Sudanese Haladie?

[katana]

I have not been able to find Arabic versions of the haladie or the mace that I posted. Has anyone seen or knows of such versions.....if there are none...perhaps there was a more direct link between India and the Sudan.

Perhaps it was slaves that was one of the main commodities of the Arabic trading routes. Indians taken to the Sudan Arab slave trading was rife and the Sudan was a good market to sell. Perhaps some of these slaves brought the haladie design with them Bearing in mind that the value of a slave was not just physical health but skills or knowledge they pocessed.

[Jim McDougall]

Actually I am not aware of Arabian versions of the haladie, despite the fact that they were quite clearly known in Syria (as noted in Stone) and it is well known that many edged weapons for Arabia came from Syria (Damascus, which was an established trade hub).

The slave trade in Sudan seems to have focused more on captured individuals from tribes to the south of Sudan, and the trade routes through the interior that extended from Zanzibar, also a slave trade center. It is always fascinating to review the trade networks, those from the sea, then into the interior, and ultimately transcontinental via Saharan routes. The complexity and vast distances are amazing, and through the Sahara particularly are compounded by nomadic movement and tribal interaction that may account for many instances of weapons diffusion.

It is indeed quite interesting that the katar never seemed to gain acceptance in regions outside India, as well as previously noted, the tulwar. Yet, the noteably unusual haladie did become accepted in the Sudan, while remaining unrepresented in other places that certainly, as David has noted, experienced considerable trade and commerce with India.

I am inclined to believe that the haladie in the Sudan became established as more of a ceremonial and votive item as previously noted, with the association with dual blades of Zulfikar. It seems in discussion some time ago there was a dagger from the Sudan with a curious mark on the blade, a very stylized 'S' type mark, and I suggested that the mark may represent the haladie, noting its established regard ceremonially, and possibly used as a maker or armory mark. At this point no other examples have surfaced to support the idea..but one never knows.

As for the katar, its origins remain as mysterious as the term itself. While the term 'katar' also applies to a standard form dagger in northern India, it is suggested in Pant that Egerton erred in using the katar term, when it should have been 'jemadhar' (all considerable previous discussions). Stone shows the even more mysterious 'Moorish' gauntlet sword the 'manople' but does not suggest any association to the katar or pata (yet more discussions).

With the manople, it remains one of the few known example of transverse gripped
edged weapons outside India, and the example in Stone is believed a singular example that was held in the Royal Armoury in Madrid (Calvert). It would seem that the 14th/15th century attribution by Stone would be a bit optimistic, and more likely that it would have been influenced by either the Indian katar or pata at somewhat later date via trade from India, rather than this single weapon influencing an entire genre of transverse gripped weapons there.

Another curious instance of transverse grip 'push dagger' would be the 'T' handled form used by gamblers in San Franciscos "Barbary Coast" in the mid to late 19th century. No direct association has ever of course been established with the katar...however the ships that came to this intensely busy port in those times were from around the world, and the trade would have certainly brought exotic items from faraway places..including India.

Best regards,
Jim

[Tim Simmons]

Now I will break some collector lore. Information gleaned from, Nigerian Panoply arms and armour of the Northern Region. Collectively we assume these things, some dismiss such things, as Sudanese. Well they may well not be. One will also have to bring to mind the conflicts with Emirs in the region of Kano and the other Islamic states of Nigeria and the Sahel. I will keep this short as I cannot use a key board well. The script is thought to be Mamaluk inspired. There is general acceptance of arms trade north from Morocco and from Egypt but it is stressed that this was not a one way state of affairs. I would suggest the desert nomads in possession of a Tabouka obtained them from walled cities like Kano. Here are some pictures that solve a few questions. I have marked the appearance of the script to help. Note the sword is a Tabouka.





I have rotated this for a more clear image.


Even the scribble on the axe is a constant repeating of this alif?

[Tim Simmons]

I was so brief in the last post I feel I should add a little more about the script and origins of the sword in the photograph. There are notions of Medieval origins which hinder us today. A look through any of Oakeshott's publications should put an end to that. The sword is not Medieval. It is thought that the script is too inaccurate to have origins in an Egyptian workshop also it is held to predate the armoury at Omdurman. The origin is thought to be somewhere in Nilotic Sudan.
I am not a qualified historian or researcher so I could be talking from a hole in my backside. However I do think it is not unreasonable to face convention full on. You only have to think of the sack of Benin city 1897? and the refusal in believing that the art works there were locally made and of indigenous thought. The sword mentioned and other works may well be slowly emerging from this type of learned discrimination and we as collectors are often all too eager to accept this condition. One of the problems with this material, which affects opinion so much is that it is simple, not shiny, silvery and covered in glittering baubles. So untill quite recently its market value held back any further thought and care of investigation. I know I use strong words but it is fun. I simply cannot accept that cities like Kano in such an expansive land did not make weapons.

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Tim,
Thank you for elaborating in more detail on the swords and weapons of these regions, and for your well placed line of thinking. It is interesting that it is often considered that the familiar 'thuluth' script seen on weapons is a distinct indicator that the weapon is Sudanese. As can clearly be seen, the takouba shown as from the regalia of the Daura emirate in Nigeria is profusely etched with this script. It is unclear if the blade is one of the countless trade blades that have been mounted in these swords, or if it is native forged, but it does seem quite possible to have been decorated in Nigeria.

The thuluth script is of course derived from Kufic, the early script used to transcribe passages from the Qur'an, and was often used to apply such inscriptions as motif on many items of material culture. The Sudan and Nigeria were key regions of Islamic presence in North Africa and the use of this very beautiful calligraphy was in use from early times with Mamluk armourers, and thier decorative work certainly imitated in varying degree.

I agree that it seems almost preposterous to presume that with the importance of the Emirates of Nigeria, and the constant trade across the Sahara, that these more remote places did not have the presence of culture and artisans comparable to the larger and more well known centers. It is now well established that Timbuktu, often jokingly used to describe the most remote desert emptiness, was actually a well travelled site for caravans and actually an almost 'Oxford' like center for Islamic scholars. There are huge libraries of lexicons of important works held there, and the city often portrayed as a mud daubed spot in the desert is now regarded as having been a very important center of medieval scholarship.

Along with the constant movement of the caravans moved not only trade and wares, but scholars, artisans and the diffusion of art, and philosophy.

In "Nigerian Panoply", I believe there is another sword shown by Bivar, which has a name beginning with a 'G', and like the one shown here, is considered an important item of regalia. I'm running on memory here as I do not have by copy at hand, so I hope you might check this. It seems like the sword I refer to appears to be a European hanger or sabre, but as noted, is highly revered as a 'sword of state' or of that stature.

It would seem that the sword, as a weapon, was reverently regarded in Nigeria and in the case of the Hausa state of Zaria for example, the name derives from a famous sword named 'Zazzau'. These Hausa people (though the Fulani conquered in 1804) are called 'Zage Zage'.I am under the impression that the Hausas had swordsmiths, and if I am not mistaken are known among Tuareg swordsmiths, with certain examples of Sudanese kaskara attributed to the Hausa (see Briggs). The city of Kano was known for its ironwork as early as the 7th century.

It does indeed seem quite possible that weapons were made in Kano.


All best regards,
Jim