My Haladie

[Iain]

Few things I'd bring up, I don't think the half moon marks are indicative of takouba over kaskara - they appear on plenty of kaskara and I don't think signal Hausa providence particularly - unless I misunderstood your point Jim?

Regarding the sword of Bayajidda I also find it a bit confusing - but wouldn't agree it was imported from the east necessarily. I tend to think that the lack of presence of the kaskara in Nigeria and surrounding areas is indicative of the widespread local manufacture of takouba blades. Otherwise I would expect to see Sudanese kaskara blades in takouba mounts fairly frequently.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than myself could comment on the religious impact of the Mahdi movement in wider Islamic Africa. Such events seem far more likely a reason for the presence of thuluth on the Bayajidda sword then an imported Sudanese blade in a non Sudanese form?

Just a few thoughts, from someone who sadly has less reference material at hand than the rest of you...

Feel free to correct my ramblings.

[Tim Simmons]

This is a very good starting point, but you had better be quick. One paper back copy on UK Amazon. "History of Nigeria, Sir Alan Burns"

[Tim Simmons]

May be of some interest to link this thread. Ottoman infleunce {Tripoli, Chad, Sudan} ending at the start of ww1

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=bayonet

[Jim McDougall]

Excellent points you guys!!! This is really great to be able to discuss these very complex areas of North African history, which is far underresearched with reference material very esoteric. Thank you Tim for sharing and highlighting these references on the Sokoto Caliphate, and it is interesting to see how colonialism and geopolitical matters had such dramatic impact.

Ispn, the reference to half moon markings are to the paired crescent moons as seen on takouba, usually at the base of the outside fullers in the center of the blade. There are indeed crescent moons on many kaskaras but they are the large man in the moon in the astral grouping with sun and star, in most of those I have seen. As noted the small paired crescent are indeed in some kaskara, as seen by the Briggs illustration, but uncommon as far as I know.
I believe the Hausa attribution in Briggs is based on the presumption that a great number of the smiths were Hausa.

The presence of thuluth was more attributed to Mamluk influence, which of course could have moved westward through trade as well as the slaving activity which the Mamluks were active in Sudan with. The takouba blade form is somewhat different in being somewhat lighter blades, and it is worthy of note that they invariably seem to have rounded tip. The kaskara blades have more of an angled spear type point typically.

The Bayajidda sword seems to have the wider at the shoulder and gradual parallel taper to the point. There are Sudanese short swords of this type in the northern regions near Dongola and similar variations. While Bivar tries to allude to much earlier period for the sword than it probably is, the likelihood of its provenance from the east still seems good.

I am of the impression that the Mahdist movement in the Sudan was quite an independant situation from the numerous instances of Jihad in many of the Caliphates and kingdoms to the west. Even considerable resistance to involvement was known in Darfur, where some tribal groups moved into remote regions avoiding contact. I read of this some time ago in I believe it was "Prisoners of the Mahdi" , Byron Farwell. As far as the thuluth type of script, I think we need to look further into the types of calligraphy that would have been used in Nigeria and West African regions, and try to find other examples of weapons from those regions with thuluth inscriptions. The Bayajidda sword is quite frankly, the only one I know of. If Mamluk influence was so prevalent in western Sudanese regions, I would expect to see this broad and distinct script on much of the material culture metalwork.

I really appreciate you guys discussing this with me here. It really helps to have input on ideas that I have formed from resources and things I have seen which may of course not be entirely correct. That is why it is so imortant to have other perspective, not so anyone can be more right than the other, but so we all gain knoeledge together. Thank you so much, and I hope others will join in as well.

All best regards,
Jim

[Iain]

Hi Jim,

Maybe I've only been looking at the unusual ones... But I've seen the half moon marks on quite a few kaskara. Just a few examples I quickly turned up online (note for moderators: the links to auction sites are all for expired auctions, nothing active).

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6221477

http://www.thomasdelmar.com/catalogu...1205/lot27.jpg

http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos.php?id=109

http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos.php?id=3436

http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos.php?id=4018

Now, one thing I notice is all the blades I turned up with the half moons on kaskara are the triple fullered variety more similar to takouba blades - this could support the idea that perhaps there a Hausa connection to these examples? Maybe an easy way to differentiate between the Darfur examples? I really haven't handled enough kaskara to do more than just throw it out as a thought.

About other blades exhibiting thuluth script... Oddly I stumbled yesterday across a record in the American Museum of Natural History collections for a kaskara attributed as Tuareg with thuluth. THe attribution is directly in the collection notes, very odd.

http://anthro.amnh.org/anthropology/...from_anthro=no

I would probably discount this attribution entirely, but thought it was an oddity worth bringing up as the attribution is from the collector not the museum mislabeling at a later date.

The profiles of kaskaras and takoubas... Unfortunately this rather complex even from my own brief experiences. Takouba blades are generally lighter, but come in a wide variety of profiles and are not always rounded at the tip - personally I have a couple with sharp tips. I'm not familiar with the Sudanese short swords you referenced but that's probably not entirely surprising as your own experience is quite a bit larger!

My major "beef" with the Bayajidda sword is that it simply makes no sense to me. I was also under the impression that the script used in amongst the Fulani, Hausa and Turaeg was Maghribi. With the sub forms being Saharan, Suqi and Sudani. My reference for this is mainly reading articles about the manuscripts known from Timbuktu.

