Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

tom hyle · 8th June 2005, 12:19 PM

I don't think it has anything to do with a nimcha (the shape of the grip is similar, but not the construction or the guard). The bolster with flat extension is as seen on bichok (yeah, I mixed all the spellings on purpose; yeah, that's a statement), yataghan, etc. (it seems quite distinct to me from both Berbese applied bolsters and E Asian habiki, etc.), but also similar to (for instance) piha kaetta. If the handle is solid brass, rather than wood covered with brass (and it looks solid?), then that suggests more Eastern than Western; certainly not Berber, and though the Bantus cast brass hilts, I think we can all agree this is not central African. The hilt construction and pommel remind me CLOSELY of Bagobo/T'boli sword hilts. The knucklebow is of the Hindoo type, and appears to be soldered on at the back end? (I will examine the other end more closely, too....) The pinky stall seems to me like a variation on the finger-pad/subhilt seen on Tartaric hilts going back to very ancient times, and is seen all around at least the Western end of Tartar influence (N Africa, E Europe, India). Isn't this a khanda blade? The tip of a khanda blade? Very khanda-like; surely there's a relation? It does not seem like anything I'd call a varient on a salwar yataghan, although I can see where a person would see a vague resemblance to kopis. The linked salwar yataghan has a variant of some kind of military hilt based on English (I think?) military regulations, while this appears to be a more entirely native design. I dunno; the more I look at the hilt, the more it looks like it was "constructed"; soldered up out of pieces that were probably cast? Still looks like pretty heavy metal, rather than the Kabyle sheet brass? Do you own this sword?
BTW, check that nimcha with the yelman; very similar blade to those seen on certain parang nabur; trade blades..?.....There are, as I've mentioned elsewhere, two distinct types of "nimcha", Moorocan and Swahili/Yemeni, but the two are fairly similar.
I suppose of all brass bolsters this brass bolster most reminds me of those seen on straight bladed chooras?

8th June 2005, 12:19 PM	#14
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	I don't think it has anything to do with a nimcha (the shape of the grip is similar, but not the construction or the guard). The bolster with flat extension is as seen on bichok (yeah, I mixed all the spellings on purpose; yeah, that's a statement), yataghan, etc. (it seems quite distinct to me from both Berbese applied bolsters and E Asian habiki, etc.), but also similar to (for instance) piha kaetta. If the handle is solid brass, rather than wood covered with brass (and it looks solid?), then that suggests more Eastern than Western; certainly not Berber, and though the Bantus cast brass hilts, I think we can all agree this is not central African. The hilt construction and pommel remind me CLOSELY of Bagobo/T'boli sword hilts. The knucklebow is of the Hindoo type, and appears to be soldered on at the back end? (I will examine the other end more closely, too....) The pinky stall seems to me like a variation on the finger-pad/subhilt seen on Tartaric hilts going back to very ancient times, and is seen all around at least the Western end of Tartar influence (N Africa, E Europe, India). Isn't this a khanda blade? The tip of a khanda blade? Very khanda-like; surely there's a relation? It does not seem like anything I'd call a varient on a salwar yataghan, although I can see where a person would see a vague resemblance to kopis. The linked salwar yataghan has a variant of some kind of military hilt based on English (I think?) military regulations, while this appears to be a more entirely native design. I dunno; the more I look at the hilt, the more it looks like it was "constructed"; soldered up out of pieces that were probably cast? Still looks like pretty heavy metal, rather than the Kabyle sheet brass? Do you own this sword? BTW, check that nimcha with the yelman; very similar blade to those seen on certain parang nabur; trade blades..?.....There are, as I've mentioned elsewhere, two distinct types of "nimcha", Moorocan and Swahili/Yemeni, but the two are fairly similar. I suppose of all brass bolsters this brass bolster most reminds me of those seen on straight bladed chooras? Last edited by tom hyle; 8th June 2005 at 12:29 PM.