Baggara spear "shalazieh"

[Iain]

Originally Posted by colin henshaw

Hi Iain

Thanks for your comments and the excellent photos. Glad you like the piece. The third image of the man on ox back is particularly striking.

Reading up on the late 19th century Mahdist period and the various military encounters with the Anglo-Egyptian forces, it seems the Mahdists also employed large units of foot soldiers armed solely with these long spears and perhaps a sword. Presumably the idea was to simply overwhelm the opposition with a charging wall of steel, as in European mediaeval times ?

Makes me think a little of the Scottish "schiltrons" and their very long spears...

Looking forward to further comments on this topic.

Regards.

While I'm more familiar with the western Sudan as you know, I imagine the tactics were similar. Heavy spear men functioned a bit like European pike men, being ideally suited to countering cavalry charges.

Smaldone's "Warfare in the Sokoto Caliphate" has a nice in-depth chapter on the typical tactics in use.

Of course as reliable repeating firearms became available, they became a defunct force tactically. But they seem to have coexisted at least in the western Sahel along with muskets for quite a while.

[Edster]

Iain,

Great photo documentation of the Baggara spearmen.

Colin,

See attached photos. As I was oiling the blade I made a tactile discovery. As I rubbed my finger from the center ridge toward the edge the surface seemed to have a slight cup to it and raised to the "bevel" edge at the top of the second photo. The lower surface seemed flat, no bevel. When I turned the blade over and did the same finger rub to the other face, the edge that was flat on one side had a cupping and raised edge on the other. Thus, it seemed that they were able to create a raised edge for beveling on each side of the blade, but on opposite faces. Also, the surface looked like some bluing had remained.

The first photo of the edge looks thicker at where the blade meets the haft. Also, the blade surface is very smooth with no hint of a forger' s hammer.

These observations suggest to me that this spear may have been cut and formed by a mechanical die and the haft cold formed to accept the shaft. The Kalifa had armories in Omdurmun. Could it be that they were cranking out spear heads by the hundreds? The Kalifa's house museum displays a wind-up spring powered carriage. Could his forces possessed a greater technological sophistication than previously considered?

Regards,
Ed

[Iain]

Interesting thoughts Ed, just a quick suggestion, couldn't the lack of hammer work be down to the polishing/grinding typically done? This is the case on some spears I have/had.