The Egyptian army did not receive the Martini-Enfield until 1903, 4 years after the end of the Mahdiya. During the Mahdist Rebellion, the Mahdists captures Egyptian Remington Rolling Block rifles, with a yataghan bayonet. The British used Martini Henry rifles against the Mahdists, but I have severe doubts the Mahdists had the ability to obtain any through either trade or as trophies - it was the British who won the battles and collected trophies, rather than the other way around.
The hilt design on this very interesting dagger is entirely European in style. While there were a lot of trophies taken after battles during the Mahdist Wars, there seems to have been an even greater demand for such souvenirs than the battlefields were able to supply. In the past, we have discussed the possibility that a lot of the acid etched blade kaskaras with brass hilts may have been a product of a thriving post war industry. To me it sounds more likely that a British soldier stationed in Sudan after the suppression of the Mahdists had this knife fashioned from a Martini bayonet according to his own taste and added the etched thuluth to the blade as a memento of his service there, or maybe even of the Sudan campaign itself.
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