I thought my words were very specific. I asked in which way european swords greatly influenced outside world in the 8th-9th Centuries. I am aware of the latter interactions, though it would be convenient to specify every one of them. I donīt believe frankish swords were considered superior to the made inside of the muslim empire. Al-Kindi mentions those swords, and not as superior. Arabs-moors just arrived to the iberic peninsula imported swords because they didnīt had their own manofacture already established, but latter they made their own swords which influenced the europeans. Charlemagne was the first to prohibit the export the frankish swords, and also byrnes, helmets, lances, and all the weaponry, as he was making a military revolution in european terms, and those weapons were neded by them. I donīt believe european production of steel was better than the one from India and maybe other places as Iran and the Middle East, until the 19th Century. Every bit of factual evidence must be considered in the revision of such interactions to avoid the happy (and ungrounded) statements made before by eurocentrist specialists. Just read Oakeshott saying that the scramasax was the ancestor of the szabla-saber, and the kopis the ancestor of the khukri...just because...
Regards
Gonzalo
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