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

grendolino · 24th November 2022, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Hudson

Dear JIM,

I admit I may have been confused as I havent recognised the picture of the guard from any of the references by kronckew even though they refer to my much earlier threads ...The problem is I think this is a late picture and may show not an Ivory hilt on the Khanjar but a white plastic hilt....thus the confusion to some degree... However the age of the picture can be ignored as the sword type is Sayf and although it looks warlike and has two sharp edges it is a pageantry item only. The date is irrelevant since dancing swords are part of the time honoured Funun which is everlasting as the traditions are passed down from father to son in Oman. Palace and Fort guards were issued dancing swords with which they could herald the ruler should he visit...as well as enacting the Razha dance and mimic sword fight contest. It should be remembered that the Terrs was inherrited to accompany the Sayf and added to
the curved Kitara.
It is remarkable how many parts of the swords were designed into these three items down the centuries as well as the use of a redesigned Royal Khanjar hilt adorning the Royal Khanjar and a very similar hilt fashioned for the ancient Sayf Yemaani.

Regards,
Peter Hudson.

I have one such dancing sword. First it is marked with Passau Wolf, (likely forged, but anyway it was forged to mark the combat excellence of the weapon). Second, it is the arm of gunpowder era, so auxilliary and symbolic at least. Third mine iz razor sharp what wouldnt be needed for dancing. Fourth - the main enemy it was used for was the naked man from Equatorial Africa. I wouldn not be pleased to be treated with it on my bare back...Anyway - when I see it I dont think of fancy dancing but of proud any European feel bearing smallsword, which in 19th century was not for battle or even duel but not for dancing also.

Peter Hudson · 24th November 2022, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grendolino

I have one such dancing sword. First it is marked with Passau Wolf, (likely forged, but anyway it was forged to mark the combat excellence of the weapon). Second, it is the arm of gunpowder era, so auxilliary and symbolic at least. Third mine iz razor sharp what wouldnt be needed for dancing. Fourth - the main enemy it was used for was the naked man from Equatorial Africa. I wouldn not be pleased to be treated with it on my bare back...Anyway - when I see it I dont think of fancy dancing but of proud any European feel bearing smallsword, which in 19th century was not for battle or even duel but not for dancing also.

Grendolino, The classic mistake made by many people is to think that this was a weapon. The very warlike appearance of the warriors carrying it and the razor sharp edges as well as it being accompanied by the Terrs shield suggest that it was a weapon BUT it was not. Pageant only and as outlined in the Razha described in the Funun traditional dances and pantomime events, mimic sword fights and agressive march pasts and salutations to the Ruler...and at Eids and weddings. The weapons that did the damage were the Abu Futtilla and the Spear and occasionally the Khanjars.( and Cannons) Please include a foto of the blade mark as a lot were copied marks .
Regards, Peter Hudson.

Jim McDougall · 24th November 2022, 01:09 PM

As Peter has said, it is a common perception that these were fighting swords as the hilt form was shared by the lighter dance (Razha) forms LOOKED the same as the many examples which DID have heavy,(and of course forged) blades.

The hilt form had been created in the early 19th century by the sultan Said the Great who did so for the purpose of dynastic symbolism in the ceremonies as well as other key alterations in the khanjhar daggers and other regalia items. The elements of these items did reflect traditionally those of the arms of the past, as noted by Peter.

The point is that these unique open cylindrical hilts were keenly recognizable as Omani, and became popularly worn with notably substantial European blades (a status symbol in themselves) as swords of office, status and prestigious accoutrements. These were often highly embellished in that accord and worn officials, merchants and of course slave factors, and of course were often present on the expeditions into Africa from the Omani Sultanate in Zanzibar.

This is why the famed British explorer noted these swords as 'worn by Arab gentlemen' in his "Book of the Sword" (1884) and both he and his contemporary August Demmin (1877) commented on failing to understand how these might be wielded effectively (with European swordsmanship in mind of course).

Still, it remains that while the TWO types of these open hilt Omani sayf appeared the same visually, the examples worn by 'gentlemen' in status oriented aplomb COULD have been used defensively in some degree if no alternative.

