With regards to guards... Swords on the western side of the Sahel and into West Africa don't seem to typically have much of a large guard.
True, older takouba have sturdy box like guards, but these are still relatively narrow and certainly don't afford the hand protection of a kaskara style guard.
Perhaps with these broadswords with the cylindrical hilts, it was simply not a concern. These have always appeared to me in a way to be a natural progression from turned knife handles simply fitted with a bigger blade once those became available.
In any case, I am sure had the users felt a particular need for one there was more than enough exposure to both takouba and European swords on the coast for a native cutler to create one. The only conclusion I can draw is that the lack of a guard indicates the users were not interested in having one, or the tradition of the form was more important. After all the spear and the trade musket dominated warfare.
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