Dagger ID required

colin henshaw · 25th November 2010, 08:54 AM

South East Asia is not my main area of interest, but there are a few points to pick up on here :-

The inhabitants of Aceh, Northern Sumatra are Muslim, and going west across the Indian Ocean one arrives at North East Africa and Arabia. That type of handle with layers of horn sandwiched with metal is used on Somali knives, the crescent finial to the handle appears on some Sudan daggers. The blade to my knife is a bit like the form on Danakil knives. One Batak blade is in the form of an Arab jambiya. Is it reasonable to assume these are Batak weapons in an Islamic culture that have received influence from across the Indian Ocean ?

But the practice of covering the wooden sheath with sheet metal seems to be more common on Indonesian weapons.

Perhaps there are some Indonesian or Dutch forumites who can shed some light on this ?

Regards.

25th November 2010, 08:54 AM	#15
colin henshaw Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,429	South East Asia is not my main area of interest, but there are a few points to pick up on here :- The inhabitants of Aceh, Northern Sumatra are Muslim, and going west across the Indian Ocean one arrives at North East Africa and Arabia. That type of handle with layers of horn sandwiched with metal is used on Somali knives, the crescent finial to the handle appears on some Sudan daggers. The blade to my knife is a bit like the form on Danakil knives. One Batak blade is in the form of an Arab jambiya. Is it reasonable to assume these are Batak weapons in an Islamic culture that have received influence from across the Indian Ocean ? But the practice of covering the wooden sheath with sheet metal seems to be more common on Indonesian weapons. Perhaps there are some Indonesian or Dutch forumites who can shed some light on this ? Regards.