are just tucked into the top of boots, with the third instance being a seperate "frog" such as the turn of the century Philippine knife that I just aquired from Vern, where the "loop" is a seperate piece of leather through which the scabbard/sheath proper slides in order to be carried on a western style belt.
Mike

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Aurangzeb,
Outstanding find! What you have there certainly does appear to be a dagger from the 'Mahdiyya' (1881-1898) in the Sudan. I should point out though that I don't think in this particular instance the Mahdi was ever termed 'mad'
I think the term considered was possibly from that used to describe the 'Mad Mullah of Somaliland' Sheikh Sayyid Muhammed c.1903, in events very similar to the the Mahdist revolt and British entanglement in Egyptian affairs. At this time of high Imperial attitudes though,the term may have been applied in singular instance, as it was often used to describe the religiously based and intense opposition of any individual to British rule.

The British writers of the period tended to interpolate many narratives of colonial events with slang and terminology often derisively toward the 'savages' . For example the term 'dervishes' was typically used to describe the native warriors, and was actually a term which came from more common use in India (Pers. darvish=religious mendicant), used colloquially by the British military from the Raj there. It should be noted that the Turkish derivation of the word, and certainly found in Egypt, meant loosely beggar. Although the term dervish was once applied to themselves, the Mahdi opposed its use and applied the term 'ansar' (from the Koran =helper). He actually installed strict punishment for those who insisted on the use of the formerly applied 'dervish'. The term 'fuzzy-wuzzy' was directed to the much feared Hadendowa tribal swordsmen.
While these slang terms were used often colloquially and in some perspective, derisively for the many groups of Mahdist forces, the poems by Kipling reflect the general consensus of British forces,that native warriors were actually not only feared but highly respected for thier courage in battle.

This dagger is very similar to an example associated with weapons from Dongola province in northern Sudan, near the 3rd cataract, and interestingly is the region that the Mahdi himself, Mohammed Ahmed ibn el-Sayyed Abdullah , was born. The simple elongated hilt form is similar to the broad hilt 'jambia' daggers of Mughal India (Pant. p.161, fig.464) and it is interesting to note that other Indian weapon forms also appeared in the Sudan in this period, and were accordingly decorated with 'thuluth' motif.

As has been noted , this is clearly not the typical arm dagger often worn by Hadendowa and other tribal warriors, so actually has little to do with 'fuzzy wuzzies but seems actually to belong to tribal groups farther north.

I very much like the way you have displayed the dagger with associated Sudanese coinage and currency, extremely impressive and really enhances the historic nuances of the piece. Actually this recalls the many times we have relied on nusimatic evidence in the identification of many ethnographic weapons. Nicely done!

Best regards,
Jim

[ariel]

The British were always immensely proud of their ability to stay the ground and keep their ranks: this was a survival requirement sine qua non, otherwise the disorganised infantry unit became an easy prey to the attacking cavalry. The most famous example of it was the "Thin Red Line" of the Scotch infantry that withstood the Russian cavalry charge at Balaclava (by the way, on the very same day that the famous Charge of the Light Brigade took place).
Well, Sudanese Mahdists bear the distinction of dispensing with the tradition an breaking "the British Square". Not a mean achievement!

[Conogre]

Once again, Jim comes to the rescue with a collection of little known bits of information....where DO you find these jems?
Since you brought up the Hadendowa, you've opened the door to several questions and a couple of comments.
As I've stated before, my first sword was a kaskara brought back to me from Eritrea of a simple form and with a black "fuzzy" ball attached to the hilt, which, I believe, is also associated with the Mahdi?
Likewise, I recently aquired a dagger usually associated with Haddendoa, with an exagerated, almost X-shaped hilt and a tooled leather sheath, this specimen one with the J-shaped blade, which made me realize that I don't think that I've ever seen a Haddendoa dagger with a loop of any kind.
Is the common dress from this area primarily arabic style robes, such as those worn by the Bedouins and Tauregs?
If the question sounds simplistic, excuse me, but my mind just hit a nick in the record that almost knocked "African" right out of the picture! **knife**
From discussions with my son, I was advised that the majority of the area is now desert, which he found truly ironic as the native names for parts of the country are still used by tribesmen, which translates as "black jungle" and like ilk.
Spears from that area, he said, were almost impossible to find intact as the majority of the shafts have long since been cannibalized for cooking fires, with the only other source being dried camel and donkey dung, which probably makes it fortunate that the predominate religion is now musim.....I'm fairly sure smoked pork ribs would have a distinct flavor, eh?
How's that for a can of worms?
By the way, that IS a beautiful dagger Mark, and a distinct variation from the form more commonly seen...aren't those known as "Waldmen daggers"? **grin**
Mike

