Shashka??? Or what ????

[Iain]

There was a time I attempted a classification study on takouba. Didn't take long to find the folly in it. Trying to classify swords that cross linguistic and ethnic boundaries, not to mention use imported blades and are exported across ethnic lines means you can find 3 different words for every style, blade type etc. Over the years I've found my interest in labels less and less. Really they tell you very little for the most part and are quite often nonsensical. Case in point calling swords from the Arab speaking parts of Sudan kaskara.

I understand the want to classify and neatly categorize with specific names, but either I've gotten lazy with time or just come to realize it's not a particularly useful exercise in the long run. An Oakeshott style typology I find tends to be just as useful with no bickering about local terminology an a description of physical characteristics that are generally agreed.

Or maybe I'm just a burnt out cynic after to many years reading through colonial era African language dictionaries and not finding what I wanted!