Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Jim McDougall · 2nd July 2010, 06:59 PM

Excellent examples guys!!!
Actually it is hard to say what is technically correct in classifying these obviously very familiar 'X' handled daggers, which are apparantly worn as an accoutrement in the manner of khanjars or jambiyya in Oman or Yemen, as noted by Spring.
The ethnographic term Beja is of course broadly applied to a number of tribal groups, with the Hadendoa being one of them. As explained to me by the individual I spoke with some years ago, the Hadendoa, though mostly associated with Sudan, were well emplaced in Eritrea as well. He noted that he was also Beja, but I have forgotten what tribal denomination.

The Hadendoa became the most widely known tribal entity through the Mahdist revolts and British campaigns, particularly through the writings of Kipling and the now immortalized term 'fuzzy wuzzies', which referred primarily to them. It was thier association to these type daggers, among thier other weapons, which popularized the term Hadendoa in describing them.
Naturally, in most cases, popularized descriptions typically do not get down to 'hair splitting' detail (no pun intended) in tribal definition as far as the actual weapon classification, so Hadendoa is probably OK as collective description. As previously noted, these 'X' hilts seem used widely by Beja tribal groups in many regions, and it seems it would be difficult to make specific classification, though the variations in blade shape offer obvious temptation.

What I described with regard to the blade shape would be classified at this point as purely anecdotal, in which the Beja man from Eritrea told me that the 'hooked' shape blades were actually Afar (in the Danakil regions) and were not Hadendoa. It would be interesting to pursue that statement further, but I have not done so.

I have always considered these 'X' shapes as 'anthromorphic' from the Indian chilanum types of this form, which seem to have a distant connection to the ancient Celtic hilt forms described as such in Oakeshott and others. There were of course ancient trade connections between these cultures.

2nd July 2010, 06:59 PM	#7
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,767	Excellent examples guys!!! Actually it is hard to say what is technically correct in classifying these obviously very familiar 'X' handled daggers, which are apparantly worn as an accoutrement in the manner of khanjars or jambiyya in Oman or Yemen, as noted by Spring. The ethnographic term Beja is of course broadly applied to a number of tribal groups, with the Hadendoa being one of them. As explained to me by the individual I spoke with some years ago, the Hadendoa, though mostly associated with Sudan, were well emplaced in Eritrea as well. He noted that he was also Beja, but I have forgotten what tribal denomination. The Hadendoa became the most widely known tribal entity through the Mahdist revolts and British campaigns, particularly through the writings of Kipling and the now immortalized term 'fuzzy wuzzies', which referred primarily to them. It was thier association to these type daggers, among thier other weapons, which popularized the term Hadendoa in describing them. Naturally, in most cases, popularized descriptions typically do not get down to 'hair splitting' detail (no pun intended) in tribal definition as far as the actual weapon classification, so Hadendoa is probably OK as collective description. As previously noted, these 'X' hilts seem used widely by Beja tribal groups in many regions, and it seems it would be difficult to make specific classification, though the variations in blade shape offer obvious temptation. What I described with regard to the blade shape would be classified at this point as purely anecdotal, in which the Beja man from Eritrea told me that the 'hooked' shape blades were actually Afar (in the Danakil regions) and were not Hadendoa. It would be interesting to pursue that statement further, but I have not done so. I have always considered these 'X' shapes as 'anthromorphic' from the Indian chilanum types of this form, which seem to have a distant connection to the ancient Celtic hilt forms described as such in Oakeshott and others. There were of course ancient trade connections between these cultures.