A somalian billao

[TVV]

Nice billao Yvain - from the pictures it is obvious it is well made. Like other Islamic weapons from Africa there does not seem to be a ton of published information on the billao. You have already commented on the pommel types - 1 vs 3 spikes. There is also a difference in blades - some billaos have shorter, wider blades like yours, while others are longer and more slender, approaching short swords. From the examples I have seen, the longer bladed ones tend to have horn hilts and the spikes that are just that - one or three crude spikes. The nicer billaos with ivory hilts and better made pommels like the pommel on yours tend to be predominantly of the shorter variety. In fact, I cannot recall seeing a longer example with an ivory hilt and silver pommel.

The conclusion seems to be that wider, shorter blades with a single spike of better craftsmanship are likely older, from the 19th century, while the longer bladed examples evolved later, in the first half of the 20th century. Of course, there probably are exceptions to this rule, but I am just going based on the general trend of the examples I have seen.

Teodor