Unsure of Kasakara's age

[Edster]

Yuri,

I agree with your Kassala attribution. I know nothing re the maker's mark. Note the Beja/Hadendawa tassel below the pommel.

The cross guard shows what are likely incomplete forge welds on the bottom as well as the end of one of the cross pieces. Check to see if the bottom langets look to be bent to shape instead of welded in place. If the above are the case then the cross guard was bent to shape from a flat piece as I noted in the Cross Guard essay and was "invented" c. 1945 in Kassala. Thus, your kaskara took its current form post 1945. I collected one very much like it when I was there in the mid-80s. It's foto is in the essay and shows a noted incomplete cross guard forge weld.

Best regards,
Ed