On the 'kaskara'

[Jim McDougall]

During the course of the unfortunate 'elephant' thread , which I would like to leave there, GAC had posed an interesting query concerning the evolution of the so called 'kaskara', the well known sa'if of the Sudan. Although we have all discussed this familiar, yet inconclusively discussed topic many times over many years, it is interesting to note that the romanticized allusion to the swords of the crusaders persists.

As Rick has suggested, perhaps a thread to discuss these Sudanese broadswords may prove interesting and possibly we might resolve some issues between the legends and reality. GAC has suggested the essay on these written by our own Dr. Lee Jones holds a 'revisionist' perspective which disputes a direct link between the actual swords used by crusaders and the examples used by Sudanese warriors of the 19th c. I would like to begin with some of my own research concerning the evolution of the kaskara.

Although there is an obvious similarity between the kaskara and the medieval swords of the crusades, I very much doubt any of these Sudanese swords are to be found with actual blades of that vintage. If there were such an example I would really like to see it! There does not seem to be any evidence of direct lineage from the crusades for these broadswords in the Sudan and it would appear that thier use derives more from trade that introduced European arms and armour probably in the centuries following . Trade had long existed via the Meditteranean especially from Venice, and in the centuries following the crusades, as arms production expanded so did the volume of weapons made for trade. Although it has long been held that huge supplies of surplus weapons from the crusades were traded off in Africa following these campaigns, I suspect that the same exaggerations exist in these reports as do accounts of numbers of combatants involved.

It is true that the use of broadswords in North Africa, especially in Egypt with the Mamluks, was well established from the advent of Islam in the 7th c.
However it seems that native use of swords to the south in then Nubia, would have been unlikely and their weapons would have been primarily spears. The swords used in Mamluk regions would have of course been of the Islamic forms developing from early straight swords, and by the 13th c. were reflecting characteristics such as the yelman and single edge blade.

In "Kaskara from Northern Darfur, Sudan" by Graham Reed (Journal of the Arms & Armour Society, Vol.XII #3, March 1987, p.171-72) it is noted "...since the 14th and 15th centuries there were extensive lines between North Africa and countries in Europe which had ports on the Meditteranean Sea". The author describes further the trade which entered caravan routes and whereby goods entered regions which ultimately reached Darfur.

One factor that seems to occur often in the study of many ethnographic edged weapons is the apparant influence of numerous Italian weapons, and the prominant maritime dominance of Venice. It is worthy of note here that "...by the mid 15th century Milan itself was in decline and Venice controlled all the remaining North Italian arms centers. German armourers gradually seized domination of the European market from the 16th century but these Venetian manufacturing centers continued to make huge quantities of fine armour, weapons and above all firearms". ("The Venetian Empire:1200-1670" D. Nicolle, 1989, p.41).
Perhaps Venetian trade ships may have carried the "great numbers of straight double edged blades" exported by the Knights of Malta and mentioned by Denham and Clapperton (1826) which arrived eventually in Bornu, and where they claim some 50,000 blades were imported annually in the present time in continued trade (Burton p.162). Burton also notes that most of the 'Baghirmi' cannot afford the kaskara swords. Again these numbers seem suspect, and why would these thousands of blades have been brought in if none could buy them?

The kaskara itself seems to have evolved with trade blades that entered the Sahara from a combination of sources, and of European origin, probably from about the latter 16th century. These blades were likely of Spanish and Italian make earlier, but gradually became most commonly of German manufacture. One of the key hubs of this commerce seems to have been Kano, and the blades and armour seem to have carried eastward where tribal warriors in Bornu and beyond in Darfur were heavily outfitted in medieval weaponry.
The Hausa were from western Sudan regions, and there have been numerous references to the kaskara as 'Hausa', which quite possibly many were. The Darfur examples seem to reflect certain European influences from medieval broadswords including prominantly flared quillons and often a key X in the center of the crossguard. While the kaskara crossguard in my opinion reflects more European influence, I would agree with Toms observation that it has certain resemblance to Turco-Persian crossguards in the single descending langet, which actually is a Mamluk feature seen c. 13th c. I have observed a number of examples, which seem exceptions, that do have crossguards with upper and lower langets though.Most medieval European crossguards have a straight cross without langet, however a rudimentary projection evolved later.

Although the captured European broadswords from the crusades held at Alexandria represent the early ancestry of the form of the kaskara, I would not consider them as directly inspiring them. The Mamluk weapons in Egypt evolved concurrent with other developing Islamic swords, which as is known became the famed and deadly sabres. The anachronistic kaskara developed independantly via trade and traditions in regions of the Sudan that were supplied via Saharan trade caravans.

Having noted all of this, I would like to note again, as I seem to do almost annually, that as yet there has been no satisfactory explanation for the
term 'kaskara'. As I have discussed previously, this term is completely unknown in the Sudan, where these swords are termed simply sa'if.

As always, I very much look forward to observations and thoughts on this. These are fascinating swords with considerable history and I would like to focus on the trade and native production, markings, blade fullering etc.
What about its Taureg cousin, the takouba, and how have these two anachronistic broadswords remained independant forms, which are still worn by the Tuaregs and the kaskara in Darfur.

Best regards,
Jim