Guduf sword

[Iain]

I was fortunate enough to not only acquire this piece but also receive a positive ID from a fellow collector with the ID being based on the work of Wente-Lukas.

This is a Guduf sword, a people living the in Mandara mountains region on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. Numbering about only 30,000 they are a small group, as are many in this region.

These have often been refered to as Kirdi - but that is a general label for pagan/animist peoples of the Mandara region and not a precise ethnic term.

Interestingly the Guduf believe that the takouba of the Fulbe/Fulani was based on their sword design. While likely not entirely true, this may reflect the probable origin of the takouba in older pagan sword designs, many of which were preserved in the Mandara region due to the isolation of the peoples who largely fled there to escape the Islamic kingdoms of the Sahel.

I do not have the sword in hand yet and will not until August due travelling on another continent, but the seller pictures were good enough to share I think.

The blade should be iron and relatively heavy, flatter on one side with the incised decoration being reserved for the presentation face of the blade (a fairly common occurance in African weapons). The hilt is cow horn.

[Tim Simmons]

Not as fancy fullering but the same thing.

[Iain]

Hi Tim, I thought you might find this interesting. If I recall you at least have a scabbard which I sadly did not get. I don't recall the Guduf aspect being mentioned on the forum before (and I believe only yours and one from Lew were ever posted), so I thought that might be of interest. I'm beginning to really like all things from the Mandara region.

[katana]

Hi Iain,
Mandara was in fact a 'centre' of weapon/tool manufacture and attrached many diverse tribes....this I believe created a 'centre of cross pollination of weapon forms'
Here is a copied posting from another topic that I posted before.......

"Reading some more about the Mandara Hills I have found that many tribes relocated there due to the iron ore deposits. Either as smelters or smiths, almost a 'Solingen of Africa', although weapons were not their 'exclusive' wares.

Because of the numbers of differing tribes that inhabited the Mandara Hills, that smelted the iron and 'worked' the metal. Fortifications were built as the population increased. The smelting technology used was more advanced than many other areas of Africa. I get the impression that the smelted iron was of good quality and 'in demand' from neighbouring tribes whom would either trade for it ......or 'raid' for it. Also, as mentioned before, Mandara was often 'plundered' for slaves.

A 'slideshow' of some excavated fortifications, use the 'top' arrow to see the next pic.....and so on.


http://www.mandaras.info/StrongholdsNCameroon/fv1.htm

As a footnote ... AFAIK weapon forms in Africa have been said to have 'spread' via trade routes and conflict. It is quite likely that in an area such as Mandara the 'intermingling' of tribal smiths also created an 'intermingling' of ideas and weapon forms, as well......"

Kind Regards David

[Iain]

Hi David,

Thanks for the detailed reply. If you don't mind I'll make a few counter points.

I wouldn't personally term it an African Soligen persay, although iron certainly had something to do with the settlement of the area. But just for contrast most Hausa centers on the Nigerian plain were also built around iron ore deposits and had far better agricultural conditions. I'd probably frame the importance of the region a little differently.

I think the main factors behind Mandara ethnic diversity are brought about by the historic relationship between the Muslim emirates and the pagan peoples. Many groups moved into the hills to escape religious pressure and slaving, many were small groups that lacked the military ability to contest the rising power of the Bornu or Hausa emirates (later of course the Fulani as well). Slaving was one of the main commercial ventures of the Islamic rulers (for a sample of this the translated diary of HAMMAN YAJI, D.H. MADAGALI is particularly interesting). The area was marked as a naturally defensible position for groups forced to migrate and move from the easier to cultivate areas in the Sahel and around Lake Chad. The episode when Denham accompanied a slaving trip out of Bornu into the Mandara highlands also gives a good feel for the relationship between the emirates and the Mandara peoples. This constant threat then was I think a more likely reason for the diversity and high population density in the region than the iron smelting and smithing industry.

With that said, the level of ironworking is obviously high in the region and there are unique smelting techniques in place, but I seem to have misplaced a link that showed one. I will try to dig it out.

Thanks for the link, I'm pretty familiar with the author of the Mandara website and recall having leafed through this presentation before. Recently I've been lucky enough to open communications with a few Nigerian academics in the north who I am hoping will also open up contacts inside north Cameroon. There may or may not be some at least graduation level work based on the history of the region which has yet to be widely published.

I certainly agree about cross pollination of forms and in such a small space one would assume a lot of cross influence. However from the one scanned page I have of Wente-Lukas (sadly my German isn't up to digesting the entire book and I haven't found a reasonably priced copy either) showing different forms, different groups seem to have kept rather distinct designs. Certain groups did however adopt the takouba form, although shorter blades seem to have been in vogue (among the Lamang and Bana for example). This should date partially to the Fulani Jihad that attempted to conquer the Mandara region with only partial success.

Although you've probably seen it there's a decent overview of the Guduf here: http://www.mandaras.info/Guduf.html

While a different ethnic group and topic entirely, PBS did have a NOVA program on the Mafa and the use of fire ants which gives some nice views into at least one Mandara culture: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ants/ With a little searching I think you can find the parts on youtube.

Cheers,

Iain

[Iain]

This came while I was away on a trip, but I got around to snapping a few pictures of my own today.

It has a neat feel in the hand, almost rapier like, very agile, also very sharp! I'm quite impressed by the forging skills on display. A pity I don't have the scabbard, that and a Guduf shield and I'd be a very happy man.

The cow horn actually makes a really attractive guard and hilt with good balance and to be honest I think it's no more likely to come apart than many takouba hilts I've seen.