kaskara terminology

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Outstanding Iain!!!and you've as always really taken it by the horns!
I have asked this question about the kaskara term for so many years now I cant recall exactly when it started. I was astonished when absolutely none of the authorities or authors who had written on African weapons had any idea where the term came from. All I knew for certain was that individuals I had talked with from Sudan, Eritrea and from varied tribal groups over several years and none ever heard the word kaskara.
In discussions on these pages I cannot recall this ever being addressed, and the search continued.

Now that I see the etymology outside the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan it does make sense and certainly Burton was aware of the Barth material. His 'Book of the Sword' carries considerable material from other authors, and it makes sense that the use of the term found in Barth did not warrant particular attention as he presumed it to be apparantly widely used throughout these regions.
Very good notes on the probable diffusion of the form, and one young man I spoke with over a period of time was a Fur, and talked about the importance of the sword, which he called a sa'if...also never having heard the word kaskara. He seemed well connected there and talked about the use of crocodile hide and lizard skin in the mounts, as well as the use of the spears etc. However, as he explained, he was far more familiar with the AK47.

Well noted Michael...in Ethiopia these terms are confusingly interchanged though the gurade seems more aligned with the traditional European style sabres, and shotel seems more to the deeply parabolic early types and the shallow curve sabre types...however both were used by tribal warriors well into the 20th century even to WWII. Wilkinson furnished these to Haile Selassie in the 30s. The European hilt gurades seem of course to the military units and auxiliaries. I have not found any established knowledge of the shotel term either outside collectors terms.

All the best,
Jim

Salaams Jim and thanks to Iain and Michael for their very interesting input into the problem of nomenclature and classification locally and internationally of such sword terms. I had a parallel problem with Omani Swords though I think we are now nearer the strict truth now on the straight Sayf and the curved Kattara. Locally no one appears to use the terminology Shamshir as it is curved so comes under the umbrella of Kattara. Sayf appears to be an old Arabic word (meaning Sword) thus predating the 18 and 19th C whereas the word Kattara seems to have washed into dialect with the new long curved single edged weapon apparently in the 18/19C. Very interesting discussion ~Shukran ! Ibrahiim al Balooshi

[Jeff D]

Excellent work Iain!

Jeff.

[Iain]

Thank you all for the kind comments.

Jim,

Interesting your acquaintance from Darfur was also using Arabic term 'saif'. While I have found differing, not Arabic terms in the regions languages, personally I think the influence of Arabic, particularly on the upper classes, cannot be overstated. For one thing, those who were literate would likely have achieved this via religious studies and would have had to learn or at least memorize large amounts of the Koran (In Arabic of course).

There were in fact relatively few European explorers who passed through these regions - Denham and Clapperton, Barth, Nachtigal... I am sure Burton was familiar with all of their writings. The real question for me, is how he arrived at labeling that particular sword type as a kaskara, as far as I can tell from reading all the accounts of Denham etc. none of them specifically associated the Sudanese saif with the term kaskara. Although I finally found the reference in Barth for tying the term to Bagirmi - it is as I expected a simple case of Kanuri influence in the region as he notes many Kanuri terms for arms and armour are find in the region and also used by the various pagan peoples.

This is why I lean heavily towards some British officer or soldier in the field having picked it up from a tribesman who joined the Mahdist forces and journeyed north to fight.

Michael,

I don't know much about Ethiopia, but I think most areas of ethnographic arms study can face this issue. Often I think modern peoples in these areas are perhaps not familiar with some of the terminology due to a lack of modern usage of the words?

Another issue can be that Ethiopia has a great many people and linguistic groups?

I find this area of study both fascinating and frustrating.

Ibrahiim,

Interesting that the term kattara seems newer. Is it an Arabic word in origin?

Jeff,

Thanks! I'd hoped it would be interesting to folks like you who've spent a lot more time delving into kaskara than I have.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Iain

Thank you all for the kind comments.

Jim,

Interesting your acquaintance from Darfur was also using Arabic term 'saif'. While I have found differing, not Arabic terms in the regions languages, personally I think the influence of Arabic, particularly on the upper classes, cannot be overstated. For one thing, those who were literate would likely have achieved this via religious studies and would have had to learn or at least memorize large amounts of the Koran (In Arabic of course).

There were in fact relatively few European explorers who passed through these regions - Denham and Clapperton, Barth, Nachtigal... I am sure Burton was familiar with all of their writings. The real question for me, is how he arrived at labeling that particular sword type as a kaskara, as far as I can tell from reading all the accounts of Denham etc. none of them specifically associated the Sudanese saif with the term kaskara. Although I finally found the reference in Barth for tying the term to Bagirmi - it is as I expected a simple case of Kanuri influence in the region as he notes many Kanuri terms for arms and armour are find in the region and also used by the various pagan peoples.

This is why I lean heavily towards some British officer or soldier in the field having picked it up from a tribesman who joined the Mahdist forces and journeyed north to fight.

Michael,

I don't know much about Ethiopia, but I think most areas of ethnographic arms study can face this issue. Often I think modern peoples in these areas are perhaps not familiar with some of the terminology due to a lack of modern usage of the words?

Another issue can be that Ethiopia has a great many people and linguistic groups?

I find this area of study both fascinating and frustrating.

Ibrahiim,

Interesting that the term kattara seems newer. Is it an Arabic word in origin?

Jeff,

Thanks! I'd hoped it would be interesting to folks like you who've spent a lot more time delving into kaskara than I have.

Salaams Iain,
Kattara. It appears to be a word that came with a sword ... ie the single edged curved sword on a long Omani hilt...sometime in the last 200/300 years ! and any curved derivative including Shamshir. The Craft Herritage of Oman confirms this. It not being an Arabic word has certainly contributed to the confusion. It is noted that Kaskara has caused an equally frustrating search for how it got named made worse by the myriad of different dialects and languages in its operating area. It may never be fully explained

Regards
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Iain]

Hi Ibrahiim,

Well, I think and hope that the term kaskara is now pretty clear.

To take this thread a little offtopic (we can continue on a kattara thread) have you looked into the very old Indian term from the Dravidian language family - "katara"?

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Iain

Hi Ibrahiim,

Well, I think and hope that the term kaskara is now pretty clear.

To take this thread a little offtopic (we can continue on a kattara thread) have you looked into the very old Indian term from the Dravidian language family - "katara"?

Salaams Iain ! No I never heard of it but I'm on it now. Do you have any details of a linkage?..Ibrahiim.

Afternote.. ah I see what you mean .. The Push Dagger of India. It apparently did give rise to the Pata sword though there is no evidence it has any bearing on the big curved Omani derivative that was carried by famous slave traders on the African Coast though the curved Shamshir is also called Kattara in Oman. It appears to have been coined for any curved blade. I assume therefor that it refers to any curved blade here. For Oman therefor:
Kattara = Curved . Saif = Straight.