This is much in the same analogy noted by Grendolino with Europeans wearing fancy court swords, which were for 'show' in the same way. While most had 'similar' appearances to the swords with similar hilts which were actually epee's indeed used in dueling and defensive swordplay, the 'court' swords would not serve well in combat circumstances.
Again, the small sword itself was indeed worn by officers, and used as required.
Their effectiveness is well shown in the case of Lt. Maynard in his foray to capture Blackbeard the pirate in 1718. In the heat of combat, the blade of Lt. Maynards smallsword was broken as he tried to fight with it.

As Peter has well noted, the key weapons used against foe in Africa were firearms, the khanjhar (obviously close quarters) and in some cases in more fixed combat, cannon when at hand.
African tribes (with few exceptions) did not use swords as weapons, with their key weapons spears and axes mostly, some arrows in cases.
Much in the same way as these Omani weapons are described, the sword was most often held symbolically in African tribal situations.

As another analogy, the American Indian tribes are often shown with swords, obviously acquired through various means and of various forms. In most cases these were symbolic of power, and typically held by chiefs or important warriors only. There were several exceptions where swords were notably present and used by warriors, but these are rare exceptions. The notion that Indians used swords because there are images of them holding swords are much in the same presumption of certain sword types used because they are pictured held by tribal figures.

Peter Hudson · 27th November 2022, 04:21 PM

Jim,
Thanks for your important reply. It may be noted that of the thousands of these sayf I never saw one that could have been classed as a fighting weapon. I saw many curved Kitara but I never saw any that I could say were a fighting sword ...Thus I have to say none of these were meant for battle.

The Omani Battle Sword known as the Sayf Yemaani was their only battle Sword and covers many hundreds of years in that role and probably predates the 12thC. My thoughts have always been to place it at the beginning of Omani Islam thus pushing the date much further and as the name implies its likely origin could have been Hadramaut Yemen and closely linked to Sword of the Prophet examples.

Although this post is not focussed on Sayf Yemaani it is vital to see how that sword was integrated into the design of the Straight Sayf Dancing Sword and how the Straight Sayf influenced the Curved Kitara....particularly in the Hilt and the award of the Terrs Shield.

While the key document is technically an unwritten Funun Tradition there are compelling museum exhibits and reference books proving the influence of Said the Great and other doctrines from The African Great Lakes. What is clear is how the ruler Said The Great was instrumental in steering the design of the Royal Omani Khanjar hilt and the parallel form of hilt onto the Omani Battle Sword. He convinced and managed the politically superb idea to unite his people with the clever invention of a pageantry sword ...The Straight Sayf ...and even ensured that the hilt form was transmitted onto the next variant which was a curved heavy backbladed item The Kitara. Sketches at library from the Zanzibar Slavery markets at that time circa 1850 depict Omani Slavers with that item and accompanied by Terrs shields.

At library are sketches and photographs of Sultan Bargash and in the 1970s Sultan Qaboos with this weapon. Moreover it was Said The Great who devised and executed the plan to use Zanzibar as his new capitol and encompass the hinterland of Africa placing treaties with local rulers and gaining exclusive trading, hunting and slavery rights throughout the region via the Zanzibar hub particularly from Bunyoro-Kitara;
The Kingdom of The Sword.

Regards,
Peter Hudson.

Jim McDougall · 27th November 2022, 06:42 PM

It has been some time since we covered the particulars on these swords, and I recall it does seem the Omani sayf, with open cylindrical hilt as discussed, evolved as a derivative of the 'sayf Yemani'.

These sayf Yemani were with a crossguard with downturned quillons which were a style from the earliest Islamic hilt forms and were considered sacrosanct in the Ibathi Faith which remained situated in Nizwa in Oman, and through the centuries in a number of other regions, notably Basra in Iraq.

These swords were indeed 'battle swords' and undoubtedly were used as such through the centuries. If I recall, when Sayyid Said bin Sultan al Busaidi took rule in 1804, he had wished to move toward a more 'modern' approach to the dynamics of his regime. As noted, the creative revamping of the styling of traditional weaponry and the enhancement of the sword dance in the dynastic elements of the regime were among ways he sought to accomplish this.

