Kaskaras from The Battle of Omdurman ?

colin henshaw · 17th April 2009, 02:41 PM

Hi

I am posting pictures of these four Sudanese Kaskaras for comment. They all came together and had loops of old copper wire round the hilts, for hanging up. All were quite rusty, and I have been cleaning them.

It occurred to me that they are all slightly different types, so maybe they were a representative sample, collected from the battlefield. (perhaps this is being too fanciful).

The sword at the top of the image has engraved - star, sunburst and man in the moon, on both sides of the blade (difficult to photograph). All the hilts are damaged/fragmentary to some extent, although this has the advantage of showing their construction.

Can anyone identify which blades would be imported and which are native-made ? Also, are there any references to the collection of trophies after the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 ?

Many thanks

17th April 2009, 02:41 PM	#1
colin henshaw Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,430	Kaskaras from The Battle of Omdurman ? Hi I am posting pictures of these four Sudanese Kaskaras for comment. They all came together and had loops of old copper wire round the hilts, for hanging up. All were quite rusty, and I have been cleaning them. It occurred to me that they are all slightly different types, so maybe they were a representative sample, collected from the battlefield. (perhaps this is being too fanciful). The sword at the top of the image has engraved - star, sunburst and man in the moon, on both sides of the blade (difficult to photograph). All the hilts are damaged/fragmentary to some extent, although this has the advantage of showing their construction. Can anyone identify which blades would be imported and which are native-made ? Also, are there any references to the collection of trophies after the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 ? Many thanks Attached Images