A koummya- and contexts

[Pertinax]

Thanks to Jim McDougall for his kind words.

In conclusion.

К. Lacoste:

Decadence.

Perfectly adapted to use, the fleece managed to survive until the French conquest. But from 1850 onwards, it no longer had a reason to exist. Whereas it was once the object of jealous care, it is now often remade to be used as a knife for cutting up meat and slaughtering.

The monopoly of the Iflisen no longer exists. But a new clientele has arrived: the "travelers" of yesteryear, today's tourists, who have shown great love for such an original weapon. To satisfy this new clientele, it was necessary to get closer to the tourist routes. The production methods have changed: from the artisanal plan, they have moved to the "manufacturing" stage, often even working "wholesale", on behalf of dealers from Algeria.

Finally, the weapon itself has adapted to its new use. The amateur is little concerned with the functional properties of the weapon. He likes above all the "local color", the "decorativeness". Nowadays, the fleece industry is degenerating as a function of the disappearance of need, according to a threefold process: degradation of the nature of the weapon itself, transformation of the methods of work, liquidation of the production center, transfer of the production center.

Rene Maunier «La Construction Collective de la Maison en Kabylie», Paris, Institut d’ethnologie, 1926

- However, I saw in Taourirt-Mimoun, in the Beni-Yenni tribe, a recently founded carpentry workshop, which is a kind of factory in the true sense of the word. They make sabres, wooden trays and frames for tourists. In a large new room, about ten by five meters, about ten workers have gathered. To make the sabres, called fleeces, one draws, another cuts the wood, a third inlays with copper wires, another fixes the blades. There is one who only forges. Others work as managers, others on patterns. Thus, there is specialization not only in operations, but also in production. And this is the result of the opening of the European market to the Kabyle industry.

I repeat, K. Lacoste collected all the information on fleece and Kabila, my opinion is that, unfortunately, we will not learn anything new.

[Ian]

Pertinax, thank you for sharing your understanding of the flyssa and the Kabyle people so clearly here. You have obviously spent a lot of time researching those subjects. While it is disappointing to hear that little information exists about the origins of this weapon, your experience has helped define the limits of what is available. That's important to know.


Regards, Ian

[RobT]

Jim McDougall,
Your point about weapons being worn as status and fashion can’t be overemphasized. For anyone of the culture, the sumptuousness of man’s sidearm allowed the viewer to get a good idea of the wearer’s wealth and power. This display could actually act as a deterrent to physical conflict as, no matter how justified, an attack on a rich individual by a less affluent person put not only the assailant at grave risk of retaliation by all the forces that wealth can summon but also placed the attacker’s family in danger of the same.
An example of this status/authority is a koummya in my collection with a chapeau de gendarme pommel. The blade is noticeably larger than average and the sheath is a good bit larger than average but the pommel measures 8” (20.32cm) across and is about 5” (12.7cm) high. Even though the blade is a very good one, I can’t imagine effectively using a dagger with a pommel the size of a luncheon plate. The only thing I can think of is this ensemble was designed and worn as a very visible symbol of authority.

Changdao,
I won’t address the use or utility of the sword size flyssa other than to point out that the base of the blade extends far below the hilt and that would be enough to stop the user’s hand from traveling up the blade on the thrust. This feature on the dagger size flyssa makes them well suited for thrusting. Any mechanism that prevents the hand from going up the blade will do. It doesn’t have to be a guard. For example, the hilt ring that is designed to fit between the middle and ring fingers on a khukri will work.
I have read that the reason the khyber knife is called a knife was because it was used to stab overhand with a pugio grip (aka ice pick grip or reverse grip). I have also seen a period drawing showing an Afghan fighter holding a khyber knife in this manner while attacking a British trooper. In any event, the khyber knife with its sharp, quick tip is ideally designed for thrusting and stabbing. Not only does the heel of blade extend far below the hilt, the heel is slightly concave thus making it impossible for the user’s hand to slide up the blade on the thrust. In addition to this, the hilt ferrule has an extension that runs down the heel of the blade and forms a cushion for the hand. Whatever British reports you have read notwithstanding, I find it impossible to believe a knife so carefully designed for thrusting and stabbing wasn’t used that way at least some of the time.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Rick]

I would think one would be hard put to sever a limb with a blow from a fleece.
Form follows function, I would think in this case.
Since we are in the same neighborhood, and this thread started out with the Koummya, are there any thoughts to be had on the Genoui, the straight bladed dagger from this same culture?