I realize there are a lot of complex details in all of this, which explain much, but this is basically what I have understood.

By this time in early 19th c., the advent of firearms had largely overtaken the use of the sword in battle, despite the sword still held as the key weapon in more of a symbolic sense in the fundamental Islamic tradition.

Even as the more 'modern' open hilt sayf gained popularity to the point it became 'symbolic' in the Sultanate , and worn as a sword of office and status, there were examples of the traditional sayf Yemani which were embellished notably and seem to have been intended in a commemorative sense.

With the curved 'kittareh', these seem to have evolved from the number of German saber blades circulating in trade networks in the 19th c. (as noted in Burton) and as readily available, simply mounted in the 'dynastic' hilt form of the Sultanate. As these seem to have been early associated with these expeditions from Zanzibar into Bunyoro (Kitara) it would seem that these curved examples would have been worn with a certain 'swagger' by influential merchants (including slave factors) who had been 'in the field'.
This would be best described as in the manner of the 'Bowie' knife so characteristically worn in the American frontiers.

These weapons worn in this manner, are intended to be used if necessary, however when firearms are the primary arm, their actual use was mostly incidental and as required.

Peter Hudson · 27th November 2022, 09:41 PM

Hello Jim ...That is a reasonable way of putting it... Regards Peter Hudson.

Peter Hudson · 2nd December 2022, 06:14 PM

Looking again at my #1 the importance of Said The Great and the incredible idea of taking Zanzibar is vital to our understanding of this great leader.

The concentration on mercantile activity was symbolised by the change of capital from interior Rustaq to coastal Muscat in 1784, and by a new overseas expansionism. Between the 1750s and the 1850s, Oman re-established its authority over the islands of the Strait of Hormuz, leasing them from the Persians, secured more than 100 miles of the Makran coast of Baluchistan, reasserted its claims to Dhofar and to the ports of East Africa, and even attempted to take Bahrain. The Mazrui rulers of Mombasa were repeatedly attacked and finally submitted in 1837. The Omani fleet once again became the most powerful local force in the Indian Ocean, if not throughout the East.

The architect of this remarkable Omani expansion in the early Nineteenth Century was the Sultan Seyyid Said, who reigned from 1804 to 1856. He ordered vessels from Indian shipyards, including, for example, the 74-gun Liverpool, launched in 1826, which from 1836 became the Royal Navy Imaum. He possessed in all fifteen western-style warships, as well as a vast fleet of Arab vessels, which could be used for both commercial and military purposes. He could probably embark as many as 20,000 troops. When the Sultan arrived at Zanzibar in East Africa in 1828, his fleet consisted of one 64-gun ship, three frigates of 36 guns, two brigs of 14 guns, and 100 armed transport dhows with about 6,000 soldiers.

Seyyid Said also diversified Oman's economy, and hit upon the idea that the East African coast could become a much surer source of wealth than the problematical trade of the Gulf. As far back as 1696, the Omanis had sacked the island of Zanzibar, then a loyal ally of the Portuguese; Said visited it several times in the early part of his reign to inspect its potential. By the time the Sultan moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar in 1840 he had established a highly successful economic system there: an Omani emigrant plantocracy was cultivating cloves, successfully introduced into Zanzibar in 1828, and Indian agents and capitalists, for centuries familiar in Oman and on the East African coast, were capitalising the ivory and slaving caravans which tapped the animal and human resources of the far interior of East Africa.

Peter Hudson.

