My first kaskara

[paolo]

Hi,
I bought this kaskara in my city. I have some question about it . I red this thread

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=kaskara

Lew posted some pics about “An uncommon blade is the Suliman Mukhumus has five canals. The canals act as a spring and the sword can be bent severely and not break.” Mine looks similar but hasn’t the sunburst mark . Is it from Kassala ? What old do You think it is ?
I’m also interested about the meaning of the two patterns on the center of the scabbard, they looks like a number 2.
Thank You for any help.
Paolo

[Mefidk]

Congratulations on your first kaskara, and what a beauty too!

This form of blade does indeed seem to be rare, and what interests me about yours is that it seems to have a ricasso, suggesting that it was European in origin. These blades seem to be heavily modified by local smiths and the ricasso is often removed totally.

Hopefully Ed will chime in with a definitive answer on Kassala or elsewhere.

I've seen this figure "2" on a few other examples, but I am rather intrigued about what it might represent - sadly I don't know

Chris

[Battara]

What a nice piece! Love all the silver work, the chasing and the filigree.

[Edster]

Paolo,

Very nice Kaskara, indeed. May have been made in Kassala in early part of 20th C. The date of my five channel Suliman Mukhamus was quoted in Kassala as being circa 1918. However, the blade looks smoother than locally produced blades. It could be a trade blade with the local addition of the 5 channels, but that's just unfounded speculation.

The silver grip covering could have been made anywhere and added. Swords come from the smith with grips unadorned. Don't recall that silver work grip design, but the scabbard tip looks/remembers as being similar to mine. The grip top has no design. That is consistent with the Hadendawa tassel once being attached there. The scabbard decoration is new to me.

I am assuming you are in Italy. I hadn't known that Italy fought against the Mahdists. Here's a quote from a Google Page "Kassala wаs subsequently captured by the Mahdists. Іn 1894, аfter the Battle оf Kassala the Italians captured the city. Іn 1897, the Kingdom оf Italy returned Kassala tо the Kingdom оf Egypt. Іn 1899, Kassala fell under the purview оf Anglo-Egyptian Sudan until Sudanese independence іn 1956. Іn July 1940, during the East African Campaign, Italian forces advancing frоm Italian East Africa forced а small British garrison tо withdraw frоm Kassala. The Italians then occupied the city wіth а brigade-sized unit. Іn mid-January 1941, the Italians withdrew frоm the city аnd а British garrison returned."

Your sword could have been a bring-back from either adventure, but I'm more in favor of WW2. The Italian army built the Blacksmith's Market in Kassala in the 1940s as a economic development project.

Hopefully others can add more insights.

Best regards,
Ed

[Lew]

A beautiful and rare example .

Congrats

Lew

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Paulo,
I heartily concur with all the observations on what a fine piece this is, and cannot resist adding some notes beyond those well deserved accolades.

I am glad to see Ed add his notes here as in my opinion his field work in 1984 is likely the most relevant and powerfully detailed work on the intricacies of the kaskara since Graham Reed's work (1987). It is ironic that Ed's work actually was done prior to Reed's published work and the two now joined are outstanding resources for further study of these swords.

As Ed has noted, the five fullered blade is significant among the Sudanese blades, and while this one clearly has superior quality I cannot see why it would be European unless there is evidence of a ricasso as Chris has noted.The bladesmiths in Kassala were remarkably skilled and the more commonly seen triple or deep central fullered blades based on European imports were also well made there. I believe both of those types were based on Solingen imports as often discussed on these pages. I think the five channel types may have been based on Italian type blades which were of course likely brought into these regions due in part to Italian presence in these regions from the latter 19th century. The presence of Italian blades and weapons influence in North Africa has often been an influential denominator in thier weapons far into antiquity which should be recalled beyond the more recent here.

As Ed has noted, that this kaskara turned up in Italy is not surprising as the Italian occupation in Sudanese regions in the 1940s was during the rekindling of the swordmaking industry in Kassala at that time.

Turning to the perceived numeric '2' on the scabbard, I know also that this has come up before and I cannot recall the outcome of the notations or when they occurred. In my opinion this is of course not at all the numeral two, but I think there is a dot with what appears to me the second letter in the Arabic alphabet, 'khaa' . What is unclear is that it appears twice and singularly, as if used symbolically. I can only speculate that it is intended in some talismanic parlance as the application with many of the symbols used on these swords. Many of the European makers marks were transliterated into talismanically or superstituously charged meanings as well explained by Ed from his interviews with various informants. I would emphasize that anyone with serious interest in learning about Sudanese swords absolutely must read his outstanding paper.

While I very much look forward to entries from others regarding the meaning of the apparantly Arabic character on the scabbard, I consider that in certain occultism associated with the Sufi followings there are talismanic properties often aligned with these alphabetic characters. Without deeper understanding of the complex nature of these beliefs I cannot elaborate further but simply note that with the profound presence of the Sufi order in these regions, perhaps this solution might be viable.

All best regards,
Jim

[colin henshaw]

A fine and attractive looking sword. I would agree with Iain that its probably somewhat later in date. Maybe closer to mid-20th century than early-20th century.

Congrats.