Sudan Mahdist daggers

[colin henshaw]

Originally Posted by Congoblades

Have some but no idea about the age.

Hi Congoblades

Thanks for posting these. Always difficult to date, but I would guess at first half of the 20th century. The one with the dog-leg blade maybe earlier than the other two ? They illustrate well that patchy, deep rust pitting often to be found on Sudanese and Somali blades, for some reason that I can't fathom... The images also show the subtle difference in hilt styles.

Here are a couple of images that show Mahdist (Ansar) dress and weapons, for interest. They are from the books "Fire and Sword in the Sudan" and "A Prisoner of the Khaleefa".

Regards.