Dha or Nimcha? Strange sword: need input

ariel · 8th October 2006, 06:50 PM

Gentlemen,
Here is a sword belonging to a group I love very much: a mystery.
The handle is very much Nimcha-like, but made of tropical wood (Not North African, of course

, but would love somebody to tell me what kind). It has traces of old red paint ( never seen anything like that). The crossguard is brass and has 2 downturned "quillons": doesn't look Moroccan at all, although Algierean Nimchas had something similar.
The blade looks like a Thai Dha, very good quality, tempered and hand-made.
The blade was very wobbly and disconnected easily. The cavity was filled with remnants of some very old, crumbly, almost black petrified substance (like tulwars) adhering both to the tang and to the handle. Took me some time to remove it completely to assure good fit.
The scabbard is interesting: it is not cylindrical, like on Thai/Burmese swords, but flat, resembling Malay, Indonesian, Philippine samples. It is surrounded by brass circular fastenings. It is in a sorry shape, but was obviously made for this blade, as it fits perfectly well.
In general, the entire sword is well made, careful work, nice fits; definitely not a "dog's breakfast" assembly of unrelated parts.
Can we make sense out of it?

8th October 2006, 06:50 PM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Dha or Nimcha? Strange sword: need input Gentlemen, Here is a sword belonging to a group I love very much: a mystery. The handle is very much Nimcha-like, but made of tropical wood (Not North African, of course , but would love somebody to tell me what kind). It has traces of old red paint ( never seen anything like that). The crossguard is brass and has 2 downturned "quillons": doesn't look Moroccan at all, although Algierean Nimchas had something similar. The blade looks like a Thai Dha, very good quality, tempered and hand-made. The blade was very wobbly and disconnected easily. The cavity was filled with remnants of some very old, crumbly, almost black petrified substance (like tulwars) adhering both to the tang and to the handle. Took me some time to remove it completely to assure good fit. The scabbard is interesting: it is not cylindrical, like on Thai/Burmese swords, but flat, resembling Malay, Indonesian, Philippine samples. It is surrounded by brass circular fastenings. It is in a sorry shape, but was obviously made for this blade, as it fits perfectly well. In general, the entire sword is well made, careful work, nice fits; definitely not a "dog's breakfast" assembly of unrelated parts. Can we make sense out of it? Attached Images