Very odd Sudanese sword for discussion

[Iain]

This finished recently at Christies, fetching an enormous sum well above the estimate.

It is a very unusual sword with odd finials on the pommel and guard, which if removed, would resemble very closely a viking style hilt.

Description from Christies as follows:

A LONG SWORD IN THE NAME OF MUHAMMAD AL-MAHDI
SUDAN, 19TH CENTURY
With straight blade inscribed in loose naskh script with the Profession of Faith and the name of the Sudanese leader Muhammad al-Mahdi (La Illah allah Muhammad Rasul All Nasr min allah wa Fath Qarib Muhammad al-Mahdi Khalifa Rasul Allah "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is his Prophet, help from Allah and present Victory"), one side engraved with a lion within a roundel and pseudo-calligraphic medallions, the hilt with an engraved lattice of quatrefoils, the leather sheath with cowry tassels
43¾in. (111cm.) long

I am having trouble extracting a large image from the Christie's website, but here's the link.
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/a...f-80e8fe6fde47

It is completely unlike the kaskara of the region and not particularly resembling anything else I can think off. There is perhaps a slight resemblance to the hilt in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12979