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Originally Posted by blue lander
Dang, they tried to deliver the package today but I wasn't here to sign for it. Oh well, I'll get it Monday. That should give me some time to absorb some more of this thread.
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Salaams blue lander... Absorb this!
I would like to look at Nimcha.
As always I urge reference in the direction of Forum Library first. Comparison Moroccan and Zanzibari is at
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...zANZIBAR+SWORD
There is a great picture of a similar hilt on the sword of Tobias Blose a Captain in the Great Bands of London in the famous book by the late Antony North (Islamic Arms and Armour). Interestingly this sword plus a variation in the hilt guard etc. surfaced in Zanzibar...with the design addition of a hilt
d ring and other variants appeared in the Red Sea regions...It seems plausible that design influence may have played its part in the construction of the Sri Lankan Kastane.
Spanish involvement in the design flow across the Med seems certain as
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=hilts seems to indicate ...
Since Spain was largely involved in the South America discoveries (what I mean is that a Papal act assured Spain of its rights in that region whilst doing the same for Portugal in the Indian Ocean) there are also styles of sword there with obvious linkages. It seems inevitable that a certain amount of dizziness will become apparent as sword transition from the Med influences far eastern designs across the Pacific from the Americas...
The pictures below;
THE PORTRAIT PICTURE; ...Portrait of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun, ambassador to England from the King of Barbary (Morocco), unknown artist, England, c. 1600. Oil on panel.
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Detail below suggests the link between the swords appearing on the waist of English officers and nobles in that period see Tobias Blose note.)
From Wikepedia; Quote.
"Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, Moorish ambassador of the Barbary States to the Court of Queen Elizabeth I in 1600.
Following the sailing of The Lion of Thomas Wyndham in 1551, and the 1585 establishment of the English Barbary Company, trade developed between England and the Barbary states, and especially Morocco. Diplomatic relations and an alliance were established between Elizabeth and the Barbary states. England entered in a trading relationship with Morocco detrimental to Spain, selling armour, ammunition, timber, metal in exchange for Moroccan sugar, in spite of a Papal ban, prompting the Papal Nuncio in Spain to say of Elizabeth: "there is no evil that is not devised by that woman, who, it is perfectly plain, succoured Mulocco (Abd-el-Malek) with arms, and especially with artillery".
In 1600,
Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, the principal secretary to the Moroccan ruler Mulai Ahmad al-Mansur, visited England as an ambassador to the court of Queen Elizabeth I.
Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud spent 6 months at the court of Elizabeth, in order to negotiate an alliance against Spain. The Moroccan ruler wanted the help of an English fleet to invade Spain, Elizabeth refused, but welcomed the embassy as a sign of insurance, and instead accepted to establish commercial agreements. Queen Elizabeth and king Ahmad continued to discuss various plans for combined military operations, with Elizabeth requesting a payment of 100,000 pounds in advance to king Ahmad for the supply of a fleet, and Ahmad asking for a tall ship to be sent to get the money. Elizabeth "agreed to sell munitions supplies to Morocco, and she and Mulai Ahmad al-Mansur talked on and off about mounting a joint operation against the Spanish". Discussions however remained inconclusive, and both rulers died within two years of the embassy." Unquote.
Two triple photos of the same swords from library.
Golden Kastane set with Gems and scabbard.
The Omani Zanzibari Nimcha worn as a badge of office thus for comfort perhaps? no D ring but with dragons head quillons (the more practical fighting version sometimes having quillons that support a
d ring)
Buttins famous page included.
The gentleman in sandy yellow robes wearing a Moroccan sword ...
Wearing blue robes~ Portrait of Mohammed ben Ali Abghali by Enoch Seeman
Inscribed: Portrait of his Excellency Admiral Hadge Abdulcader Perez, Ambassador from the Emperor of Morocco to the Court of St. James November 1723 – September 1724 and again July 1737 – July 1741
Circa 1740.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.