[Jim McDougall]

Norman, a well noted example! and the attribution to Ali Dinar of course is very impressive. Actually as I mentioned earlier, he had it would appear a number of significant swords in his armory before he was killed by British forces in 1914.
These were of it would seem, some range, and I have owned one which was apocryphally attributed to his armory......however it is nowhere near the status of this example......likely more the likening of this type of hilt and overall style to 'of the type' Ali Dinar favored.

I think it has been rather a consensus that the Sudanese kaskara indeed did evolve from Mamluk broadswords, which had been maintained in the apparent conservative manner of the Mamluks. Actually, it is thought that perhaps the profuse 'thuluth' decoration on the weapons of the Mahdiyya may have been inspired by Mamluk artisans in Sennar. This had been an established Mamluk enclave prior to 1821, as this was where most of them had gone after their flight from Egypt in 16th century. It does not seem unreasonable that the Mamluk types of blade and mounting which was certainly brought with them would influence the form of the kaskara (as noted, Yucel).

Ewart Oakeshott noted in his references that many a worthy 'kaskara' had been dismantled when brought back from the campaigns in Sudan, many with European broadsword blades, often with the familiar cosmological symbols, and were remounted with newly made hilts of medieval style. In some cases, these may have been authentically medieval. This is why Dr. Briggs wrote his monumental article on European blades in North African swords (1965).


I added some pics, the first two are basically the type of kaskara hilt typically seen (in some variation) during the Mahdiyya (1883-1898) and the profusely acid etched 'thuluth' inscription. These are repeated passages from the Quran used in decorative style, often with other messages added in.

The next two are the kaskara style (often associated with Ali Dinar) which seem to have evolved at some just after the Mahdiyya and during the Anglo Egyptian condominium, particularly in Darfur. Note the heavy discoid pommel and capstan. While these are most often with silver lozenge design on grip, some like this are with crocodile hide, as seen here.
Clearly this example is worlds away from that Norman has shown.

Just wanted to illustrate these variances for those reading here.