Zanzibar, Saiid The Great and his influence on Omani swords and weapons.

Jim McDougall · 12th November 2022, 03:02 AM

Thank you very much for noting that research of some years ago where in the voluminous text characteristic of Burton, I happened upon this remarkable comparison. I found other corroboration for the 'kitara' sword and the term which seemed compellingly to fit with the Omani term 'kattara' for their swords.

As can be seen on concurrent threads, there is often a great deal of concern and debate on the proper terms used to describe certain ethnographic sword forms, currently those of India.

In the case of the Sudanese 'kaskara' I began trying to find the origin and application of that term for their familiar broadswords. Over years, I had no success and virtually nobody I reached out to had any idea where the term came from. Further, it seems there is virtually no awareness of the term with the people of the Sudan, their term for these simply, sa'if.

I had however found that the earliest use of the term was by Burton (1884) in his "Book of the Sword", but he made so specific mention of the origin of the term, but just used it to describe the sword.

It was not until Iain Norman, years later in his research on North African tribes found that this was a Baghirmi term, and the Burton use of it seems to have somehow influenced writers to apply it accordingly.

This seems to be a familiar circumstance at how certain terms for certain ethnographic forms which become commonly used in 'collectors parlance' .

12th November 2022, 03:02 AM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,194	Thank you very much for noting that research of some years ago where in the voluminous text characteristic of Burton, I happened upon this remarkable comparison. I found other corroboration for the 'kitara' sword and the term which seemed compellingly to fit with the Omani term 'kattara' for their swords. As can be seen on concurrent threads, there is often a great deal of concern and debate on the proper terms used to describe certain ethnographic sword forms, currently those of India. In the case of the Sudanese 'kaskara' I began trying to find the origin and application of that term for their familiar broadswords. Over years, I had no success and virtually nobody I reached out to had any idea where the term came from. Further, it seems there is virtually no awareness of the term with the people of the Sudan, their term for these simply, sa'if. I had however found that the earliest use of the term was by Burton (1884) in his "Book of the Sword", but he made so specific mention of the origin of the term, but just used it to describe the sword. It was not until Iain Norman, years later in his research on North African tribes found that this was a Baghirmi term, and the Burton use of it seems to have somehow influenced writers to apply it accordingly. This seems to be a familiar circumstance at how certain terms for certain ethnographic forms which become commonly used in 'collectors parlance' .