Hi Fenris,
Interesting variant of flyssa you have there
and I find it most interesting because it appears to be a genuine fighting example, without the dress hilt covering etc. I am not sure that I would classify this or other variations that occur 'tribal' variation, more likely armorer variations.
As Emanuel has noted, there were distinct influences from outside the North African sphere that inspired the weapons there, in the case of the flyssa, in my opinion most likely the Ottoman yataghan, though considerable debate remains. There were of course distinct Caucasian influences via their presence in the Ottoman forces, and this and the presence of weapons from these regions has often come up in discussion on the forums over the years.
We are all well aware of the 'dreaded Black Sea yataghans'
...which most resemble deeply recurved flyssa blades mounted with distinctly horned hilts, and it is debated whether these were actually a North African variant of the flyssa rather than thier largely proven domicile near Black Sea regions.
These, much like the flyssa, were latecomers to the edged weapon spectrum, and the earliest examples of flyssa are thought to be from c.1820's while the Black Sea yataghans likely appeared about mid 19th c. It would seem that most flyssas of the familiar brass hilted form date from mid to the end of the 19th c. and probably ceased functionality of course with the increased use of firearms, as typical of these times.
The curved examples as shown by Kronckew, in my opinion are not a development of the flyssa, and though often termed either flyssa, nimcha or even yataghan in very loose descriptions, seem to me to have derived most likely from European naval dirks of the 19th c. These are often very nicely made, as the example shown by Kronckew, but I think are elements of costume that are found throughout Saharan regions and mostly 20th c.
Most terminology used in describing these weapons is typically misapplied as in the case of these dirk type weapons, and the terms are actually general terms that have become used colloquially by collectors for certain forms.
The term 'flyssa' is thought to be a French adaption describing the Iflisen tribe of Berbers, who are considered the origin and source of manufacture of these distinct swords. The term is applied equally to all variations in size of these weapons, which goes from full sword size to the smaller daggers.
The term nimcha, according to Elgood, is basically an Arab term meaning small sword (nim, cha or sha) and of course seems misapplied to the full size sabres of Morocco distinguished by this term (actually more often called sa'if).
I hope S.Anizi will elaborate on that, as there is likely more to this. It would seem actually that the term would be more correct for the 'dirks' that are often labeled flyssa, nimcha or yataghan
On the octagonal bolster, which is noted here, I would defer to Ham or Ariel who have more experience at handling Caucasian weapons than myself, but in this example it does seem in character with flyssas whose hilts are faceted. With reference to the octagonal section, I have often wondered if this could in some cases associate with the Islamic eight pointed star, much has been suggested in certain architectural perspective. While this may be irrelevant, particularly in discussion of a Berber weapon, it seemed worthy of note in a general sense.
Best regards,
Jim