Hi Jens,
Thank you so much for the response, and I agree with what you say about the diffusion of these weapons and thier elements, especially in India. I also very much like your notation on the decorative design of the hilt, which does recall the more ancient architectural designs that reflected more primitive fashioning of grips and hilts.
Rick,
I think that is outstanding thinking, and it would seem quite plausible as we have often noted that weapons diffusion may move in either direction between points of contact. Actually it has often been distinctly curious to me that with the obvious influences of certain Indian weapons in North Africa, and elsewhere for that matter, that the very recognizable tulwar hilt, to the best of my knowledge, is not found outside the Indian subcontinent.
While various Ottoman and Persian weapons are often found in the North African regions within the Muslim sphere, it seems that even in presentation or diplomatically inclined weapons,the tulwar hilt is not to be found.
I recall one sword I saw years ago with tulwar hilt and clearly a kaskara type blade much like this example, and was identified specifically as tulwar and with Indian provenance. I have also seen patas with these European blades as seen on kaskaras, even with much earlier blades, which seem to suggest that the movement of the blades to India, somehow did not encourage the movement of these hilts to Africa.
You have a very good point about the concentric circles presence in Berber motif also. This extremely ancient symbolism seems very well known within the perameters of folk religion and shamanism, and seem to exist in only slight variation in many cultures. I am unclear on the Berber versions though, do they appear typically on hilts, or blades, or both? It seems you have mentioned this Berber motif before, but I cant exactly recall the instance.
All best regards,
Jim
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