Kaskara with a peculiar maker mark

Jim McDougall · 19th April 2023, 06:40 PM

Again, hoping to go to the original questions, so what we are hearing is that perhaps this is a European hilt and blade, not Sudanese or kaskara related at all?
While the hilt may resemble some European Oriental style, and is in brass contrary to the normal kaskara guards, I would point out that during the Khalifa after the death of the Mahdi in 1885, the shops at Omdurman were producing kaskaras with thuluth covered blades and brass hilts.

The discussion of the unusual fullering of the blade as well explained by Philip would concur with the Clauberg firm in Solingen. As noted in my earlier post, there was notable trade between Sudan and Darfur and East Europe prior to the Mahdiyya so the presence of a saber blade would be unusual, but certainly not unheard of especially for figures of standing.

The Clauberg blades were among those favored with certain markings, and in Arab parlance they were referred to as 'Abu Askeri' (bearer of the soldier).
Austrian broadsword blades were noted in "Travels in Kordofan" (Pallme 1844) which suggests a source for the blade I mentioned belonging to the Mahdi.

Another kaskara with a French inscription which appears to align with 1870s has a Clauberg blade, and another kaskara has a Klingenthal blade of earler 1800s.

To the west in the Sahara, the well known cousin of the kaskara, the takouba of the Tauregs et al, has a variation known as the 'aljuinar' which is mounted with curved blade. While many of these curved blades, also found on Manding sabers in Mali, are French, others have been seen with German blades and even one MOLE from England has been found.

The Trans Saharan trade routes well connected Sudanese regions with the important Hausa tribes to the west and as far as Nigeria and entrepots along the way.

So these things considered, there are a number of possibilities at hand to explain, 'why a kaskara with a curved saber blade'?
This is what keeps things interesting, and not just matching an item to a picture in a book.

19th April 2023, 06:40 PM	#15
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,189	Again, hoping to go to the original questions, so what we are hearing is that perhaps this is a European hilt and blade, not Sudanese or kaskara related at all? While the hilt may resemble some European Oriental style, and is in brass contrary to the normal kaskara guards, I would point out that during the Khalifa after the death of the Mahdi in 1885, the shops at Omdurman were producing kaskaras with thuluth covered blades and brass hilts. The discussion of the unusual fullering of the blade as well explained by Philip would concur with the Clauberg firm in Solingen. As noted in my earlier post, there was notable trade between Sudan and Darfur and East Europe prior to the Mahdiyya so the presence of a saber blade would be unusual, but certainly not unheard of especially for figures of standing. The Clauberg blades were among those favored with certain markings, and in Arab parlance they were referred to as 'Abu Askeri' (bearer of the soldier). Austrian broadsword blades were noted in "Travels in Kordofan" (Pallme 1844) which suggests a source for the blade I mentioned belonging to the Mahdi. Another kaskara with a French inscription which appears to align with 1870s has a Clauberg blade, and another kaskara has a Klingenthal blade of earler 1800s. To the west in the Sahara, the well known cousin of the kaskara, the takouba of the Tauregs et al, has a variation known as the 'aljuinar' which is mounted with curved blade. While many of these curved blades, also found on Manding sabers in Mali, are French, others have been seen with German blades and even one MOLE from England has been found. The Trans Saharan trade routes well connected Sudanese regions with the important Hausa tribes to the west and as far as Nigeria and entrepots along the way. So these things considered, there are a number of possibilities at hand to explain, 'why a kaskara with a curved saber blade'? This is what keeps things interesting, and not just matching an item to a picture in a book. Attached Images