Takouskara

[Iain]

Originally Posted by TVV

Based on the existence of another very similar published sword, we can conclude that this is not a one off creation, but rather a type that existed somewhere in the Sahel in the 19th century. Hales pictured his sword in a group of kaskaras, probably because of the blade, and so both of the swords we know like this have kaskara blades.
The style of the chape is Hausa, but it was not limited to just the Hausa states, as we see it on takoubas and telek daggers all the way from Bida to Adamawa and what is Northern Cameroon today. I have a similar chape on a wide bladed takouba, which I posted for comparison to other Northern Cameroon swords in this thread:
https://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24269

Adamawa and the Mandara Mountains are not that far from Lake Chad, and the area was part of Kanem Bornu at various times, with very strong Kanuri influence even after the Fulani jihad. I am not trying to prove that the sword itself is Kanuri, just pointing out that it did not need to travel all the way to Kano to get its current scabbard.

The hilt has the construction of takouba hilts rather than kaskara ones, but the choice of material is also important. Silver is almost never found on takouba hilts and very common on kaskaras, as Ed Hunley has demonstrated.

It appears therefore that these swords are the result of mixed influence, and therefore most likely from an area where takoubas and kaskaras were both used to some extent.

I'd add just a quick note to this that these long scabbard fittings seem to really pop up the most often on swords where you can find pictorial evidence of them in areas that are the Hausa/Fulani heartland or areas influenced by them, usually having all metal hilts in brass. Mandara and Adamawa were incredibly Fulani influenced post Jihad within the political structure of the local Emirates, courts and regalia. Does that mean the sword had to go that far? No, particularly given the wide network of Hausa traders in the Sudan. Can it just be coincidence? I doubt it but of course the Hausa didn't have an exclusive license on making long chapes but arch and zigzag motif are pretty common for takouba scabbards.

The issue with trying to make a Kanuri connection is that we simply have no provenance to support it. Sadly we have little pictoral evidence of the specifics of takouba from the height of the empire and only some later images from the last rump state in Dikwa. Same goes for
Bagirmi. We have a real lack of information on some of the Chadian emirates as well.

Ragarding the hilt construction, I think it's important to note the general method and hilt components of a takouba like this are within a family of Islamic swords that follow a similar pattern with relatively small guards, using sheet metal construction and solder or braising for the grip tube and pommel. Putting aside the crossguard this is the same construction used on metal kaskara hilts.

The sword overall seems to be early to mid 19th century (give or take), with the blade are there any signs of stamps or marks Kubur?

I absolutely agree it's a distinct type. I wonder where the Hales sword is now, the guard shape is really intriguing and its unfortunate there's no collection location known for it.

I don't spend much time on swords from this region these days but I will have a look through some old pictures and references and see if something pops up from wadai or the like.

EDIT
Just another couple of points in particular about the pommel of this and the Hales sword...

They lack the medial ridge you almost always find, I'm actually trying to think if I've run across any others that didn't have it...

The second point is the 'nub' or extension on the tang at the end of the pommel, also unusual and something you see more often with metal kaskara pommels.

Small details, but they may perhaps help in narrowing the origins down...