Thuluth calligraphy: How Widely Used on Weapons and Regional Application

[Jim McDougall]

On the 'haladie' thread we have entered into what has proven to be a fascinating subtopic, and Tim suggested perhaps a separate thread would be useful in recognizing and how widespread the use of this distinct calligraphy might be.

We know that thuluth is typically associated with Sudanese weapons, particularly Mahdist kaskaras and often sundry other weapons of the period, but was it used elsewhere? I have understood that as a form it seems to have developed from naskh with the Mamluks, but did its use expand to other areas on weapons?

It would be very useful to see differences in the types of script used on inscriptions of Islamic arms and armour.

Also, I have often heard that thuluth was often essentially unintelligible, and used on Mahdist weapons simply to imply imbued power to illiterate native warriors....however, in many cases the dramatically applied motif was actually repeated phrases from other notations I have seen.