Here are some pictures of people wearing Zanzibar nimchas that we can look at, taken straight from the period photos thread.
The first one is a eunuch in Zanzibar, taken in 1931 - a little late, but interesting to see him wear a type III nimcha.
The second one is of a Swahili man called Bwana Heri and his sons. Since it has a label in German, we know it was taken somewhere in Tanganyika between 1885 and WWI. He has a type III nimcha and an Omani dagger, while his sons have no swords and just the newer, Saidi daggers.
The last one is of Sultan Said Ali ben Said Omar of Anjouan Island in the Comoros. He ruled at the end of the 19th century, over all the Comoros just as the French colonized and annexed the islands. While he has a shamshir of the Omani type, the person seated to his left as well as the two men seated to his right wear nimchas. Two of them are type III, while the gentleman seated on the far right has a type I (we can clearly see the ring). While the Comoros were never formally part of the Omani Empire, the men wear Omani Saidi daggers, showing the strong Oman influence on dress and weapons. What are these men and how are they related to the Sultan I do not know - maybe senior bodyguards or some officials.
In Hales the nimchas are worn by the grand vizier's bodyguards. Overall, it would appear that these swords were either worn by the bodyguards of very important people or by older, more senior individuals. All the 4 pictures we have (I am counting the photograph in Hales on p. 237) are taken in Africa, one in Zanzibar, one somewhere in Tanganyika along the coast and 2 in the Comoros. None in Oman itself, so I am not even sure if this sword type was popular in Oman at all.
Teo
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