kaskara konundrum

Jim McDougall · 1st April 2013, 08:40 PM

I wanted to bring this outstanding example and discussion back to the top as I think the 'conundrum' remained unresolved concerning why this unusual kaskara had a backsword (SE) blade.
The unusual crossguard adds mystery to the dilemma.

While we had thought of this being a blade from India via probable Red Sea trade, recently the quite viable thought of schiavona blades from Italy was brought up by Ibrahiim in another thread. While I cannot make out the details on this blade re: dimensions etc. it does seem quite plausible that schiavona blades might have entered the Red Sea sphere with Italian colonial activity there in Eritrea, Abyssinia and parts of Sudan.

Though we think of schiavona as an earlier sword form, these actually saw use well into the 19th century.

It would be interesting to know if anyone out there can show other examples of either takouba or kaskara using single edged blades. Im sure it may have been a matter of catch as catch can with extant blades found in these regions, but seems most unusual.

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1st April 2013, 08:40 PM	#26
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,459	I wanted to bring this outstanding example and discussion back to the top as I think the 'conundrum' remained unresolved concerning why this unusual kaskara had a backsword (SE) blade. The unusual crossguard adds mystery to the dilemma. While we had thought of this being a blade from India via probable Red Sea trade, recently the quite viable thought of schiavona blades from Italy was brought up by Ibrahiim in another thread. While I cannot make out the details on this blade re: dimensions etc. it does seem quite plausible that schiavona blades might have entered the Red Sea sphere with Italian colonial activity there in Eritrea, Abyssinia and parts of Sudan. Though we think of schiavona as an earlier sword form, these actually saw use well into the 19th century. It would be interesting to know if anyone out there can show other examples of either takouba or kaskara using single edged blades. Im sure it may have been a matter of catch as catch can with extant blades found in these regions, but seems most unusual.