On the Origins of the so-called Berber Sabres

Jim McDougall · 11th June 2013, 06:36 AM

That was something that I noticed as well when I first got one of these 'Berber' sabres back in the early 1990s, and could not figure out why those examples shown in Spring as Ethiopian had the same type protrusions. I think that discussions some years ago also suggested that the 'thum' type extension on khanjhar scabbards and from Algerian regions some of the koummya scabbards was considered possible in influence.

Again, aside from Spring, other references on Ethiopian edged weapons do not include these type sabres, and as far as I know most of the varying shotel scabbards (excluding Spring) do not have these protrusions.

ariel · 11th June 2013, 11:47 AM

The pic I showed is not from Spring. BTW, I found my copy of Spring:-) and can photo the examples from it for general reference.
These protrusions may be infrequent on the Ethiopian scabbards, but they do exist. I know of no other examples of weapons that share such a feature. We cannot ignore it as a potential evidence of the "berber" sabres belonging to Africa rather than S. America

Jim McDougall · 11th June 2013, 06:05 PM

Thanks, I knew this example was not from Spring, and it is really an interesting anomaly as far as I can see. I had not seen swords with the S guard in this context. It would be great to have the examples from Spring shown here to illustrate what we're discussing for the readers.

I agree that these factors are pressing for a North African presence of these distinctly hilted and scabbarded sabres. Another sword discussion which may have some oblique bearing on this conundrum does recall another item in the Tirri reference which had disputed provenance, the so called 'Zanzibar sword'. This is the baselard (H shape hilt) form smallsword which was identified as a 'Zanzibar' sword in Burton (1884). I found that this exact and apparant misidentification was lifted directly from Demmin (1877) right down to the line drawing, and subsequently found that Buttin (1933) had classified these as Moroccan s'boula. In his footnotes he cites the Burton/Demmin 'error' .

What was most interesting was that Tirri had an example of one of these exact swords with Amharic inscription and I found an example of one of these among Ethiopian weapons in "Weapons of Africa" (Lindert, 1964) a small pamphlet.

These elements suggest the strong ties via trade route networking which existed transcontinentally, and pronounced presence of Moroccan weapons as far as Zanzibar, which would of course include Berber forms in cases. These networks included of course routes through Ethiopian points, and may explain the presence of s'boula in Zanzibar and Ethiopia...as well as conversely these scabbards with distinct vertical protrusion (resembling the Arab influence suggested) being in Ethiopian and Berber contexts.

I would point out as I have throught the years the interesting case of the Manding sabres which have cylindrical hilts compellingly similar to the Omani kattara, yet they occur in distant Saharan context far from Omani contact...except through possible trade presence from Zanzibar, which was of course an Omani Sultanate as well as powerful trade entrepot. Of further note is again the scabbards, which carry the flared tip characteristic of the kaskara, and revealing probable diffusion westward in these trade routes.

While these notes are concerning other sword forms, they seem pertinant to the study of these Berber sabres and thier likely origins and development, which seems to favor North African Berber regions at this point.
As I have once again brought Buttin into the discussion, it seems a bit contrary to suggest that these sabres cannot have been among Moroccan weapons as they do not appear in Buttin...while noting that the 'Zanzibar' swords are in fact Moroccan because they DO appear in his reference.

It is clear that more support is needed for those weapons' origin as well as continuing viable research on the 'Berber' sabres. As Teodor has well noted, many misperceptions have been perpetuated with the use of material from earlier references without further study and evidence. I think that is why we are here

.

ariel · 11th June 2013, 11:42 PM

Here they are: Ethiopian Gurades from Spring's book.
Do they remind us of something? :-)

ariel · 12th June 2013, 12:56 AM

I would venture to say that scabbards ( at least in this case) are more important determinants: blades traveled, scabbards were locally made and reflected local traditions.
My vote for North Africa.

TVV · 13th June 2013, 12:43 AM

The protrusion is indeed quite similar. There are other swords with scabbard protrusions, like for example Taiwanese aboriginal knives, but those scabbards tend to be wood, not leather. The tips on Ethiopian gurades bear the closest resemblance to the tips on Berber cutlasses.