27th November 2022, 04:21 PM	#4
Peter Hudson Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 315	Jim, Thanks for your important reply. It may be noted that of the thousands of these sayf I never saw one that could have been classed as a fighting weapon. I saw many curved Kitara but I never saw any that I could say were a fighting sword ...Thus I have to say none of these were meant for battle. The Omani Battle Sword known as the Sayf Yemaani was their only battle Sword and covers many hundreds of years in that role and probably predates the 12thC. My thoughts have always been to place it at the beginning of Omani Islam thus pushing the date much further and as the name implies its likely origin could have been Hadramaut Yemen and closely linked to Sword of the Prophet examples. Although this post is not focussed on Sayf Yemaani it is vital to see how that sword was integrated into the design of the Straight Sayf Dancing Sword and how the Straight Sayf influenced the Curved Kitara....particularly in the Hilt and the award of the Terrs Shield. While the key document is technically an unwritten Funun Tradition there are compelling museum exhibits and reference books proving the influence of Said the Great and other doctrines from The African Great Lakes. What is clear is how the ruler Said The Great was instrumental in steering the design of the Royal Omani Khanjar hilt and the parallel form of hilt onto the Omani Battle Sword. He convinced and managed the politically superb idea to unite his people with the clever invention of a pageantry sword ...The Straight Sayf ...and even ensured that the hilt form was transmitted onto the next variant which was a curved heavy backbladed item The Kitara. Sketches at library from the Zanzibar Slavery markets at that time circa 1850 depict Omani Slavers with that item and accompanied by Terrs shields. At library are sketches and photographs of Sultan Bargash and in the 1970s Sultan Qaboos with this weapon. Moreover it was Said The Great who devised and executed the plan to use Zanzibar as his new capitol and encompass the hinterland of Africa placing treaties with local rulers and gaining exclusive trading, hunting and slavery rights throughout the region via the Zanzibar hub particularly from Bunyoro-Kitara; The Kingdom of The Sword. Regards, Peter Hudson. Last edited by Peter Hudson; 27th November 2022 at 05:50 PM.

24th November 2022, 01:09 PM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,193	As Peter has said, it is a common perception that these were fighting swords as the hilt form was shared by the lighter dance (Razha) forms LOOKED the same as the many examples which DID have heavy,(and of course forged) blades. The hilt form had been created in the early 19th century by the sultan Said the Great who did so for the purpose of dynastic symbolism in the ceremonies as well as other key alterations in the khanjhar daggers and other regalia items. The elements of these items did reflect traditionally those of the arms of the past, as noted by Peter. The point is that these unique open cylindrical hilts were keenly recognizable as Omani, and became popularly worn with notably substantial European blades (a status symbol in themselves) as swords of office, status and prestigious accoutrements. These were often highly embellished in that accord and worn officials, merchants and of course slave factors, and of course were often present on the expeditions into Africa from the Omani Sultanate in Zanzibar. This is why the famed British explorer noted these swords as 'worn by Arab gentlemen' in his "Book of the Sword" (1884) and both he and his contemporary August Demmin (1877) commented on failing to understand how these might be wielded effectively (with European swordsmanship in mind of course). Still, it remains that while the TWO types of these open hilt Omani sayf appeared the same visually, the examples worn by 'gentlemen' in status oriented aplomb COULD have been used defensively in some degree if no alternative. This is much in the same analogy noted by Grendolino with Europeans wearing fancy court swords, which were for 'show' in the same way. While most had 'similar' appearances to the swords with similar hilts which were actually epee's indeed used in dueling and defensive swordplay, the 'court' swords would not serve well in combat circumstances. Again, the small sword itself was indeed worn by officers, and used as required. Their effectiveness is well shown in the case of Lt. Maynard in his foray to capture Blackbeard the pirate in 1718. In the heat of combat, the blade of Lt. Maynards smallsword was broken as he tried to fight with it. As Peter has well noted, the key weapons used against foe in Africa were firearms, the khanjhar (obviously close quarters) and in some cases in more fixed combat, cannon when at hand. African tribes (with few exceptions) did not use swords as weapons, with their key weapons spears and axes mostly, some arrows in cases. Much in the same way as these Omani weapons are described, the sword was most often held symbolically in African tribal situations. As another analogy, the American Indian tribes are often shown with swords, obviously acquired through various means and of various forms. In most cases these were symbolic of power, and typically held by chiefs or important warriors only. There were several exceptions where swords were notably present and used by warriors, but these are rare exceptions. The notion that Indians used swords because there are images of them holding swords are much in the same presumption of certain sword types used because they are pictured held by tribal figures.

