Tuareg short dagger
 

Another acquisition for me that I believe is Tuareg, or closely related. Very nicely crafted dagger, with a thick blade. Not sharpened but on the edges but has a sharp tip. The tip has been bent in a manner that I don't know if it was intended, or was some damage done later. I'm hesitant to start pounding on the blade to straighten it. The blade had a light coating of rust which I lightly cleaned to show the decorations on the surface.

The leatherwork is nicely done, similar to a telek that I own. The leather wrapped handle brings to mind the Tuareg culture's aversion to touching iron. Age-wise, probably later half of the 20th century. It's a nice, solid piece.

Regards,

Andrew

The wiggle at the tip looks it was done on purpose, unless it has already had previous attempts to take the accidental kink out.

Hi Andrew!

Interesting dagger, look at similar here:
https://swordsantiqueweapons.com/s880_full.html

Best wishes,
Yuri

These I believe are more Mende and west coast rather than Tuareg. Your telek is in an atypical scabbard. The scabbard looks to have a belt loop. Some from my collection. I only have the red coloured one now. Not old but rather clean and nice.

These daggers seem to have been used by a wide range of peoples in Senegambia and modern Mali. It could be Wolof, Mandinka, Fulani...