Thanks very much Ed, especially for the kind words on my anomaly saber, which I do believe was a creation in the Turkiyah period and mid 19thc. probably in regions of Khartoum to Sennar.
Most notable is the characteristic flare of scabbard tip. This some years ago was surmised by a friend who was an archeologist in Sudan to likely be an affectation from the ancient Meroe kingdom apparently adopted from iconography by Funj rulers.
I hope I might add some thoughts from my research of years ago, and run them by you, in hopes that they are at least somewhat correct, and that you might edit with your extensive knowledge on this history.
The Mamluk influences remained key through these regions, and it seems their metalworking traditions prevailed in these areas from Dongola to Sennar.
I believe there was considerable trade in from the port of Suakin on the Red Sea, including trade blades etc. There was mention of the Shendi market as a central trade entrepot handling much of this activity. The nominal evolution of the kaskara form in the scattered 'bush empires' of predominantly Baggara tribes is apparently the source of the term kaskara loaned from thier language. Naturally the typical term used is simply sa'if.
The Egyptian and Turk presence in Khartoum were part of the slave oriented commerce in Sudan which was part of the impetus of the Mahdiyya in 1881. If not mistaken, it seems there was only nominal presence of the sword with tribal forces in the initial campaigns with tribal warriors until they had captured numbers of arms, mostly guns.
Apparently at this point there was a profound development of more swords of munitions grade in the manner of the established broadswords of the upper classes in the Funj Sultanate traditions.
After the fall of Khartoum, and the subsequent death of the Mahdi, the Khaliph faced issues with maintaining the impetus of the jihad, and needed to create regalia which perpetuated the 'magic' of the Mahdi. Therefore, using the immense stores of industrial equipment and supply left at Khartoum by Gordon, he created an arsenal at Omdurman. In these shops there were many artisans, foreign and others skilled with the Mamluk metalworking tradition.
In my opinion, this is where the creation of the profusely acid etched decoration of kaskaras as well as sundry other weapon forms began in large scale, though it seems there had been some degree of this earlier outside this motivation.
As many of the Ansar warriors in the forces were conscripted from other tribal regions, numerous weapon forms were included in the types used, and many of these were also covered in the Thuluth calligraphy motif. This was actually comprised of various passages from the Quran, but in repetitive fashion, augmented by interspersed invocations and exhortations toward the Mahdi. In essence, each weapon was imbued by the magic of the Mahdi, and assurances of angelic support to the warriors for their flights to paradise.
These types of weapons were among the many that became trophies and sounvenirs after Omdurman and the other residual actions at the fall of the Caliphate 1898. The ubiquitous kaskara swords were of course the primary weapon forms brought back from the Sudanese campaigns, as with this example, as noted, c. late 1880s and likely from Omdurman shops.
Note the Hausa moons (dukari) indicating this was likely blade from that source as it seems most of these were.
I hope this perspective of the kaskara context is somewhat viable, and adding it here is as much trying to regain my own understanding from memory as sharing it for context in this discussion.
All best regards
Jim
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