Hi Colin,
There truly, and thankfully
has been a great deal of interest in kaskaras of late, and thank you for adding these to keep the fires burning! There is so much yet to be learned on these fascinating tribal swords, and by bringing examples to the forum we can all learn from them.
Probably the largest volume of both examples, and awareness of these distinctive Sudanese swords did indeed derive from the British campaigns and most notably the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.
It is interesting that these examples show two of the well known blade styles used on these, one with the triple fullers and the other with single central fuller. By the rust patches and general appearance of these, I sense that they are both post Omdurman however, and according to the outstanding work done by Ed in his dissertation (posted on our site) these are likely both 'Kasallawi' , that is produced in that area probably in the 20th century.
I think these swords, regardless of age, are fascinating in that they are still so predominantly a part of the culture and are actually refurbished almost regularly as they change hands through generations.
These are just my observations, and I always look forward to others from those who are more well versed in these weapons. The small crescent moon type markings in parallel on the blade are well known from those which appear on takouba blades and these are believed to derive from them . These markings have been in use for some time and represent earlier talismanic associations, which have long since probably been disassociated in this case, having become more of a traditional mark.
All the best,
Jim