Ethiopian Shotel or Gurade to share

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by werecow

Were both blades used in the region? I also have a gurade with a 1796 profile blade (I can post pics if anyone is interested). FWIW the distal taper on the gurade is significantly more gradual than the blade on my JJ Runkel 1796, and it is not as thick at the base. I've been given to understand that the M1811 were often more forward weighted than the 1796 so I've always just kind of assumed that it's a Blucher blade. But I don't know how much variation there was in either the 1796 or the Blucher so maybe it's meaningless.

Definitely pictures help.
This is a tough one as while the British 1796 was effectively replaced by the M1821 saber with a cut and thrust blade with 'spear point' instead of the radiused hatchet point....it continued in some production later for native cavalry in India.

The German M1811 is similar to the British 1796, but the earlier, the 'beefier' is the general axiom. These also were produced in great number and actually even used up to WWII.

The thing is, both England and German suppliers were sending both gurade and shotel blades to then Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in in latter 19th into 1930s.

The thing is, whether early British or German examples might have ended up in Ethiopia. For the most part, it seems unlikely as most of the emphasis for blades was for broadsword (kaskara) type blades, however later in the 19th century into 30s blades for gurades and shotels became popular as the colonial struggles continued with Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

The factor involving other sources for blades into North Africa in some degree is India, and trade action always provided potential for incidental numbers of blades that may have come from there. For the most part these I would regard as anomalies, but the later influx of British and German blades of course are a bit more recognizable.