THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MOROCCAN AND A ZANZIBARI NIMCHA.

[Jim McDougall]

Peter thank you for bumping this thread here so perhaps it can coincide with the interesting results with the 'Arab Nimchas of the Pirate Coast' thread.
It seems there has been notable progress in advancing the general awareness and identification of these swords thanks to the valuable input from everyone who has contributed.

Thank you as well for itemizing the various elements, as these might be discussed and reviewed singly with the possible influences involved.
There are so many subtle symbolic religious and sometimes talismanic devices often incorporated with decoration that perhaps might provide support for more specific identifications.

[Peter Hudson]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Peter thank you for bumping this thread here so perhaps it can coincide with the interesting results with the 'Arab Nimchas of the Pirate Coast' thread.
It seems there has been notable progress in advancing the general awareness and identification of these swords thanks to the valuable input from everyone who has contributed.

Thank you as well for itemizing the various elements, as these might be discussed and reviewed singly with the possible influences involved.
There are so many subtle symbolic religious and sometimes talismanic devices often incorporated with decoration that perhaps might provide support for more specific identifications.

Thanks Jim, I note the book "The Pirate Coast" by Sir Charles Belgrave (1966) you first quoted is also available as a free electronic read on the web and it has much detail of the region. Being all about ocean and seagoing in the Indian Ocean I found it very informative. The thrust of sword style and design transfer was driven by all the usual factors and enhanced by Piracy. Regards, Peter Hudson.

[Peter Hudson]

Posts 19 and 24 and several others with partial details on the likely linkages across the Nimcha range including Butins charts (displaying nearly 50 Variants) are here on this thread...The Pallasch style of weapon is central to linking all Nimcha both Arabian and African to likely Ottoman origins particularly in hilt forms.
Peter Hudson.

[Peter Hudson]

I wanted to bring together the strengths of both this thread and the thread close to its content Arab Cutlasses of the Pirate Coast ... thus bringing into focus the cross pollination in sword design in a region which developed its Lingua Franka as spoken arabic thus the many items and ways of life that were virtually the same and as well as of a very similar faith...In other words the CULTURAL aspects. In choosing just one additional technology ...that of the Lanteen Sail it states ...Arabs Used Lateen Sails for Muslim-led Fleets
The Arabs used the lateen sail thru the Copts, mostly the crewmen for Muslim-led fleets for centuries. It was the Arabs who developed the lateen sail. Later on, sailors used it in the Mediterranean. Only after the 14th century did the Atlantic and Baltic vessels switch to using the lateen sail. Northern Europe adapted to using the lateen sail in the Late Middle Ages.

Peter Hudson

[Peter Hudson]

The Cultural aspect of the Lingua Franka was the vital ingredient on design flow of technology weapons building design clothing food jewelery music dance poetry religion in fact almost every aspect of life in The Indian Ocean and related nations.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Peter Hudson

It was the Arabs who developed the lateen sail. Later on, sailors used it in the Mediterranean...

Regarding the lateen sail, several authors have suggested in the past that it was introduced to the Mediterranean by the Arabs, possibly having originally appeared in India. However, the discovery of new representations and literary references in recent decades has led scholars to push back the appearance of the lateen sail in the Levant to the late Hellenistic or early Roman periods.
The Portuguese around the 15th century adapted this sail to the famous Portuguese caravel, becoming one of the main characteristics of these vessels. It helped the great navigators in their great expeditions, and Vasco da Gama was one of the first to use it for this purpose.
(Casson 1995, p. 243–245, fig. 180–182. Basch 2001, p. 57–64.Campbell 1995, p. 8–11. Pomey 2006, p. 326–329).



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[Peter Hudson]

Just to refer readers to another region and style not far from Zanzibar and on Library http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...24894&page=3at