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Old 19th September 2015, 06:20 AM   #20
Jim McDougall
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Some very interesting material being shared and discussed here, and has prompted me to look back into this topic as it has been some time since last involved with it. The notes are from material which prompted my comments earlier, and after reviewing much of it supports most of the observations here in the thread so just wanted to add.

From H.Russell Robinson , "Oriental Armour" (1967):
Re: Sudanese armour during the Mahdiya,

P. 84: "...the better armed emirs wore rounded helmets, with an aventail of riveted mail and a heavy fixed nasal. "
"...over the body they wore a long quilted jibbah either with or without a mail shirt over it".
"...the mail shirts were all made on the same pattern; short sleeves, round neck opening, and long skirt split to the level of the fork at front and back,
all examples of these shirts show very considerable wear and much patching with crude links of wire or split rings of modern European manufacture.
I would suggest these are generally of old Arab make. All of the rings are riveted except in the case of later repairs, and many are so worn with use that they could be broken with the fingers without effort".

P.85:
Re: various materials brought back from the Mahdist campaigns by British forces.
Among the items was one of the helmets for the Khedives bodyguards which was made in Birmingham. This equipment apparently was completed with a mail shirt made of split rings, which when struck by 'Sudanese' bullets the brittle rings shattered and caused appalling wounds. It appears when the Sudanese captured these items they would only keep and use the helmets- preferring their old mail shirts to these 'new' ones so fraught with risk.

Here it is most interesting that although the old mail was severely worn and poorly repaired in many cases, it was still better than this disastrous type which seems to have been produced in England along with the helmets. I would note these English helmets are not like those pictured here in the thread with the arrow nasal and star in disc etc. Those as well as the cuirass are as noted apparently French. The French had been notably present in Khedival Egypt so this is not surprising.

It does seem these type helmets of the 'French' cuirassier type actually predate the c. 1844 date often assigned to them, and are noted in drawings slightly earlier. They are seen in illustrations of Khedival bodyguard cuirassiers in the Crimea in 1854.

Apparently by the 1880s there had been some deviation in degree or perhaps incidental license by an artist, as in the French " Le Drapeau" (July,1882) two members of the Khedives bodyguards are seen wearing mail rather than the cuirass.
Another case in Illustrated London News (1882) there are two Circassian irregulars listed as Khedival bodyguards.

I located the article "Making of Mail at Omdurman" by A.J.Arkell ("Kush" Vol. IV , p83-85, 1956) which was cited by Robinson in noting that apparently in the 1940s, mail was still readily produced in Sudan....however it was noted it was using butted rings only, not the riveted.
Arkell notes that mail from outside Sudan was imported considerably prior to 1885, and that virtually every melik (chief) had from 2 to 3 hundred suits of mail on hand in those times. It was discussed about where this volume of mail was obtained and Sir James Mann thought it had come from Syria or Arabia, however the renowned Lawrence of Arabia had been unable to find evidence to support that claim. Arkell indicates he thinks it came mostly from India.


Returning to Robinson (op.cit. p86) it is noted that in Nigerian regions, two groups are known for their medieval knight character in their warriors, those from Bornu and the Begharmi. In these instances Robinson suggests the mail shirts worn are of considerable quality and appear of Arab make. With that he suggests Mamluk possibility of origin.

It would appear that indeed there has remained in Africa, from the Saharan kingdoms of Nigeria to the Sudan, a considerable tradition of mail armour being worn. While in the times of the campaigns the armour extant had been brought in volume for some time, and had often become worn and field repaired, it does seem to have been viably worn in combat.

In later times of course, the traditional use of mail in parade or ceremonial instances seems well known (typically of the butted form), however earlier armour with some antiquity certainly may well have been used in varying instances far into the 20th century.
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