27th November 2022, 06:42 PM	#5
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,193	It has been some time since we covered the particulars on these swords, and I recall it does seem the Omani sayf, with open cylindrical hilt as discussed, evolved as a derivative of the 'sayf Yemani'. These sayf Yemani were with a crossguard with downturned quillons which were a style from the earliest Islamic hilt forms and were considered sacrosanct in the Ibathi Faith which remained situated in Nizwa in Oman, and through the centuries in a number of other regions, notably Basra in Iraq. These swords were indeed 'battle swords' and undoubtedly were used as such through the centuries. If I recall, when Sayyid Said bin Sultan al Busaidi took rule in 1804, he had wished to move toward a more 'modern' approach to the dynamics of his regime. As noted, the creative revamping of the styling of traditional weaponry and the enhancement of the sword dance in the dynastic elements of the regime were among ways he sought to accomplish this. I realize there are a lot of complex details in all of this, which explain much, but this is basically what I have understood. By this time in early 19th c., the advent of firearms had largely overtaken the use of the sword in battle, despite the sword still held as the key weapon in more of a symbolic sense in the fundamental Islamic tradition. Even as the more 'modern' open hilt sayf gained popularity to the point it became 'symbolic' in the Sultanate , and worn as a sword of office and status, there were examples of the traditional sayf Yemani which were embellished notably and seem to have been intended in a commemorative sense. With the curved 'kittareh', these seem to have evolved from the number of German saber blades circulating in trade networks in the 19th c. (as noted in Burton) and as readily available, simply mounted in the 'dynastic' hilt form of the Sultanate. As these seem to have been early associated with these expeditions from Zanzibar into Bunyoro (Kitara) it would seem that these curved examples would have been worn with a certain 'swagger' by influential merchants (including slave factors) who had been 'in the field'. This would be best described as in the manner of the 'Bowie' knife so characteristically worn in the American frontiers. These weapons worn in this manner, are intended to be used if necessary, however when firearms are the primary arm, their actual use was mostly incidental and as required.

27th November 2022, 09:41 PM	#6
Peter Hudson Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 315	Hello Jim ...That is a reasonable way of putting it... Regards Peter Hudson.

2nd December 2022, 06:14 PM	#7
Peter Hudson Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 315	Looking again at my #1 the importance of Said The Great and the incredible idea of taking Zanzibar is vital to our understanding of this great leader. The concentration on mercantile activity was symbolised by the change of capital from interior Rustaq to coastal Muscat in 1784, and by a new overseas expansionism. Between the 1750s and the 1850s, Oman re-established its authority over the islands of the Strait of Hormuz, leasing them from the Persians, secured more than 100 miles of the Makran coast of Baluchistan, reasserted its claims to Dhofar and to the ports of East Africa, and even attempted to take Bahrain. The Mazrui rulers of Mombasa were repeatedly attacked and finally submitted in 1837. The Omani fleet once again became the most powerful local force in the Indian Ocean, if not throughout the East. The architect of this remarkable Omani expansion in the early Nineteenth Century was the Sultan Seyyid Said, who reigned from 1804 to 1856. He ordered vessels from Indian shipyards, including, for example, the 74-gun Liverpool, launched in 1826, which from 1836 became the Royal Navy Imaum. He possessed in all fifteen western-style warships, as well as a vast fleet of Arab vessels, which could be used for both commercial and military purposes. He could probably embark as many as 20,000 troops. When the Sultan arrived at Zanzibar in East Africa in 1828, his fleet consisted of one 64-gun ship, three frigates of 36 guns, two brigs of 14 guns, and 100 armed transport dhows with about 6,000 soldiers. Seyyid Said also diversified Oman's economy, and hit upon the idea that the East African coast could become a much surer source of wealth than the problematical trade of the Gulf. As far back as 1696, the Omanis had sacked the island of Zanzibar, then a loyal ally of the Portuguese; Said visited it several times in the early part of his reign to inspect its potential. By the time the Sultan moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar in 1840 he had established a highly successful economic system there: an Omani emigrant plantocracy was cultivating cloves, successfully introduced into Zanzibar in 1828, and Indian agents and capitalists, for centuries familiar in Oman and on the East African coast, were capitalising the ivory and slaving caravans which tapped the animal and human resources of the far interior of East Africa. Peter Hudson.