Mafa Dagger

[TVV]

In the context of African arms, especially the non-Islamic ones, the tribal approach seems perfectly justified to me. Because weapons were not only fighting implements, but had a lot of cultural and religious significance, ethnic groups developed and held onto their own unique forms. The few cases in which we see the adoption of a wider spread form, such as the takouba is within the open areas of the Sahara and Sahel, where large Muslim Empires were able to form. In contrast, in the Congo basin for example, the various state entities all had totally different swords and knives from each other.