My understanding was also that the lion rampant was adapted from European blades in the context of kaskara and takouba, as it is a mark found on both 19th century trade blades and much older blades as well - see Briggs, Morel etc. And then absorbed into marks regarded locally has holding meaning and power like Jim mentioned.
However it could easily have taken on multiple meanings once introduced including the intriguing idea Dom mentioned.
Any luck with the translation A.alnakkas? I'm quite curious about the poem as well as the errors of the scribe you mentioned.