[Pertinax]

Originally Posted by RobT

Jim McDougall,

An example of this status/authority is a koummya in my collection with a chapeau de gendarme pommel. The blade is noticeably larger than average and the sheath is a good bit larger than average but the pommel measures 8” (20.32cm) across and is about 5” (12.7cm) high. Even though the blade is a very good one, I can’t imagine effectively using a dagger with a pommel the size of a luncheon plate. The only thing I can think of is this ensemble was designed and worn as a very visible symbol of authority.


Sincerely,
RobT

The biggest and heaviest kummiya I've ever come across. A souvenir, of course.
Length in sheath - 440 mm, length without sheath - 425 mm, blade length - 216 mm, width - 54 mm, thickness - 3 mm, weight - 1568 g

[Pertinax]

[QUOTE=Rick;296768]I would think one would be hard put to sever a limb with a blow from a fleece.
Form follows function, I would think in this case.

The Kabyles had the habit of cutting off the heads of captured and defeated enemies. This tradition goes back to ancient times.

Gaius Sallust Crispa "Jugurtha War", late 40s BC:

- The Numidians, following their orders, brought his head (from Hiempsal) to Jugurtha.

Lapene describes:

- Revenge among the Arabs, especially among the Kabaileans, is not considered complete, and the bloody mission is not accomplished, unless the head of the enemy is thrown at the feet of his rival.

- This habit of crime makes them cruel. They are even among themselves, from tribe to tribe, merciless enemies. If a Frenchman falls into their hands, they kill him on the spot, committing all sorts of atrocities on his corpse. They shed blood as if from necessity, and one might say, with inexpressible pleasure. Women share these feelings, and they tear men to pieces.

- There is nothing more terrible than the fate that befalls ships, no matter what their flag, when in danger or shipwrecked on an inhospitable coast. First the men are dragged ashore in the delusive hope of helping them, then they are actually thrown upon, the cargo is plundered, the ship is destroyed, the throats of the crew are cut. Here the most influential, apparently the calmest or the wisest leaders set an example of black ferocity. - They rush with mad fury upon a soldier, a wounded officer, who, unable to defend himself, becomes an easy prey. We have seen how, in particular, during the retreat at Medea, they pounced like vultures upon soldiers, officers, who were struck down and fought hand to hand with the escort and seized their victim. They show no quarter to a living enemy who remains in their hands. They beat him with unimaginable violence, maimed him, tore him to pieces, and finally cut off his head. They rush with the same fury at a man who falls mortally wounded, attack his corpse, maim it and behead him. Indulging in such horrors, they believe that they have earned good from God and their country. They carry off the heads like so many trophies, display them with fierce joy and narrate with an accent all the circumstances of the battle. - To carry a dead man from the battlefield is a religious duty. This protects him from being beheaded, otherwise how could an angel seize him and carry him to Paradise with the help of the only tuft of hair (Ketaya) provided for this purpose on his shaved head. Thus, near the corpse of a fallen man, there is always a hand-to-hand fight and a fierce struggle to save the body from the adversaries, and triumph is bought only by new deaths.

[Marc M.]

These are the only koumiyas I have, perhaps too few to confirm my thesis, on all three the shape of the handle is such that an integrated 'hand stop' is formed. On the middle one this is very minimal. However in all three the blade against the handle is not sharp and this maximum thickness of the blade is 2.4 and 5 cm long at the inner curve. At the outer curvature, this unsharpness is much longer. That the thickness of the blade is so present on most koumiyas I have seen is in all likelihood spike for a reason. If the hand does slide off the blade under impact those blunt edges are there to keep the hand from doing damage, admittedly limited but still.
Regards
Marc

[Jim McDougall]

RobT, thank you .....STATUS & UTILITY absolutely of shared importance. As collectors, typically we are attracted not only to certain various fields of collecting, but to different aspects of the arms and cultures.

