Thanks for the info Stephen. Perhaps Sheffield, or even Birmingham could have been a source of trade blades for the Kaskara. The complete lack of marking, could be, perhaps, considered circumstantial evidence....afterall would British swordsmiths 'advertise' the fact that they have supplied an enemy's arsenal ??
I found this 'curious' quote which may support this .....
"....In the Sudan, Major E A De Cosson who served with Sir Gerald Graham's field force at Suakin in April 1888 noted how the local inhabitants entrepreneurially met the demand for souvenirs and war trophies. On the day the expedition was brought to a close, he 'rode into the town in the evening and found the streets thronged with officers buying souvenirs. The native population are waking up to the fact that money is to be made and the women and children offering their silver bangles for sale; shields and swords have run up to ?£5 a piece, and spears to ?£2 or ?£3. There is a little Italian who keeps a curiosity shop, a sort of niche in a wall, and he had new spears manufactured every day. They say an armourer on one of the ships turned an honest penny by making a lot of spear-heads and having them mounted, and
that a batch of "real Soudan spears" has already been sent out from Birmingham.'
http://www.michaelstevenson.com/africanart/essay.htm
Regards David