Kubur,
I believe the flyssa started as a local copy/interpretation of the yataghan. The ruling elite in Algeria was descendant from janissaries, stationed there, and the Ottoman influence in arms and fashion must have been quite significant. Elgood in the Arms of Greece mentions that there was a production of yatghans and pistols in the Western Balkans meant for export to the Maghreb. In fact, it is very possible that the typical North African yataghans with the small years are all Balkan made.
In other threads I have seen the claim that it was a matter of prestige for a young man in Algeria in the 19th century to possess a yataghan, but I am not sure of the source right now. It makes a lot of sense though - a yataghan would be the mark of someone, claiming descent from the janissary military and ruling elite. However, the yataghans imported from the Balkans were expensive, and their decoration and its symbolical meaning foreign to the locals, especially to the Kabyles. We see a lot of flyssas resembling yatghans in blade shape, so the theory would be that the Kabyles were looking for a cheaper locally produced version of the yatghan, to which they added their own symbolical decorative motives, such as zig-zag lines, etc.
Why the form then evolved into the long version, which seems horrendously balanced and basically not really good for any kind of fencing, I do not know. Jim may be right that it was just for adornment or maybe the long versions had some ceremonial meaning, but the earlier, shorter versions that are closer to yataghans were probably quite effective as a close quarters sidearm.
Teodor
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