Unsure of Kasakara's age

[Pertinax]

I received Kaskara, I did not create a new topic because I think it is also from Kassala. The blade is very badly corroded, I had to use chemicals to clean it. I will be glad if Edster joins in and gives more detailed information.

Overall length: 1025 mm, blade length: 900 mm, weight: 960 g

Best regards,
Yuri

[Edster]

Yuri,

I agree with your Kassala attribution. I know nothing re the maker's mark. Note the Beja/Hadendawa tassel below the pommel.

The cross guard shows what are likely incomplete forge welds on the bottom as well as the end of one of the cross pieces. Check to see if the bottom langets look to be bent to shape instead of welded in place. If the above are the case then the cross guard was bent to shape from a flat piece as I noted in the Cross Guard essay and was "invented" c. 1945 in Kassala. Thus, your kaskara took its current form post 1945. I collected one very much like it when I was there in the mid-80s. It's foto is in the essay and shows a noted incomplete cross guard forge weld.

Best regards,
Ed

[Jim McDougall]

What intrigues me the most on the kaskara, among many things of course, is how the traditions that became focused on these swords in their ersatz development in the mid 19th c. became so firmly emplaced in the 20th century from the form as it evolved during the Mahdiyya.

The familiar 'dukari' (dual crescent moons) seem to be native interpretations of the well known crescent moon seen in the cosmology of European blade motif of the 18th century. These kinds of astral symbols were of course well known in other cultural contexts, which included native folk religions, so they were easily absorbed in those in Saharan regions.
The native interpretation (Rodd, 1928) was 'magic' which was imbued into the blade. In the European sense these perceptions were 'quality', while to the native population it meant power, warrior strength.

As Briggs (1965) said, as far as he had known, no cases of these dual moons were of European origin, and if blades were imported, they were placed accordingly cold stamped by native artisans.

As stamps wore through and were broken from use, they degenerated and much as with coins having faulted imprints from degraded dies, often more recent examples of these 'dukari' can be identified in this way.
It appears that in more modern times, as well illustrated in Ed's research, as well as in some of Briggs et al, the character of these 'moons' became altered into stylized geometrics in like configuration and became essentially makers marks, as Ed discovered.

These two kaskara are of Mahdiyya era ,
The first, in acid etched thuluth script, with 'dukari' and brass guard, as found in these types of weapons produced at Omdurman post Khartoum. Many other weapon forms were also acid etched in this manner, and taken from the field at the battle site.

The next is an entirely crocodile covered kaskara, with the foot as hilt, clearly not conducive to combat use, but in my opinion likely to chieftains or holy men as more symbolic. The crocodile as I have been told was revered and feared, and while many have scoffed at these as 'souvenir', most evidence I have found shows this was not necessarily the case.
Note the cosmological motif on the blade.

[Edster]

Jim,

Here's a 2015 thread that noted half-moons on European swords back at least to the mid-18th C. The styles and details are varied enough for them to be wide spread.

Also, Post #4 has blade engravings much like those on your crock sword.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19794

Best,
Ed

[Pertinax]

Originally Posted by Edster

Yuri,

I agree with your Kassala attribution. I know nothing re the maker's mark. Note the Beja/Hadendawa tassel below the pommel.

The cross guard shows what are likely incomplete forge welds on the bottom as well as the end of one of the cross pieces. Check to see if the bottom langets look to be bent to shape instead of welded in place. If the above are the case then the cross guard was bent to shape from a flat piece as I noted in the Cross Guard essay and was "invented" c. 1945 in Kassala. Thus, your kaskara took its current form post 1945. I collected one very much like it when I was there in the mid-80s. It's foto is in the essay and shows a noted incomplete cross guard forge weld.

Best regards,
Ed

Many thanks to Edster.

You are absolutely right, here is a photo of the crosspiece.

Respectfully,
Yuri

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks Ed, I remember that discussion, and I was trying to find out if there was any instance of paired moons used in European context. As seen, there were a few cases, very few, but did not seem a ubiquitous enough convention that it would directly influence the spectrum of placement on North African blades.

[Marc M.]

Interesting, my last kaskara, fairly standard, with a good blade, quite flexible and almost identical to the sword of the o.p. Based on the markings, it seems to me to be from the same smith and the same period. Thanks to Ed's research, the African craftsmen who often remain anonymous sometimes get a name and a face. Thanks also to Yuri, who has brought this old post back to life. I am posting this sword here for the same reason: it is not a particularly exceptional sword, but it is a silent witness, recently made in an age-old tradition, which is always fascinating.

Regards,
Marc

[Edster]

Marc,

Thanks for posting another of Awad Adam's excellent swords. Note the tapered blade hand made entirely by eye and exact forge strikes. The quality appears as good or better than any munitions grade made in Solingen in the 19th C. This is why it's often difficult to tell between "local" and "imported" blades. I guess most Mahdiya Era swords were made with imported blades and those in the 20th C. were made with locally made blades. Also, the about 1960s or so the Kassala swords began to be exported country-wide so they were widely distributed. I'm sure that almost everyone outside of the bigger city was armed with a sword for protection and/or culture even to the 1980s when I was there.

Here's a video of a sword trader lamenting the decline in sword interest/use, 8 years ago. (skip the dog part as it precedes the Kaskara part)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKGAb6XUKAc

Sword smith at work 7 years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiwvGpbYhms

Best,
Ed

[Jim McDougall]

Ed,
A question on the crossguards with the notable 'X' at the center junction. I had always thought these were 'Darfur' from Reed (1987). What are the particulars on this feature?
Also, was there a period post Mahdiyya (or before) when Solingen sent already forged guards to Sudanese areas?

All the best
Jim