However one article I found on Arabic literary tradition of West Africa had this to say:

In the 19th century, the connections between Muslim scholars of the western Sudan (Futa, Mali, Masina, etc.) and those of the central Sudan (Hausaland, Bornu, Adamawa) intensified. These networks encouraged circulation of the political enthusiasm conveyed by the successful experience of the Sokoto Caliphate of the Fodios; the doctrinal renewal conveyed by the Sufi turuq; and the anxieties, joined with millennial beliefs, created by the news of the coming wave of European conquests. In 1825 and 1837, Sokoto was visited by a Fulani scholar from Futa Jallon, al-Hajj ‘Umar, on his way to and from Mecca. Back in the western Sudan, al-Hajj ‘Umar rallied an army and launched a jihad that would lead him to confront both local kingdoms and the rising French colonial power. An important effect of al-Hajj ‘Umar’s campaigns was that they contributed to the spread of small Tijani communities throughout the region—these would later develop into the most active religious networks of the 20th century in most of West Africa.

http://digital.library.northwestern....istorical.html

So I would say that the style of the script is not impossible for West Africa given the interaction between scholars of Sudan and West Africa. I still find it strange that it is hard to find other takouba with script on the blades. Or simply kaskara with takouba hilts.... Well wait a sec I just remembered one.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...0&postcount=26

So that's two at least.

Cheers,

Iain

[Tim Simmons]

Also this example. When I acquired this perhaps a decade back. I was still stuck in the Sudan Omdurman thing. Latter and on this forum I was shown that this blade is a Tuareg form. I have been brought to believe the Tuareg are most domminant in the west and have some influence in the area discussed here. The area has several Mosque/Universities, I believe one is said to be very old for the Islamic world, so I do not think there would be any lack of schoolars to guide any artists.

[Jim McDougall]

Again, I am delighted to be able to enter into discussion on this subject matter with both of you, and it is great to see not only deep interest, but experience evidenced by great examples....and impressive research. I really appreciate the examples you have both added here, which really give great perspective.

Ispn, these links are really good examples that some links between the Sudan and Saharan regions to the west show a degree of hybridization. I would point out that it is known that small numbers of Tuareg, in of course thier typical nomadic fashion, were situated in areas of the Sudan, though I believe in the Darfur areas rather than Nilotic . Going through the links you have provided ( excellent!!) my observations would be,
1. The Sudanese childs sword...these dukari symbols are entirely stylized stamps using a disc and wavy line which have lost identity as crescent moons, but the positioning, therefore temporal symbolism remain. The triple fuller central blade is characteristic.
2. The full size kaskara with heavy disc pommel is of Darfur style and is with the central triple fuller configuration, with correctly formed dukari moons in correct position at outer fuller terminus'.
This is reminscent of the thuluth covered 'Hausa' example shown in Briggs.
3. A distinct Darfur type kaskara, however with a single central fuller and inscription of lohr panel with traditional positioned crescent moons, but with the same circular stamp and wavy line of number one.
4. Another childs kaskara with the standard triple fullers and disc with wavy line, of the form of 1, 4
5. Another higher quality Darfur type kaskara of characteristic silverwork, blade triple fuller, with the stylized wavy line disc.

These are evidence that the symbolic markings used on takouba were probably either used in degenerated forms or stylizations by smiths who had either brought or adopted these from those in takouba producing regions.
It must be noted that both takouba and kaskara are of course broadswords, and there would have been movement in either direction via trade or nomadic tribal movements.

I think the best example yet is the southern mounted Tuareg takouba with the thuluth covered Tuareg blade. This blade is of course a Sudanese etched blade of Solingen origin, as were many kaskara blades in the 19th century.
Seeing this blade mounted in Taureg hilt strongly emphasizes that these blades did move the the west on occasion. This one is truly an anomaly which further emphasizes the potential for such blades from the Sudan to have reached trade centers as far as Nigeria.

The kaskara in the American museum is of course a perfect example of museum bureaucracy. Often donors will misattribute items which are part of estates of family and they assume the provenance from what they know of the persons travels. The museum should have researched the weapon further and realized it is a Sudanese kaskara, not a Tuareg sword. Frankly the average person does not typically know one broadsword from another, and some museums sometimes sensationalize display captions to suit thier purposes. Gratefully, most are more attentive, and Im very surprised this error was not caught.

Tim, a very interesting example which is of course a Sudanese dagger fashioned from a socket bayonet, I believe this is a Martini-Henry, but Im not entirely certain, though it appears British military. The crocodile hide, and in this case, the foot, was a well known decorative mounting, which I have always thought was a sort of psyschological presentation, which may have had more to do with the slaving enterprises. The thuluth inscriptions on the blade may indicate this was absorbed in the acid etching processes at Omdurman during the Mahdist years however.
I have not seen these blades used on Tuareg weapons personally, but know that they were often used across Africa for many weapons including s'boula in Morocco, though those were typically French bayonets.


Thanks again guys very much,
All best regards,
Jim

[Jens Nordlunde]

There are Maru’s and there are Haladies – they are the same, but called differently as they appear to be from different places.

This one is Indian and dated 1221 AH – 1806 AD.