"...show the connoisseur the arms of a people, and he will tell you about its culture".
-Joseph Lepkowski (1857)
*from frontispiece of "Polish Side Arms", Nadolski

Rick- absolutely good catch..............the 'genouii' is important as, if I understand correctly, simply the local term for basically a koummya with straight blade rather than curved.

There are a number of Moroccan edged weapons which might be observed as well, such as the s'boula, which is typically straight blade (often bayonets) and often with 'H' type hilt.

Perrtinax, as Ian has well said, your notable knowledge on the flyssa and these subject weapons is remarkable, and sharing it here with us totally expands our collective knowledge base.......exactly why we're here.

Marc, nice examples! The center one with bone handle seems very much liked my example in original post.

Great discussion guys, thank you all so much. While other weapon forms are brought in as analogies, the perspective added to understanding of the weapon in discussion, the koummya, is outstanding.

[Changdao]

Originally Posted by Pertinax

Camille Lacoste in her work " Sabres Kabyles" has conscientiously collected everything she could about the Kabyles and the fleece.

The main source of information is the book by Edouard Lapene «Vingt-six mois à Bougie», which he wrote in 1839, just nine years after the French landed in Sidi Fredj (Sidi Ferruch) in 1830.

Edouard Lapine, lieutenant colonel of artillery, a direct participant in the conquest and occupation of the Kabyle port city of Bejaia (French: Bougie), was the head of the garrison in Bougie from August 4, 1836.

So, everything revolves around the memoirs of Lapene.

And so we have (I apologize in advance for possible inaccuracies in the translation).

Application.

Lapene writes:
- This weapon... is very dangerous for thrusting", he adds:
- The Kabyles rarely use it for cutting, except when they want to cut off a head. In this case, they apply the retractor part from above and strongly pull the hand back while sawing.

C. Lacoste rightly notes:
- It is difficult to imagine how this double movement could be quickly performed in the heat of battle, either this use was intended for capital punishment, or the action was carried out by cunning, when the victim did not think or could not parry the blow.

I will add on my own behalf that in order to cut off the enemy's head, he must first be defeated in combat.

Further in various places Lapene writes:
- Both sides, however, sometimes approach each other with bladed weapons and advance on their enemy, with a rifle in one hand, a yataghan in the other, making the latter a very fast windmill and uttering loud cries.

- They also use the yataghan, a weapon very dangerous because of its shape and the sharp blows they deliver with it.

- Having risen very close, the Kabaile horsemen fire their rifles and take up the yataghan. This movement is done very quickly, their gun strap is very long and hangs below the weapon, after firing they throw the gun back, and can immediately draw their yataghan.

- In the attacks of November 7 and 8, 1835, yataghans crossed with our sabres and, despite the numerical superiority, we beat off the enemy and repelled his blow.

And that's basically it! There is no detailed description of the battle itself. In fact, it seems that this was almost the only face-to-face skirmish. The French had the advantage in weapons, these are more modern and rapid-fire guns, cannons with grapeshot and they hit the Kabyles from a distance, without engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

Personally, I have doubts that the fleece was mainly used only for stabbing. According to his testimony, the infantrymen "turned the mill" with the fleece. This is very similar to the technique of wielding a saber among the Cossacks and the peoples of the Caucasus, but after such manipulations a saber blow is delivered.

K. Lacoste gives an explanation for the "little knowledge" of the fleece:
- How could it happen that such an original weapon could be so ignored?

Before the French conquest, almost no one penetrated Kabylia from the outside. The conquerors founded several colonial outposts there, and only in exceptional cases dared to penetrate into the interior of the country.

Therefore, they knew nothing about the Kabyle people and things. Travelers avoided the region, whose inhabitants had a bad reputation.

Subsequently, they had to wait for the French conquest, which, having penetrated into the interior, discovered and made known the fleece. This is confirmed by Nicolas Bibesco " Kabyles du Djurdjura ":

- Elsewhere we have already said: that the Kabyles do not have national chronicles, when we want to study their history in ancient times, we have no other sources except little-known or partial chronicles of their enemies.

On this basis, it cannot be asserted that the flissa appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, at which time it became known to Europeans.

Very interesting information! Thanks for sharing.

[Pertinax]

Marshal Randon, the pacifier of Kabylia. 1857. A. Verne symbolizes the conquest of Kabylia with a fleece and a yataghan