Nimcha: opinions and translations?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Hi Jim,



Have you seen nimcha tangs? I did.
No holes so far.
But as you said some blades might have been reused and tang holes cannot be excluded.
Remember that trade blades were sold new sometimes if not always.



Agreed.



Disagree, it's the first thing that I looked, no space for another one.

Good points Kubur, and in fact I have not actually seen nimcha tangs so I would defer to your experience at having seen them. As most European blades, trade or otherwise, seem to have holes for hilt mounting for rivets it seemed likely that nimchas using European blades would have them also.

With the quillon question, in looking closer I see what you mean, it is unlikely one is missing. However even more important, the little 'langet' like protrusion at guard center on nimcha hilts is missing. While one of the examples I showed has barely a vestigial nub there, it seems important to note.
Perhaps this more supports a sword from a member of Ottoman forces which is of another form using a European trade blade, again in these actions in late 18th c. even if not from the Maghreb. Whatever the case, I don't think this is a Genoan sword, but it is I think 18th c.

[Jim McDougall]

Just for the record, it seemed I had recalled instances of nimcha which indeed had two downturned quillons rather than the three which appear standard on the Moroccan versions.
Apparently in Algeria, there are examples of nimcha hilts with just two quillons downturned, and I found this noted in " Islamic Weapons" Maghrib to Moghul", Anthno Tirri, 2003, p. 42-43, fig. 21A);
"...Algeria produced a version of the Moroccan nimcha but with two basic differences. The Algerian nimcha has only two downturned quillons and the blade is usually a locally produced flyssa style blade".

The illustration I have attached is from "Les Armes Blanches du Monde Islamique" (Alain Jacob, 1985. p.51). ..an Algerian nimcha with two downturned quillons.

Clearly the sword we are examining does not have a flyssa blade, but it does have two quillons, not three.

In Tirri (p.42, op.cit.) the word 'usually' regarding the use of flyssa blades is key. It seems reasonable that in Algerian coastal regions, particularly those involved with Ottoman naval/pirate activity, the blade of a flyssa would not be preferred, but the use of a sturdy European blade would.

Briggs (1965) in his article on European blades in Tuareg weapons also illustrates a nimcha blade (similar fullering), but it appears to have a Moroccan hilt. What is interesting is that Briggs was in Algeria, not Morocco, yet a Moroccan style example was found there. Obviously, there was an interpolation of the two hilt forms in the Maghrebi littoral.

I attached illustration of our sword in discussion for comparison rather than having to keep scrolling back to it.


JUST FOUND ANOTHER(bottom illustration).
From "Arts of the Muslim Knight" ed. B.Mohammed, 2008, p.18
'...from Algeria, Oran, Ottoman period, c. 1720-32'

While these quillons are not of course identical, they do illustrate the proclivity to dual quillons in Algerian hilts of the nimcha style.

[kronckew]

Most Nimcha appear to be fairly short (nimcha I recall implies 'small' or 'short') but some are more lengthy and suitable for mounted use. Like my one with a hair horn grip like the earlier ones, just not as pretty. It has a 35in. blade. ref: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=nimcha