Sudanese warrior question

[nKante]

Hopefully you folks can help. I am trying to establish when the Kaskara first appeared. Most examples I've seen are dated to the 19th century. I have read they could have been around as early as the 14th but I can't find any documentation. I am also trying to figure out when they started using chain mail and padded armor. I remember reading, on this site, an account of a medieval arms dealer being arrested for selling arms to Egypt. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Timo Nieminen]

Given that the kaskara is very similar to Mamluk swords of the 13th to 15th centuries (and older Syrian swords), the 14th century (or earlier) is quite likely.

Mail armour and padded armour was used in the area by the 15th century. Don't know about the Sudan, but Niger, Chad, and Ethiopia at least. "Kanem-Bornu", "Kanem", and "Bornu" might be useful search terms for finding more info on armour.

[Iain]

Mail and quilted armour was introduced into Kano during the rule of sarki kanajeji (1390-1410) so it is safe to assume it was already in use in Sudan and Kanem-Bornu in the 14th century as the materials were coming from Egypt.

The 14th century is also a safe enough bet for swords, although the exact form would be somewhat different to the later more tribal kaskara form. Rather being Malmuk straight swords with iron pommels.

Certainly some kaskara of the form we recognize under that name are from the 18th century I think and in general I am of the opinion the metal hilt style is older (although it is not always a reliable indicator of age in extant examples!)

You won't find any solid documentation I'm afraid, although Ethiopian iconography and murals show cruciform hilted swords of the same style from 18th century (see attached) and I'm aware of at least one Mamluk sword (or at leas a sword in nearly identical style to a 14th or 15th century Mamluk piece) in an Ethiopian monastery, apparently formerly owned by an emperor.

Mamluk Egypt themselves of course made use of Mediterranean trade network which included European blades. The flow of these materials into the African interior was then something of a logical progression particularly from kingdoms with economic ties to Egypt.

Regarding arms dealers moving weaponry to Mamluk Egypt and the Ottomans, there are many cases as well as movements to the rest of the North African coast in violation of papal bans. See Rogers J.Michael. To and Fro. Aspects of Mediterranean Trade and consumption in the 15th and 16th Centuries for some examples.

[ariel]

Given that pre-and early Islamic Arab and Sassanian swords were straight and double-edged, it is highly likely that similar Mamluk as well as Ethiopian/Sudanese swords got their origin from them , rather than from European crusaders. Himyarite kingdom in Yemen was tightly connected with Aksum ( both as trading partners and as enemies) and was destroyed by the Ethiopian Aksum in 525 C.E., well before Muhammad. Both were in tight contact with the Byzantium whose swords might have been adopted or, at least, added some influence.

Still, do the stories of trophy crusaders swords sold to Sudan by the victorious Muslims contain a grain of truth? Perhaps.

" That was in another country, and besides, the wench is dead".....

[Iain]

Originally Posted by ariel

Given that pre-and early Islamic Arab and Sassanian swords were straight and double-edged, it is highly likely that similar Mamluk as well as Ethiopian/Sudanese swords got their origin from them , rather than from European crusaders. Himyarite kingdom in Yemen was tightly connected with Aksum ( both as trading partners and as enemies) and was destroyed by the Ethiopian Aksum in 525 C.E., well before Muhammad. Both were in tight contact with the Byzantium whose swords might have been adopted or, at least, added some influence.

Still, do the stories of trophy crusaders swords sold to Sudan by the victorious Muslims contain a grain of truth? Perhaps.

" That was in another country, and besides, the wench is dead".....

Thankfully I think the crusader connection is by and large recognized as a red herring these days. Although there is a grain of truth to it through trade blades even if these are hardly of crusade vintage.

Certainly straight blades swords were known from byzantine rule of the north African coast and Egypt and with spatha and steppes heritage. But the Kaskara with its rather specific cross guard form I think has a fairly direct link to Mamluk Egypt with its particular form including langets extending over the cross guard.

[Jim McDougall]

nKante,
It is always uplifting to see new interest in the history and development of arms forms. As you will find in many cases with ethnographic arms, a good number of now well established forms are relative newcomers to the panoply of distinctive weaponry.

The 'kaskara' is one of these, and I think Iain, who has advanced our understanding of these as well as its Saharan cousin, the takouba, more than anyone with his tenacious study. As he has concisely explained, this 'Sudanese' form of broadsword indirectly evolved from early Islamic and European broadsword forms, with Byzantine elements in degree, via the Mamluk conduit.

As far as a broad presence of tribal use in Sudan and contiguous regions, as has been noted, there was a minimal degree of use of these broadswords by mostly upper echelon and figures of standing in the 18th century.
In the 19th century, during the Mahdist movement, the massive numbers of his 'Ansar' forces had no swords of any kind, and it was not until around 1883 that large volumes of these 'kaskara' were produced.

