Makers mark on 19th century 'star and comet' Kaskara blade

Edster · 9th May 2024, 06:28 PM

Very nice sword and trophy. To put it in context, the battle was fought against Osman Digna and his Hadendawa warriors. (See Wiki attached). The gap at the top of the silver grip cover originally likely had the signature Hadendawa tassel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle...l%20population.

Ed

jaxonrice · 10th May 2024, 01:09 PM

Thank you so much Ed. Would you be able to hazard a guess as to the age and origin of the blade?

Edster · 10th May 2024, 01:49 PM

During the early-mid 19th C. thousands of mostly German blades were imported into Egypt and rest of N. Africa. Traders brought them into Sudan. I documented some of the traffic into Sudan in one of my kaskara papers available on the Forum's Geographical Index.

Ed

Marc M. · 10th May 2024, 02:24 PM

Indeed a very nice kaskara.
Regards
Marc

jaxonrice · 10th May 2024, 04:42 PM

Thank you Ed. I have, of course, read all of your excellent Kaskara papers here

G. Mansfield · 11th May 2024, 08:07 PM

Hello Jaxon,

I do not have any new information on the enigmatic mark but I wanted to congratulate you on this exceptional kaskara sword. Attached are two other war trophies picked up by Francis Marwood Hext from the same battle. Estimates of between 2,000 and 4,000 Mahdists were killed or wounded, most of which were Hadendowa tribesmen.

https://www.the-mansfield-collection...-beja-hext-413
https://www.the-mansfield-collection...agger-hext-412

-Geoffrey

Jim McDougall · 13th May 2024, 11:06 PM

I think the discussion from 2022 that Ed has linked in his post #2 has the most comprehensive answer to this question. What is interesting is this 'enigma' marking has remained a conundrum despite the number of compelling theories.

Briggs has noted these stylized marks on the swords of two Taureg chiefs in Air which were taken during the Kaocen Rebellion 1917. While these tribes (I think Tiouinfera was one) seem to have been of the Maliki School of Sunni Islam, which was why I had earlier thought perhaps the stylized devices might be related to symbols in that context.

Im not familiar with the 18th c kaskara of the Funj sultan and this type of hilt so am curious to see images of it and the star and comet. Could you direct to a source for images? It would be great to see 18th century examples of this type of kaskara hilt.

The 'enigma' mark on the blade seems to have been seen as early as 1878 with Adembar sword from Air (I believe this was from J.Gabus, 1958, as per Briggs, 1965). How it became known on kaskara in Darfur and Sudan from what may be Tuareg origins in that light is a question, or was it vice versa, from Sudan to Air?

11th May 2024, 08:07 PM	#6
G. Mansfield Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Posts: 78	Hello Jaxon, I do not have any new information on the enigmatic mark but I wanted to congratulate you on this exceptional kaskara sword. Attached are two other war trophies picked up by Francis Marwood Hext from the same battle. Estimates of between 2,000 and 4,000 Mahdists were killed or wounded, most of which were Hadendowa tribesmen. https://www.the-mansfield-collection...-beja-hext-413 https://www.the-mansfield-collection...agger-hext-412 -Geoffrey Attached Images

13th May 2024, 11:06 PM	#7
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,785	I think the discussion from 2022 that Ed has linked in his post #2 has the most comprehensive answer to this question. What is interesting is this 'enigma' marking has remained a conundrum despite the number of compelling theories. Briggs has noted these stylized marks on the swords of two Taureg chiefs in Air which were taken during the Kaocen Rebellion 1917. While these tribes (I think Tiouinfera was one) seem to have been of the Maliki School of Sunni Islam, which was why I had earlier thought perhaps the stylized devices might be related to symbols in that context. Im not familiar with the 18th c kaskara of the Funj sultan and this type of hilt so am curious to see images of it and the star and comet. Could you direct to a source for images? It would be great to see 18th century examples of this type of kaskara hilt. The 'enigma' mark on the blade seems to have been seen as early as 1878 with Adembar sword from Air (I believe this was from J.Gabus, 1958, as per Briggs, 1965). How it became known on kaskara in Darfur and Sudan from what may be Tuareg origins in that light is a question, or was it vice versa, from Sudan to Air? Attached Images

9th May 2024, 06:28 PM	#1
Edster Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 401	Very nice sword and trophy. To put it in context, the battle was fought against Osman Digna and his Hadendawa warriors. (See Wiki attached). The gap at the top of the silver grip cover originally likely had the signature Hadendawa tassel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle...l%20population. Ed

10th May 2024, 01:09 PM	#2
jaxonrice Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 12	Thank you so much Ed. Would you be able to hazard a guess as to the age and origin of the blade?

10th May 2024, 01:49 PM	#3
Edster Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 401	During the early-mid 19th C. thousands of mostly German blades were imported into Egypt and rest of N. Africa. Traders brought them into Sudan. I documented some of the traffic into Sudan in one of my kaskara papers available on the Forum's Geographical Index. Ed

10th May 2024, 02:24 PM	#4
Marc M. Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Belgium Posts: 116	Indeed a very nice kaskara. Regards Marc

10th May 2024, 04:42 PM	#5
jaxonrice Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 12	Thank you Ed. I have, of course, read all of your excellent Kaskara papers here