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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
Charles Buttin in "Les Poignards et les Sabres Morocains' (Hesperis, XXVI:1, 1939) compared the pommels of these to those of the 15th century cinquedea, however it does not seem there is any supportable evidence of linear chronology showing any connection between cinquedea and these relatively modern daggers.
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Well, in fairness to Mr. Buttin, the similarity in pommel style to the 16th century cinquedea is quite strong. It appears that traditional Moroccan arms formed for the most part in the 16th-17th century during the Saadi dynasty, which successfully defended against foreign invasions from power as daunting as the Ottomans, Portugal and Spain and achieved great territorial expansion all the way to the Sahel, even if temporarily. The various Moroccan muskets and black powder accessories, such as powder flasks seem to have formed in that era based on muskets of Dutch and English design, which the Dutch and the English exported to the Moroccans as allies against the Habsburgs (Elgood, "Firearms of the Islamic World"). The Moroccan saif, or nimcha, as it is generally known among collectors also starts to appear in the 16th and 17th century, based on the earliest known examples we have. The sboula could have its hilt design origins in the Baselard, and straight bladed Moroccan daggers called "genoui" have a name that recalls a Genoese connection, and Genoa of course reached the apex of its power and importance during the 16th century. It is not that hard then to imagine that the koummaya would be formed during this period too, probably as a result of Ottoman influence in the blade design and Southern European influence in the hilt style.
Alternatively, one can look for origins in the ear daggers of Al Andalus, but those are slightly earlier (14th-16th centuries), and the hilt construction is different. The cinquedea on the other hand, especially when it comes to the distinct pommel cap one also finds on koummaya is too perfect a match to dismiss any connection. From what I recall from Buttin's plate on Morocco he dates some of the examples he shows to the 17th and 18th century, though of course such dating is hard to confirm, but the form almost certainly predates the 19th century.