One of my first kaskaras was obtained in about 1975, and the blade was completely covered in acid etched 'thuluth' script. This began a fasciation with the weapons of the Sudan which for me continues to this day. In those years I discovered that along with kaskara blades, there were many forms of arms decorated with this broad calligraphy, and all were attributed to the Mahdist Sudan.
In the reference from which pages are illustrated (A.D.H.Bivar, "Nigerian Panoply" 1964) the author discusses the sword illustrated in the previous post, the "Sword of Bayajidda', and notes the perplexing inscriptions on the blade. He notes that it is "...of a group of weapons which seem to originate in the Nilotic Sudan. It does not seem possible to locate the workshop more precisely, but all are likely to predate the rise of Khartoum and Omdurman in the 19th century".
Bivar also notes that of this group of weapons that at least two are documented as being from the Sudan, one from Khartoum found among 'Dervish' weapons after the campaigns, and that the script in the inscriptions on the Sudanese weapons compares identically to that on the Sword of Bayajidda.
The use of the 'thuluth' type calligraphy by the Mamluks is well known, and that it was imitated by workmen on weapons in the Sudan, and reflected certain errors with a degree of consistancy. It is proposed that these were the result of that imitation of the styles copied from Mamluk examples, and became popularly added to weapons in Sudanese regions earlier in the 19th century.
Returning to the 'thuluth' calligraphy on the kaskara, in Briggs, the example of kaskara he illustrates and captions as 'Hausa' the thuluth calligraphy covers the blade. It should be noted that while Hausa tribes (also often armourers) were from Nigeria, their habitats extended also as far as Chad and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (to differentiate from Nigeria and regions often termed the Western Sudan).
In the time I have studied Sudanese and African weapons, the only thuluth covered examples have all been attributed to the Sudan, and though Mahdist period was presumed, naturally as shown, they could well have predated it.
The only other thuluth covered example I have seen from elsewhere is the Sword of Bayidda previously illustrated, and as noted, it is presumed to have originated in the Nilotic Sudan.
I have seen many examples of haladie, typically with horn or ivory grips, and virually every example has had the blades covered in thuluth, and all were from the Sudan. I have seen many examples of thuluth covered kaskara and dagger blades covered in thuluth, all from the Sudan.
I have actually never seen a haladie from any other region in Africa except the Sudan, though I would not be surprised to see examples from Mamluk Egypt.
The trade routes moving westward may very well have taken blades and weapons through Chad and into Nigeria from the Sudan, but it is my understanding that the scripts used there would have been different, probably of Maghribi or other style. It has always been curious to me that the use of the kaskara never really reached westward into Nigeria and West Africa, and there its broadsword cousin, the takouba, reigned. The Fulani of course used the takouba, along with the Tuareg, and as far as I know, these blades were never inscribed in this manner.
As I have noted, this has been a keen area of interest for me for many years, and Im glad to have the opportunity to discuss my perception on these fascinating weapons. I agree very much, it is not at all unreasonable to question attributing weapons to a particular region, and these are the factors considered in my thoughts on them. I would appreciate those of others as well, and always look forward to new perspective.
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