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Originally Posted by A.alnakkas
By hawkshead hilt, Ibrahim means the arabic Karabella. These are often flagged as yemeni but lately am considering that they might be omani or shared by both regions.
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Thank you, I thought thats what was meant, but wanted to be sure. The karabella form was indeed deeply favored in Arabia, but that rather distinct hilt form developed under Ottoman auspices as I understand. It is believed the term may reference the city in Iraq which may have associations to the name, as discussed in "Development of the Polish Sabre" (Jan Ostrowski). The karabela became prevalent as a parade sabre and considered the Polish national weapon after they adopted the form from sabres used by the Turks.
The hilt form seems to have likely entered the Arabian domain through the Ottoman influences as well.