I am not sure we can settle attributions by a matter of voting

. Personally, I do not even know how to vote, as I can see the following possibilities:

1. A North African sword from areas close to the Spanish colonial holdings: North Morocco or Spanish Sahara (or Spanish Guinea?). The Spanish mottos can be explained as a result of no alternative sources of blades. We know that colonial powers tried to limit access to weapons for the local population in controlled and neighboring areas, or it may simply be a matter of restricting trade to merchants and goods from the respective Metropole. If that hypothesis is true, it may explain why we see almost exclusively Spanish blades on these swords, and mostly French blades on Mandingo sabers, in areas not too far.

2. A Caribbean weapon, which combines features from the diverse demographic composition of the Spanish colonies in Central America. By the 19th century, the population in the Spanish part of Hispaniola was of mixed Spanish, African and Amerindian descent. This may explain why the inscriptions refer to this particular island, while the decoration, which varies from simple geometric patterns to complex floral designs, is so eclectic.

3. A private purchase, non-standard issue weapon of Spanish officers and/or soldiers or sailors, who saw service in various parts of the Empire.

I am sure others may come up with further possibilities. In the end, I am afraid we will need photographic evidence to resolve the mystery conclusively, assuming of course that the use of these cutlasses does not predate photography.

Regards,
Teodor

M ELEY · 13th June 2013, 05:15 AM

Excellent points, Teodor.

I, myself, wasn't trying to imply that the Berber sabers were of Brazilian or Spanish origin. It was just a question of who influenced whom. I agree that the blades don't define the piece, as all areas discussed had trade blades present. I have no doubt the scabbard on the Berbers come from that region, or at least from the African northern provinces stretching to Morocco.

The question for me remains with the hilt. We see Brazilian and Cuban swords with these distinct and fascinating shapes that are so similar to the ninchas and saifs. All the pieces discussed frequently have the same types of inlay concentric circles and wavy lines. The time periods when we start seeing Berber sabers, Brazilian cutlass and the Cuban examples with the odd hilts all seem to be post 1800. I'm just still trying to make a connection, but perhaps am seeing more than is really there?

The Brazilian cutlass hilt resemble a throw-back to the old Houndslow swords of the 17th century and look nothing like the hilts on other espada ancha. The mystery continues...

11th June 2013, 06:05 PM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,281	Thanks, I knew this example was not from Spring, and it is really an interesting anomaly as far as I can see. I had not seen swords with the S guard in this context. It would be great to have the examples from Spring shown here to illustrate what we're discussing for the readers. I agree that these factors are pressing for a North African presence of these distinctly hilted and scabbarded sabres. Another sword discussion which may have some oblique bearing on this conundrum does recall another item in the Tirri reference which had disputed provenance, the so called 'Zanzibar sword'. This is the baselard (H shape hilt) form smallsword which was identified as a 'Zanzibar' sword in Burton (1884). I found that this exact and apparant misidentification was lifted directly from Demmin (1877) right down to the line drawing, and subsequently found that Buttin (1933) had classified these as Moroccan s'boula. In his footnotes he cites the Burton/Demmin 'error' . What was most interesting was that Tirri had an example of one of these exact swords with Amharic inscription and I found an example of one of these among Ethiopian weapons in "Weapons of Africa" (Lindert, 1964) a small pamphlet. These elements suggest the strong ties via trade route networking which existed transcontinentally, and pronounced presence of Moroccan weapons as far as Zanzibar, which would of course include Berber forms in cases. These networks included of course routes through Ethiopian points, and may explain the presence of s'boula in Zanzibar and Ethiopia...as well as conversely these scabbards with distinct vertical protrusion (resembling the Arab influence suggested) being in Ethiopian and Berber contexts. I would point out as I have throught the years the interesting case of the Manding sabres which have cylindrical hilts compellingly similar to the Omani kattara, yet they occur in distant Saharan context far from Omani contact...except through possible trade presence from Zanzibar, which was of course an Omani Sultanate as well as powerful trade entrepot. Of further note is again the scabbards, which carry the flared tip characteristic of the kaskara, and revealing probable diffusion westward in these trade routes. While these notes are concerning other sword forms, they seem pertinant to the study of these Berber sabres and thier likely origins and development, which seems to favor North African Berber regions at this point. As I have once again brought Buttin into the discussion, it seems a bit contrary to suggest that these sabres cannot have been among Moroccan weapons as they do not appear in Buttin...while noting that the 'Zanzibar' swords are in fact Moroccan because they DO appear in his reference. It is clear that more support is needed for those weapons' origin as well as continuing viable research on the 'Berber' sabres. As Teodor has well noted, many misperceptions have been perpetuated with the use of material from earlier references without further study and evidence. I think that is why we are here.

