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Originally Posted by blue lander
I took some side by side photos to give a little more context.
1 side by side with a "scrap metal" Manding sword and an Austrian saber.
2 closeup of the scrap metal Manding sword and the Manding sword in question
3 closeup of Manding sword and Austrian saber
4 spine thickness of the two Manding swords, the scrap metal one being the thinner
5 Manding sword next to two other "converted" African daggers with European saber blades. Big one is a Shula, small one is some sort of ersatz koumyya relative I guess
6 closeup of all three blades.
Edit: never mind, they all posted out of order. But you get the idea.
The Manding blade isn't quite as refined as the other Euro blades and it doesn't have any patina to it. But it definitely was retipped in a very similar fashion to the Shula and the other dagger. And as Jim said, why would the Manding make the tip in one shape and then grind it into another shape?
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Salaams ! What you probably have here is a rather scratched up version of a European blade..somewhat less quality since it had a tip that permanently bent when pressed ...Nonetheless a reasonable example of late European French/German trade ..possibly a parade version not particularly required to be fought with..on a basic Manding hilt.
Tipu Tip the great Oman slave trader "owned" much of the interior centred obliquely on the Falls of the Congo River.
Please see
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=tipu #10 for a reasonably full account and a general map is set out from that post below.
My view is that the influence occured from the Manding region to the falls Hub(Tipu Tip) thence to East Africa and the Zanj. Zanzibar being the generator/collecting point of slaves would have ensured recognition of the hilt form into Omani circles, moreover, it would have been in the right place at the right time to be accepted for the new pageantry only item...The Omani Dancing Sayf.
Nice to view the Manding in respect of influence on Omani Swords.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.