Meanwhile, the use of broadswords by tribal peoples was well established much earlier in the Sahara, with the takouba and its associated forms. In regions of northern Nigeria and some contiguous areas, these as well as mail armor along with quilted armor was in use as well, creating the often romantic notions of these tribesmen using materials from the crusades.

As Iain has noted, these romantic notions are very much a red herring which has long since Victorian times been well discounted. The presence of early European blades as well as mail and such items is due more to trade and the importing of surplus weaponry in early times via Malta and other Mediterranean ports of call into North African regions, especially Tripoli.
These as well as Islamic materials also came into Alexandria in Egypt where they were diffused into trade areas by the Mamluks.

It does not seem that volumes of 'captured' crusaders arms were marketed as trophies to anxious tribal consumers. Only a few such 'trophy' swords were kept, and these were placed in the armoury in Alexandria. Most weapons gathered from these battlefields were typically 'recycled' as the metal was valuable in forging new arms by Muslim sources. With the European 'salvors', these gathered arms became saleable surplus, which as noted arrived in the volumes of materials exported.

Many of these early blades did circulate for a time through generations in North Africa, but most surviving examples (with rare exceptions) are blades from the mid to late 19th century which are products of the Mahdist period, some pre WWI, then post 1940s.

I hope this elaborates a bit more on the 'kaskara' question, and I hope Iain will adjust or add to what my perceptions state here. The reason I 'quote' the term kaskara, is that this very word is not even used in the Sudan or anywhere it is used to describe it. It is simply known locally as sa'if.
This term was derived from a Saharan tribal dialect by European linguists it appears, and became entered into the glossary of 'collectors' terms.

[Roland_M]

German Wikipedia says:

The origin of the Kaskaras lies in the dark of history. Because of their cruciform vessels, Kaskara's and European swords resemble each other. In the 19th century, African scientists, such as Samuel Whitebaker, founded this correspondence with the influence of the crusaders. The crusaders were active in Egypt and in 1183 Renaud de Châtillon with his army plundered the coast of the Red Sea down to the Nubian Aidhab. There is no evidence for the use of European swords outside Egypt.

It is more probable that Kaskara is descended from the early Arabian swords. These also had straight blades. The typically curved form only arose in the 15th century. In the middle of the 8th century, during the Islamic expansion, Arab tribes traversed the Sahara and possibly influenced the Sudanese smithy. Another assumption is that the swords were brought by the first Sudanese pilgrims when they were on their way back from Mecca.

From the 15th century onwards, European swords came across the ports of the Mediterranean or the Atlantic to Africa. First, the Portuguese established trading posts in Mauritania. Probably the European blades were only used from the 16th century on to the construction of the Kaskaras. At that time the import of blades from Spain, Italy and Germany increased significantly. In trade and craft centers, such as al-Fashir in Sudan, vessels and vagina were produced. There the blades got their ornaments. Local blades were partly forged with fake European fittings. An exact chronological classification is difficult. The majority of the oldest surviving caskas are from the 19th century; Single specimens have older blades


Roland

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Roland_M

German Wikipedia says:

The origin of the Kaskaras lies in the dark of history. Because of their cruciform vessels, Kaskara's and European swords resemble each other. In the 19th century, African scientists, such as Samuel Whitebaker, founded this correspondence with the influence of the crusaders. The crusaders were active in Egypt and in 1183 Renaud de Châtillon with his army plundered the coast of the Red Sea down to the Nubian Aidhab. There is no evidence for the use of European swords outside Egypt.

It is more probable that Kaskara is descended from the early Arabian swords. These also had straight blades. The typically curved form only arose in the 15th century. In the middle of the 8th century, during the Islamic expansion, Arab tribes traversed the Sahara and possibly influenced the Sudanese smithy. Another assumption is that the swords were brought by the first Sudanese pilgrims when they were on their way back from Mecca.

From the 15th century onwards, European swords came across the ports of the Mediterranean or the Atlantic to Africa. First, the Portuguese established trading posts in Mauritania. Probably the European blades were only used from the 16th century on to the construction of the Kaskaras. At that time the import of blades from Spain, Italy and Germany increased significantly. In trade and craft centers, such as al-Fashir in Sudan, vessels and vagina were produced. There the blades got their ornaments. Local blades were partly forged with fake European fittings. An exact chronological classification is difficult. The majority of the oldest surviving caskas are from the 19th century; Single specimens have older blades


Roland

Not a bad write up for Wikipedia but I think looking towards early pilgrims etc. does little for the kaskara form in particular. Certainly swords were a known weapon in these regions far before Islam but the specific cross guard of the kaskara is I think really the defining feature.

I have always hoped that at some point something of a hybrid piece would turn up showing a multi sided grip and pommel cap more in the Mamluk style, rather than the largely mid to late 19th century examples we are all used to.