Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Zanzibar, Saiid The Great and his influence on Omani swords and weapons.

Peter Hudson · 27th November 2022, 04:21 PM

Jim,
Thanks for your important reply. It may be noted that of the thousands of these sayf I never saw one that could have been classed as a fighting weapon. I saw many curved Kitara but I never saw any that I could say were a fighting sword ...Thus I have to say none of these were meant for battle.

The Omani Battle Sword known as the Sayf Yemaani was their only battle Sword and covers many hundreds of years in that role and probably predates the 12thC. My thoughts have always been to place it at the beginning of Omani Islam thus pushing the date much further and as the name implies its likely origin could have been Hadramaut Yemen and closely linked to Sword of the Prophet examples.

Although this post is not focussed on Sayf Yemaani it is vital to see how that sword was integrated into the design of the Straight Sayf Dancing Sword and how the Straight Sayf influenced the Curved Kitara....particularly in the Hilt and the award of the Terrs Shield.

While the key document is technically an unwritten Funun Tradition there are compelling museum exhibits and reference books proving the influence of Said the Great and other doctrines from The African Great Lakes. What is clear is how the ruler Said The Great was instrumental in steering the design of the Royal Omani Khanjar hilt and the parallel form of hilt onto the Omani Battle Sword. He convinced and managed the politically superb idea to unite his people with the clever invention of a pageantry sword ...The Straight Sayf ...and even ensured that the hilt form was transmitted onto the next variant which was a curved heavy backbladed item The Kitara. Sketches at library from the Zanzibar Slavery markets at that time circa 1850 depict Omani Slavers with that item and accompanied by Terrs shields.

At library are sketches and photographs of Sultan Bargash and in the 1970s Sultan Qaboos with this weapon. Moreover it was Said The Great who devised and executed the plan to use Zanzibar as his new capitol and encompass the hinterland of Africa placing treaties with local rulers and gaining exclusive trading, hunting and slavery rights throughout the region via the Zanzibar hub particularly from Bunyoro-Kitara;
The Kingdom of The Sword.

Regards,
Peter Hudson.

27th November 2022, 04:21 PM	#18
Peter Hudson Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 283	Jim, Thanks for your important reply. It may be noted that of the thousands of these sayf I never saw one that could have been classed as a fighting weapon. I saw many curved Kitara but I never saw any that I could say were a fighting sword ...Thus I have to say none of these were meant for battle. The Omani Battle Sword known as the Sayf Yemaani was their only battle Sword and covers many hundreds of years in that role and probably predates the 12thC. My thoughts have always been to place it at the beginning of Omani Islam thus pushing the date much further and as the name implies its likely origin could have been Hadramaut Yemen and closely linked to Sword of the Prophet examples. Although this post is not focussed on Sayf Yemaani it is vital to see how that sword was integrated into the design of the Straight Sayf Dancing Sword and how the Straight Sayf influenced the Curved Kitara....particularly in the Hilt and the award of the Terrs Shield. While the key document is technically an unwritten Funun Tradition there are compelling museum exhibits and reference books proving the influence of Said the Great and other doctrines from The African Great Lakes. What is clear is how the ruler Said The Great was instrumental in steering the design of the Royal Omani Khanjar hilt and the parallel form of hilt onto the Omani Battle Sword. He convinced and managed the politically superb idea to unite his people with the clever invention of a pageantry sword ...The Straight Sayf ...and even ensured that the hilt form was transmitted onto the next variant which was a curved heavy backbladed item The Kitara. Sketches at library from the Zanzibar Slavery markets at that time circa 1850 depict Omani Slavers with that item and accompanied by Terrs shields. At library are sketches and photographs of Sultan Bargash and in the 1970s Sultan Qaboos with this weapon. Moreover it was Said The Great who devised and executed the plan to use Zanzibar as his new capitol and encompass the hinterland of Africa placing treaties with local rulers and gaining exclusive trading, hunting and slavery rights throughout the region via the Zanzibar hub particularly from Bunyoro-Kitara; The Kingdom of The Sword. Regards, Peter Hudson. Last edited by Peter Hudson; 27th November 2022 at 05:50 PM.