Oman, Morocco or Zanzibar?

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Sorry I do not agree as to Yemeni for this. Artzi attributes this to Zanzibar, although not conclusively, and I believe with the knowledge he has it is likely to be correct. I have never ever seen any reference to a "Yemeni Nimcha", with a hilt even remotely resembling this style. Any Yemeni swords I have seen, either "in the flesh" or in books are like the attached pic and are called Sayf.

Salaams, There are many like this in Muscat said to be Yemeni. Ok country of origin ? Your Nimcha is possibly Zanzibari and quite likely with a German blade (e.g. Wilhelm Clauberg &Cie. of Solingen Germany) Though for that factory look for the knight stamp.. The D guard is an apparent give away for one style of Zanzibari hilt. This must mean that there are a number of Zanzibari styles under the banner "Nimcha" since some hilts dont have D guards. (see note below) The history books certainly bear that out as does this forum ! I see so many Nimchas in Oman all with Yemen as the origin and most are like yours though the quality of examples I've seen is poor. There are half a dozen in a souk shop just near me in Buraimi (the store owner is Yemeni) but the quality is low.
Does this mean that all Nimchas in the Yemen are Zanzibari? The fact that it has not entered the history books does not surprise me one bit. There are many areas in the field of ethnographic weapons that are either not yet fully catalogued in this region e.g. The Hadramaut link. The link between Omani and Yemeni Khanjars..The Mamluke Kattara link ... Axes of the Musandam peninsula...The Kastane Sri Lankan link... and so on..Once a sword becomes adopted by a nation or group it is generally accepted as passing into that areas "menu of weapons"; take for example the Omani Kattara which it can be argued is a European trade blade circa 17th C. It puzzles me why the Zanzibari Nimcha developed a D guard which looks like a very European structure ... Perhaps the Portuguese dreamed that one up ?...Could it be that this version went into the Zanzibar hub the long way around via The Cape with the Portuguese Dutch or English whereas the other derivatives spread in via the Red Sea?

Regards, Ibrahiim.

Note; While it is agreed that the D guard is a Zanzibari type, Buttin places more than 20 Nimcha on his plate at # 26 (Kurt) some with D guards some without. # 23 illustrates what I believe to be perhaps the "Iconic" Zanzibari version without a D.