Sudan Mahdist daggers

[colin henshaw]

Originally Posted by Congoblades

Have some but no idea about the age.

Hi Congoblades

Thanks for posting these. Always difficult to date, but I would guess at first half of the 20th century. The one with the dog-leg blade maybe earlier than the other two ? They illustrate well that patchy, deep rust pitting often to be found on Sudanese and Somali blades, for some reason that I can't fathom... The images also show the subtle difference in hilt styles.

Here are a couple of images that show Mahdist (Ansar) dress and weapons, for interest. They are from the books "Fire and Sword in the Sudan" and "A Prisoner of the Khaleefa".

Regards.

[Oliver Pinchot]

Iain,

This book deals almost exclusively with the Sudanese and their
allies. It offers good archival photographs and has detailed drawings,
most of which are in color.

Oliver

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Oliver Pinchot

Iain,

This book deals almost exclusively with the Sudanese and their
allies. It offers good archival photographs and has detailed drawings,
most of which are in color.

Oliver

Perfect, I'll order a copy for sure. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention.