Outstanding Iain!!!and you've as always really taken it by the horns!
I have asked this question about the kaskara term for so many years now I cant recall exactly when it started. I was astonished when absolutely none of the authorities or authors who had written on African weapons had any idea where the term came from. All I knew for certain was that individuals I had talked with from Sudan, Eritrea and from varied tribal groups over several years and none ever heard the word kaskara.
In discussions on these pages I cannot recall this ever being addressed, and the search continued.
Now that I see the etymology outside the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan it does make sense and certainly Burton was aware of the Barth material. His 'Book of the Sword' carries considerable material from other authors, and it makes sense that the use of the term found in Barth did not warrant particular attention as he presumed it to be apparantly widely used throughout these regions.
Very good notes on the probable diffusion of the form, and one young man I spoke with over a period of time was a Fur, and talked about the importance of the sword, which he called a sa'if...also never having heard the word kaskara. He seemed well connected there and talked about the use of crocodile hide and lizard skin in the mounts, as well as the use of the spears etc. However, as he explained, he was far more familiar with the AK47.
Well noted Michael...in Ethiopia these terms are confusingly interchanged though the gurade seems more aligned with the traditional European style sabres, and shotel seems more to the deeply parabolic early types and the shallow curve sabre types...however both were used by tribal warriors well into the 20th century even to WWII. Wilkinson furnished these to Haile Selassie in the 30s. The European hilt gurades seem of course to the military units and auxiliaries. I have not found any established knowledge of the shotel term either outside collectors terms.
All the best,
Jim
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