The African Great Lakes and The Omani Empire.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Peter Hudson

Before I advance I want to place the Tughra or signature Of Said The Great as it is a mark we see on a lot of Omani Hilts of the Dancer Sayf form as above... and the Kitara. On Khanjar belts as well as Sayf Hilts and copied later onto Kitara hilts..The long Omani hilt is clearly copied onto the heavy Kitara and the Terrs Shield is handed also to it... as is an almost identical leather scabbard style. Since Oman takes virtual possession of Zanzibar and attracts many artesans from Oman so that Omani weapons are then produced at Zanzibar; the linkage is obvious. See below.
Peter Hudson.

This is really interesting Peter! and I had not thought of tughra being incorporated into scabbard designs, being more familiar with these occurring on Ottoman blades. While it is often assumed that such scabbard leatherwork designs were aesthetic here we see an actual symbolic motif.

On the scabbard of mine, most leather has disintegrated, but I am wondering if the same degree of decoration existed on the ceremonial 'dance' sayf which was produced with flexible blades for the dynamics of the dance.
Obviously, the personal status Omani sayf with European blades would have been afforded such decoration.