Kaskara with gold and silver decoration

[TVV]

Ian, to me the blade looks like a 19th century German trade blade. There were two general patterns - one with three narrow fullers and one like yours, with a shorter, wider fuller. It is also possible that it was made in Sudan in imitation of the trade blades, but during the 19th century those were exported in huge quantities due to their combination of price and quality. Of course, the hilt and the decoration would have been applied locally.

[Edster]

Ian,

The new pictures and the tags are informative. The tag that says the sword was found with chain mail, etc. suggests that the sword was owned by a Sudanese knight and a Baqqara tribal calvary emir or unit commander. This group and their armour kit were influenced by western Sudan/Chadic military culture and mostly stationed in Omdurman during the Mahdiya. The tag notes that the sword was brought back "after 1900". This suggests that it could have been collected after the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 rather than during the NSW Contingent service in early 1885. Their service was against the Bega who did not use padded armour, steel helmets, etc.

The attractive silver floral-type designs do not follow the style of Quranic texts common on Mahdiya swords. The gold cartouches are crudely made and translations could hold the keys to its origin. Cartouches are also not common, if applied at all, on Mahdiya era swords.

Best regards,
Ed

[Tim Simmons]

Nice.