View Full Version : Mandara (???) dagger
Araņa_del_Sol
25th January 2024, 06:02 PM
Hi,
I recently acquired this dagger that is giving me Northern Nigeria/Cameroon Mandara mountains vibes but I'm not entirely certain. If anyone can provide a more definitive ID that would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for any insights.
- ADS
milandro
26th January 2024, 10:56 AM
it looks like you have an Hausa dagger, it may be an early 20th century piece or later, very difficult to date such things.
they come from a number of countries where the Hausa culture has spread
see a similar piece
http://www.vikingsword.com/lew/w0048/w0048.html
Araņa_del_Sol
28th January 2024, 01:09 AM
it looks like you have an Hausa dagger, it may be an early 20th century piece or later, very difficult to date such things.
they come from a number of countries where the Hausa culture has spread
see a similar piece
http://www.vikingsword.com/lew/w0048/w0048.html
Hi, thanks for your reply and resource, the Hausa are a good suggestion, it would not surprise me if this dagger is of Hausa origin. Yet, the dagger has a number of differences with typical Hausa daggers most notably in the scabbard and in the design of the hilt which gives me pause.
- ADS
Sajen
28th January 2024, 11:27 PM
Hello ADS,
You are correct IMHO, it's a Mandara dagger, see the attached picture taken from this link: *******************************gallery?0-ndjeny-mandara-nigeria-cameroon-32cm
It's for sure not Hausa, sorry Milandro. ;)
Regards,
Detlef
Ian
29th January 2024, 12:52 AM
Detlef and AdS,
Two very similar knives. Double-edged blade, central rib, and the presence of a waist. Same style of hilt. Looks like a strong ID. Thanks Detlef.
Martin Lubojacky
29th January 2024, 07:53 AM
Hi,
I bought cca in 2009 in a small town Rhumsiki in the Mandara mountains in northern Cameroon very simmilar knife (not only central rib, but also the lower part of the sheath). http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=28899&highlight=Mandara+knife
Sajen
29th January 2024, 02:25 PM
Detlef and AdS,
Two very similar knives. Double-edged blade, central rib, and the presence of a waist. Same style of hilt. Looks like a strong ID. Thanks Detlef.
Hi Ian,
Thank you but the thank has to go to our member Wodimi, he is the owner of a great research site: *******************************gallery?african-sword-and-knife
I only have seen that the Hausa attribution was not correct and have searched a little bit on his site and found that the Mandara attribution seems to be correct.
Regards,
Detlef
Sajen
29th January 2024, 02:33 PM
Hi,
I bought cca in 2009 in a small town Rhumsiki in the Mandara mountains in northern Cameroon very simmilar knife (not only central rib, but also the lower part of the sheath). http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=28899&highlight=Mandara+knife
Hello Martin,
Yes, it's a dagger from the Mandara mountains but from a different tribe, it's from the Kirdi tribes when I follow Wodimis attribution. See the example from his site.
Regards,
Detlef
TVV
29th January 2024, 09:32 PM
To be fair to everyone in this thread, identifying knives from West Africa and the Mandara mountains is not an easy task. Outside of the 70s Wente-Lukas book, which I do not have, there really is not much published on the subject. Zirngibl focuses on prestige and rarer items. Other books may have an example or two, but often times we will see knives simply classified as Hausa, Fulani or simply Kirdi, which to my understanding is a somewhat derogatory term used by Muslims to describe all the pagans in the Mandara area.
The best source are probably the Quai Branly online collections, but finding the right match, if one even exists there, requires a lot of browsing. It is always very valuable when someone like Martin who collected in the field can post examples that are at least somewhat similar.
Araņa_del_Sol
30th January 2024, 02:01 AM
Thank you Detlef, Martin, and everyone who responded, I appreciate the picture references and additional information.
- ADS
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