11th June 2013, 11:42 PM	#4
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Here they are: Ethiopian Gurades from Spring's book. Do they remind us of something? :-) Attached Images Last edited by ariel; 12th June 2013 at 12:51 AM.

11th June 2013, 06:36 AM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,281	That was something that I noticed as well when I first got one of these 'Berber' sabres back in the early 1990s, and could not figure out why those examples shown in Spring as Ethiopian had the same type protrusions. I think that discussions some years ago also suggested that the 'thum' type extension on khanjhar scabbards and from Algerian regions some of the koummya scabbards was considered possible in influence. Again, aside from Spring, other references on Ethiopian edged weapons do not include these type sabres, and as far as I know most of the varying shotel scabbards (excluding Spring) do not have these protrusions.

11th June 2013, 11:47 AM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	The pic I showed is not from Spring. BTW, I found my copy of Spring:-) and can photo the examples from it for general reference. These protrusions may be infrequent on the Ethiopian scabbards, but they do exist. I know of no other examples of weapons that share such a feature. We cannot ignore it as a potential evidence of the "berber" sabres belonging to Africa rather than S. America

12th June 2013, 12:56 AM	#5
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I would venture to say that scabbards ( at least in this case) are more important determinants: blades traveled, scabbards were locally made and reflected local traditions. My vote for North Africa.

13th June 2013, 12:43 AM	#6
TVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,664	The protrusion is indeed quite similar. There are other swords with scabbard protrusions, like for example Taiwanese aboriginal knives, but those scabbards tend to be wood, not leather. The tips on Ethiopian gurades bear the closest resemblance to the tips on Berber cutlasses. I am not sure we can settle attributions by a matter of voting . Personally, I do not even know how to vote, as I can see the following possibilities: 1. A North African sword from areas close to the Spanish colonial holdings: North Morocco or Spanish Sahara (or Spanish Guinea?). The Spanish mottos can be explained as a result of no alternative sources of blades. We know that colonial powers tried to limit access to weapons for the local population in controlled and neighboring areas, or it may simply be a matter of restricting trade to merchants and goods from the respective Metropole. If that hypothesis is true, it may explain why we see almost exclusively Spanish blades on these swords, and mostly French blades on Mandingo sabers, in areas not too far. 2. A Caribbean weapon, which combines features from the diverse demographic composition of the Spanish colonies in Central America. By the 19th century, the population in the Spanish part of Hispaniola was of mixed Spanish, African and Amerindian descent. This may explain why the inscriptions refer to this particular island, while the decoration, which varies from simple geometric patterns to complex floral designs, is so eclectic. 3. A private purchase, non-standard issue weapon of Spanish officers and/or soldiers or sailors, who saw service in various parts of the Empire. I am sure others may come up with further possibilities. In the end, I am afraid we will need photographic evidence to resolve the mystery conclusively, assuming of course that the use of these cutlasses does not predate photography. Regards, Teodor

13th June 2013, 05:15 AM	#7
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,158	Excellent points, Teodor. I, myself, wasn't trying to imply that the Berber sabers were of Brazilian or Spanish origin. It was just a question of who influenced whom. I agree that the blades don't define the piece, as all areas discussed had trade blades present. I have no doubt the scabbard on the Berbers come from that region, or at least from the African northern provinces stretching to Morocco. The question for me remains with the hilt. We see Brazilian and Cuban swords with these distinct and fascinating shapes that are so similar to the ninchas and saifs. All the pieces discussed frequently have the same types of inlay concentric circles and wavy lines. The time periods when we start seeing Berber sabers, Brazilian cutlass and the Cuban examples with the odd hilts all seem to be post 1800. I'm just still trying to make a connection, but perhaps am seeing more than is really there? The Brazilian cutlass hilt resemble a throw-back to the old Houndslow swords of the 17th century and look nothing like the hilts on other espada ancha. The mystery continues...