Kaskara for Comment.

[Valjhun]

Not as nice as katanas' one, but with a rather interesting indigenous (?) and very old blade.

Any comments?

[TVV]

To me the blade looks like a 19th century trade blade, which is heavily rusted. It could be locally made from the same period though. The crossguard would determine this hilt to be from Darfur.
Regards,
Teodor

[colin henshaw]

Nice - I like the form of the crossguard....

Regards

[Jim McDougall]

Valjhun, this is also a beauty!! Mostly as it is a true old warrior, and as Teodor has well observed, this crossguard with the distinctive 'X' in its center is characteristic it seems on the Darfur sa'ifs (kaskara).

Another characteristic for Darfur is the use of crocodile hide on the grips. I sometimes wonder if the also distinct harlequin pattern in silverwork grips on Darfur examples might be stylized representation of crocodile hide. Just a thought, despite the fact that the lozenge shape geometric is an element of the material culture symbolism in these regions, but mentioned just the same.

The blade is what is considered in some writings, a 'masri'. The distinct 'dukari' (opposed crescent moons) are characteristic, and it seems Briggs considers these of Hausa manufacture, probably from the west.
I would concur with the 19th century, possibly one of the early blades from about 1840's, these are not often found with this much patination and pitting. The blades were typically often refurbished as they changed hands in trade or inheritance.

Best regards,
Jim

[katana]

Hi Valjhun,
this is a very nice Kaskara, I especially like the flared cross guard ;) and the croc hide grip :) .

Where abouts is the balance point on your sword ?

Regards David

[stephen wood]

...why do we think such a crossguard is from Darfur? Is there any evidence?

[Jim McDougall]

Stephen,
The Darfur attribution comes primarily from the Graham Reed article on kaskaras from Darfur, in which this characteristic is seen on examples with other hilt features with some consistancy. The much more simple examples from eastern Sudanese regions, especially the Mahdist examples, have crossguards usually not quite as flared, no central X, and some even have brass crossguards.
I would suspect there may be more symbolism found in this feature, and this would be an interesting topic to discuss further.

Best regards,
Jim