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Originally Posted by Tim Simmons
I have just ordered a copy of-
Warfare in the Sokoto Caliphate: Historical and Sociological Perspectives. Cambridge university.
-from an inspiring extract I was able to glean that in the 19th century the adoption of cavalry was a revolutionary tactic. From that one might assume that the short form is the more original version? Like the picture of the Dha an infantry weapon. Until I have the book I will suggest that the French blade may well be a late adoption.
The extract at the bottom of this link might also throw some light on the short version.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/182766 |
Tim, do inform us of what you find in there when received.
A number of points do require clarity.
I wish to note as points only that both support and confuse the notions;
Cavalry were used by countries/tribes neighbouring the Sokoto Caliphate in the early 1800s.
European countries had coastal contact with these neighbouring countries for centuries.
I have not yet noted in my limited reading anything refering to iron manufacturing from ore so blades were most likely traded all through the 19th century.
France didn't really have any major control until the late 1800s.
Below is a blurb and the contents of the book.
The successful jihad of 1804 in Hausaland - perhaps the most important Islamic revolution in West African history, with consequences still apparent in Nigeria today - resulted in the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate, the largest and most enduring West African polity in the nineteenth century. The book is a full length study of traditional Sudanic military history, and an authoritative analysis of warfare in its most prominent Islamic state. After a brief survey of the evolution of Sudanic warfare and military organisation before 1800, Dr Smaldone examines the historical development and sociological implications of the two important revolutions in military technology which occurred in the nineteenth century: the adoption of cavalry during the jihad period and the introduction of firearms in the latter half of the century. He argues that these two revolutions were causal factors in producing two structural transformations in the emirates of the Caliphate, first from relatively egalitarian combatant communities to feudal systems, and then to centralised bureaucratic state organisations.
Contents
Part I. Historical Perspectives: 1. Introduction: Sudanic Warfare and Military Organisation to c. 1800; 2. The Jihad Period, c. 1790–1817; 3. Military Organisation in the Sokoto Caliphate, c. 1817–1860; 4. Organisation for Defence and Security; 5. The Theory and Practice of War; 6. The Firearms Trade in the Central Sudan: The Expansion of the 'Gun-frontier'; 7. Firearms in the Sokoto Caliphate, c. 1860–1903; Part II. Sociological Perspectives: 8. The Evolution of Politico-Military Organisation in the Sokoto Caliphate, c. 1790–1903; 9. The Functions of War in the Sokoto Caliphate; 10. Warfare in the Sokoto Caliphate: Summary and Conclusions.