Sudan Mahdist daggers

colin henshaw · 12th July 2013, 09:07 AM

Did a bit more internet searching on the Battle of Abu Klea, and found this dramatized painting of the battle by William Barnes Wollen, which shows the Mahdist warriors as Beja tribesmen. So, its difficult to be completely sure as to the composition of the Mahdist forces.

I've seen a few native weapons (and other artefacts), relating to various colonial campaigns, with inscriptions - sometimes incised into the wood, sometimes small silver or brass plaques and sometimes written in ink. Doubtless a proportion of these are spurious, but it seemed a popular practice in the 19th/early 20th century. Probably many of these inscriptions were done in Europe ?

Given the huge number of weapons available after the Battle of Omdurman, due to the high Sudanese casualties, I am doubtful if my examples have been made up as souvenirs, as suggested by Jim. However, the inscriptions could have been falsely applied - hard to be sure. Regarding the dagger with the dog-leg blade and simpler hilt form, my feeling is this is just a regional variance.

The Mahdist period is certainly very interesting for the weapons enthusiast - if anyone has items relating to this period, do please post them...

12th July 2013, 09:07 AM	#13
colin henshaw Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,429	Did a bit more internet searching on the Battle of Abu Klea, and found this dramatized painting of the battle by William Barnes Wollen, which shows the Mahdist warriors as Beja tribesmen. So, its difficult to be completely sure as to the composition of the Mahdist forces. I've seen a few native weapons (and other artefacts), relating to various colonial campaigns, with inscriptions - sometimes incised into the wood, sometimes small silver or brass plaques and sometimes written in ink. Doubtless a proportion of these are spurious, but it seemed a popular practice in the 19th/early 20th century. Probably many of these inscriptions were done in Europe ? Given the huge number of weapons available after the Battle of Omdurman, due to the high Sudanese casualties, I am doubtful if my examples have been made up as souvenirs, as suggested by Jim. However, the inscriptions could have been falsely applied - hard to be sure. Regarding the dagger with the dog-leg blade and simpler hilt form, my feeling is this is just a regional variance. The Mahdist period is certainly very interesting for the weapons enthusiast - if anyone has items relating to this period, do please post them... Attached Images Last edited by colin henshaw; 12th July 2013 at 10:15 AM.