Moroccan Saif with a British (?) Hanger Blade

[Jim McDougall]

Very well noted guys, and I was remiss in noting that Ibrahiim indeed did present some remarkable research toward the comparison of local material culture from Zanazibar (the comb) to the decorative motif on some nimchas.
Also, he showed the 'turtle' style pommel cap on a good number of examples and that this may recognize the significance of these in the cultures there in Zanzibar.

I believe that the Buttin references were particularly prevalent in my comments that of the nimcha hilt designs, none of them were specifically attributable to Zanzibar. Actually to be sure, in my thinking none of the designs were attributable regionally beyond the Maghrebi designation.

With the D ring loop over the blade type, long generally held to be Zanzibari, it does seem that this designation, for me at least, came from one I acquired some years back. Artzi indicated it was part of a number of these from a Yemeni arsenal, and these had been from production in Zanzibar sent there for some conflicts and warfare which were ongoing decades prior.

In retrospect, I believe that was correct, and I believe these 'D loop' guards are referred to by Alain Jacob as 'Zanzibari' as well. However, subsequently as I acquired the Buttin reference (1933), and in private conversations with his grandson, the term 'Arab' was collectively used to describe these sa'if.

As I later realized, the term 'Arab' was directed not only the those who inhabit the Arabian peninsula, but to those who occupy many regions colonially which includes of course the North African Maghreb.

I took it then that the 'nimcha' (its term explained earlier as a Persian word not used locally) was indeed a Maghrebi form, whose style extended to the western and Arab regions of Southern India, as well as to the Pan Arab trade regions including Zanzibar. It is notable that one distinct version of these kinds of hilts with three protrusions at pommel back is Hadramauti, fron those regions in Yemen.

The style of hilt with the pitons (their purpose effectively unknown) does seem of course Maghrebi. There is speculation and debate on this curious affectation but nothing conclusive .

In all, there does seem to be credence in the suggestion by Tirri (2003) that there were indeed arms assembly locations in Zanzibar, which would have been the source for these loop guard examples of the 'nimcha', as noted by Artzi as I mentioned earlier. Whether these were in form indigenous to there alone remains unclear, but it does seem a notable number did originate there.

I had forgotten that Buttin's writing predated the warfare in Yemen by decades, so he would not have been aware of the later situation with Zanzibar. Now the question would be, just where did the influence for these loop guards in the Zanzibar hilts; and the curious pitons in the Moroccan examples come from?

As for the use of English blades, that situation I think has been well explained here, the clear contacts between England and the Maghreb from early 17th c. onward.

[Andreas]

TVV

I too am wondering about the reason for the unusual quillons bent perpendicularly to the blade. The hilt is most certainly Maghrebi: the form of the grip and the decoration of the white metal band under the guard are Moroccan in style. Could this have some chronological (earlier vs. later style) or geographical significance

Jim McDougall

As I later realized, the term 'Arab' was directed not only the those who inhabit the Arabian peninsula, but to those who occupy many regions colonially which includes of course the North African Maghreb.

In his article Les poignards et les sabres marocains (in revue Hespéris XXVI, 1939, pp 1-28 & plates I-X), Buttin makes the following statements:
The pitones, and the D ring serve as protection for the hand against a blow sliding down the flat of the blade. The former are a Spanish influence on Moroccan sabres and a rare occurance, while the latter is even rarer, but not unusual in the Arab variant.
He makes a clear distinction between Maghrebis and Arabs from the Peninsula.
This type of sabre came to the Maghreb with the conquest of North Africa by the Arabs.
The Maghrebi hilt retains the form of early Arab examples.
He goes on to describe at length the differences between Maghrebi and Arab hilts.

Regards,
Andreas

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Butin was not only and excellent weapons author but lived in Morocco. It can be seen that he named these charts carefully...

1.One is Moroccan.and other African arms.
2.The other is Arabian...
3.The Third is other Oriental variants.

Both structure and blade size are comparable in each chart.

He produced accurate charts viz;