Jim McDougall.
Salaams,
I have found one sword in Muscat with the hilt we are all talking about. I now own that one. I believe this hilt to be from the original Long Omani Kattara and essentially the same hilt to the Omani Short Battla Sword, though stretched.
Mounted on this hilt is the Ethiopian blade probably Luckhouse and Gunther (German) Trade Blade. 19thC.
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Update;[/B]
Our hypothesis is that the two swords( The Omani Short and Long) have a similar birth date into Oman as battle swords in commemoration of the Islamic sect accepted there after 630 (630 A.D. was the date of acceptance of Islam with a slightly later date for the adoption of the Ibadi style in the region in 751 chosen by this author as an honorary date in respect of the first Immam appointed on that date.) It is possible that it transpired earlier though the date 751.A.D. is chosen to illustrate the time zone rather than a specific and precise date. Narrowing it down to the mid 8th Century is however far more accurate but takes into consideration due cause giving it good reason to exist at that time as 1. Copied from the Abbasid 2. An honorary design with an Islamic Hilt to herald in the new unique Ibadi sect of Islam to Oman.
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Tradition.(Music, Dance, Poetry)[/B]
It is argued that the FUNUN holds the key as the celebratory and folklore method of honouring the two Islamic calendar Eid celebrations annually and was performed at wedding feasts and civic and political meetings down the ages. The Funun genre of music, dance and poetry is sacresanct and integral to Ibadi Islam and within this early volume is the
Razha (Sword Dance using the Long Kattara and Buckler "Terrs" Shield)
If it can be viewed another way ? ~ In Oman music, dance, and poetry are rather like
martial arts drills sequences or :"Kata" which were the blueprint and essential identity of that skill. They never change. In Oman it was the means by which folklore and the reflection of daily lives was passed down from generation to generation. Moreover the heart and soul of this folklore system was called
The Funun containing a key element
The Razha or Sword Dances. One in particular is a celebration of Long Omani Kattara and Terrs "mimic combat". Another is key to the sword honoring Ibadi religion by celebratory parading with leaps and throwing and showing off with the weapon to the exultation of the guests and the accompanying orchestra of drums.
The seat of the Ibadi was always Nizwa as the capital of the Dhakiliyya or interior. It is from there that the founding leader of the Omanis was born, went to Iraq and returned to lead the nation against the Abbasid. From Nizwa the traditions have been handed down through the folklore system. It is still being done to this day in the time honoured way.
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Key Personalities.[/B]
Amir Ibn Al As in 630 presented a letter requesting adherence to Islam by the Omanis. Oman agreed. This important event took place at Nizwa. A short while later Oman adopted Ibadi Islam as its chosen sect. Note that Nizwa was to be the chosen seat of all the early Immams as well as the capital of the interior in peace and later in war with the Oman Coast.
The Abbasid Dynasty. The Abbasids from Iraq garrisoned in Oman and punished Omanis during the 8th and 9th Centuries for adopting Ibadi Islam as heretical. The sword used by the Abbasid Garrisons is in the Topkapi Museum Istanbul. (see my earlier text on the 11 similarities in sword design; Abbasid versus Omani Short Battle Sword)
Jabr Ibn Zayd (Originally from near Nizwa in the Oman Interior)was exiled from Iraq and returned to lead Oman against the Abbasids. He died in 711 therefor it is quite plausible that having seen the technology in Iraq he transferred the Abbasid sword for use by Omanis in the time honoured way of simply redesigning the hilts for both a short and long Kattara (The Long Omani Kattara and the Short Omani Battle Sword) and incorporated a hilt which had Islamic overtones and could prove Iconic for the Ibadi religion. The Long Omani Kattara Sword and Terrs Shield was then locked forever into Omani Folklore and tradition thus it is in the body of work called the Funun as the "Razha" sword dance.. at the inception of Ibadhi Islam.
Julanda bin Massoud; in 751 AD, It is plausible that he, as the first Immam completed the cycle of events as first Immam of the new Ibadi sect in Oman and took the fight to the Abbasid invaders. He was killed in battle only a year or so after that and it was not until 811 AD that a period of relative stability occured with another early Immam Warth bin Kaab.
Nizwa; The seat of the Ibadi was always Nizwa as the capital of the Dhakiliyya or interior. It is from there that the founding leader of the Omanis was born, went to Iraq and returned to lead the nation against the Abbasid. From Nizwa the traditions have been handed down through the folklore system. It is still being done to this day in the time honoured way.
The seat of the Ibadi sect remained in Nizwa and later when Oman was at war with itself, key to sword distribution around neighboring countries. Trade was vital to a segment of the country generally cut off from the Indian Ocean and Nizwa Capital of this "country within a country" turned to the camel train as its lifeline. It is likely that what is now Saudi Arabia but was then a segmented multi tribal feifdome hosted much of this trade though access north was also likely to Gulf nations and south to Yemen and Africa. Once the Long Kattara was exported it would have frozen, thus, what we see pictured here is, I believe, the original Omani Long Kattara "Hilt" rejigged in the last 150 years or so with a German trade blade originally destined for Ethiopia and likely used there and later hilt switched etc arriving in the last 20 years into Muscat. Virtually full circle.
Essentially and in conclusion therefore; these are
8th Century A.D. original, Omani Battle Swords; A pair of weapons with hilts redesigned to herald in the new Islamic Ibadi sect and in the case of The Long Kattara and Terrs entering Omans Folklore, whilst the Short Omani Battle Sword was equally Iconic but used in close quarter battle like the Roman Gladius though probably with a bigger shield as yet not pinpointed. Through being used as a favourite in the procession and dance of Omani folklore the long probably superceded the short through the centuries.
The Long Kattara hilt evolved into a conical flat arrangement over the new "blade tang and pommel" construction whereas the old exported version froze in design but equally evolved in different directions being matched with long african/european trade blades viewable in the souk in Riyadh and Muscat(now with me) plus in a military museum in Yemen.
As a side related issue both the Omani Long Kattara and the Omani Short Battle Sword appear in drawings and photographs up to and beyond the 1890s worn by various Omani dignatories in and around Zanzibar and Oman (as well as the long curved Sayf on a Kattara hilt and Persian Shamshir and other Zanzibari and Omani weapons ie The Khanjar in the role of Iconic badge of Office in the region.) Ingram the English Visier at the Zanzibar court was, however, correct when he described the Razha as an Omani Dance and it is from that single line in his early 20th Century diary that this work transpires; pushing back the envelope to the 8th Century.
Without motive it was not logical to leave these weapons floundering between the 10th and in some cases the 17th or 18th century. Neither was it correct to assume African, Zanzibari, Portuguese, Indian or other birthright without due diligence. I believe we have corrected those mistakes.
Regards,
Ibrahiim Al Balooshi.
Below I present the swords photographed together with on the left two Short Omani Battle Swords then the old long original Kattara Hilt with a trade blade, then the Kattara with its more well known hilt;