Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Iain · 12th April 2011, 08:47 AM

Chris,

As far as I know kaskara imported blades tend to be German. There are I think, a number of factors in this. The main one being that Solingen as a blade center by this point was industrialized and simply the biggest blade production center in Europe. It still accounts for 90% of all knives made in Germany even today!

I am not sure why Solingen zeroed in on takouba and kaskara blades but they seem to be the main folks in the trade. Italian blades tend to show up in nimcha and other coastal types. Wilkinson made patterns to order for Ethiopia, which were supplemented by Solingen products as well. Essentially Solingen were the big players and covered just about every market. I've often wondered if this flurry of export activity was due to a reduced need inside Europe for military pattern swords. With a large number of makers based in a single city I would imagine their production capacity far outstripped regional and national needs, so they had to look farther afield. Many period travelers note the European blades for sale in the Sahel and quite a few specifically mention German blades, not other countries.

While I'm more familiar with the takouba situation on the western side of the Sahel, generally speaking there was a massive import market for European manufactured goods such as needles and other products that the Europeans had industrialized at this point. The cost of manufacturing was so divergent between the Sahel and Europe that even when factoring in transport the European product could often essentially undercut the locally made item. This doesn't apply perhaps so much to swords but illustrates in general the trade relationship and level of integration between Europe and the Sahel.

About length, this varies as you've already seen. Some European blades are shorter, some are longer. Same with the native blades. Many of the native blades, particularly older ones, are by no means "bad" quality. They must have performed just fine at the time. They're is some resemblance to munitions grade talwars in that the large number of locally produced blades fulfilled a need among the average tribesman to own a kaskara. I would assume the imports were reserved for those with rank, money and social status.

12th April 2011, 08:47 AM	#9
Iain Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Olomouc Posts: 1,680	Chris, As far as I know kaskara imported blades tend to be German. There are I think, a number of factors in this. The main one being that Solingen as a blade center by this point was industrialized and simply the biggest blade production center in Europe. It still accounts for 90% of all knives made in Germany even today! I am not sure why Solingen zeroed in on takouba and kaskara blades but they seem to be the main folks in the trade. Italian blades tend to show up in nimcha and other coastal types. Wilkinson made patterns to order for Ethiopia, which were supplemented by Solingen products as well. Essentially Solingen were the big players and covered just about every market. I've often wondered if this flurry of export activity was due to a reduced need inside Europe for military pattern swords. With a large number of makers based in a single city I would imagine their production capacity far outstripped regional and national needs, so they had to look farther afield. Many period travelers note the European blades for sale in the Sahel and quite a few specifically mention German blades, not other countries. While I'm more familiar with the takouba situation on the western side of the Sahel, generally speaking there was a massive import market for European manufactured goods such as needles and other products that the Europeans had industrialized at this point. The cost of manufacturing was so divergent between the Sahel and Europe that even when factoring in transport the European product could often essentially undercut the locally made item. This doesn't apply perhaps so much to swords but illustrates in general the trade relationship and level of integration between Europe and the Sahel. About length, this varies as you've already seen. Some European blades are shorter, some are longer. Same with the native blades. Many of the native blades, particularly older ones, are by no means "bad" quality. They must have performed just fine at the time. They're is some resemblance to munitions grade talwars in that the large number of locally produced blades fulfilled a need among the average tribesman to own a kaskara. I would assume the imports were reserved for those with rank, money and social status.