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Mike,
Thank you for the kind comment!! All this stuff is packed in the cobwebs in my skull!!
Actually the Sudan is huge, one of the largest countries of Africa, and in the north it is mostly stony, arid desert. The southern regions are mostly scrub, swamp and morasses, the sudd. It would be difficult to begin to describe the traditional dress of the tribal units in the major groups, but it seems most wear varying forms of robes or jibba's, with groups toward Red Sea regions often basically wearing loin covering garments.

The Hadendoa are a large sub-tribe of the Beja (bay-za) who inhabit Red Sea regions from Sudan and into Eritrea. It is interesting to note that the kaskara (termed locally sa'if only, the term kaskara is virtually unknown in the regions where they are used) is well known in Eritrea and into Somalia where carried by the Afar and Danakil. A friend who is Beja in discussions concerning the X-hilt daggers noted to me that the rather hooked blade examples of these were actually not Hadendoa, but either Afar or Danakil. The distinctive hilts are of course the same as Hadendoa.

The black tassle or tuft you have noted on your kaskara is something that seems to occur on examples especially from Darfur regions. I am uncertain whether the color varies or the specific significance of these, however it would seem the color black was especially auspicious and associated with the black color he assigned to himself and his number one khalif.

Ariel,
It was great to meet you in Timonium! I really enjoyed our talk ,and you are quite keen on military history!! How appropriate it is to mention here 'The Thin Red Line' ...the brilliant Highlanders of the 93rd Regiment at Balaclava. I sense indescribable pride recalling the courage of these outstanding warriors,
"There is no retreat from here men! You must die where you stand!"
Sir Colin Campbell, commander
The response was 'ay ay Sir Colin, needs be we'll do that!'

The volleys and steadfastness of the Highlanders unnerved the huge numbers of Russian cavalry, whose order failed and ended in retreat.

As you have shown, British infantry formations were remarkably formidable, and this illustrates clearly the incredible achievement of these native warriors in accomplishing the breaking of these 'squares'.

All the best,
Jim

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

...How appropriate it is to mention here 'The Thin Red Line' ...the brilliant Highlanders of the 93rd Regiment at Balaclava. I sense indescribable pride recalling the courage of these couragous warriors,
"There is no retreat from here men! You must die where you stand!"
Sir Colin Campbell, commander
The response was 'ay ay Sir Colin, needs be we'll do that!'

The volleys and steadfastness of the Highlanders unnerved the huge numbers of Russian cavalry, whose order failed and ended in retreat.
...

Who'd have thought Jim would submit to nationalistic pride!?

It was great seeing you this weekend, my friend.

[Tim Simmons]

Hello Aurangzeb. What a wonderful piece of history to owen at 13.There are many books on the Sudan wars,they often rather wordy unless you read avidly.When I was 13 I had no money,I shall assume the same for you.You could try ,osprey miitary man-at -arms series these are very good value for money.No59 Sudan Campains 1881-98 and no215 Queen Victoria's Enemies:2 North Africa.Warning the Sudan will draw you in and take all your money for the rest of your life. Tim

[Aurangzeb]

Hello all!

Is my idea that my dagger might have been tucked in the sash logical or illogical?Also thanks Tim ,I immeadiatly went to Ebay And found one of the books you told me about.(and of course bought it )

P.S.-The Sudan has already sucked me in,and is slowly taking my money,but I find it fasinating!

Thanks!!

[Aurangzeb]

Hi all!

IIs there any way to bring out or restore the worn Koranic inscriptions on the bade of my Sudanese Dagger?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Rick]

I think , in this case the best course of action would be to leave it alone . There is not much that you can do for etched resist lettering other than darkening the entire blade and then sanding or polishing the script which would wear it down even more .

Remember the motto , "First do no harm."

[Aurangzeb]

Hi Rick!

Thanks for ansering my question.Thank god you told me this before I had time to experiment! Just kidding I am so paranoid about damaging any of my daggers I chould never experiment on them! Upon closer inspection of the blade I found that the engraving is barely worn,it was just an optical illusion from slight pitting and bad lighting in the room.

Thanks for the help!

P.S.-how do you spell the name of that Uzbekistan dagger that looks like a meat cleaver,I ask because I know some guy's going to Uzbekistan for a while and am going to tell them to look for one?