Kaskara with interesting marks

Jim McDougall · 6th May 2016, 05:34 PM

Hi Jose,
Thank you so much for the support. It is always disappointing when a query is posted and from nearly two hundred views, there is not a single response beyond my entry last week. This is a most curious blade, as I noted, and as it is pretty obscure among most kaskara data, it took me quite a long time through old notes to find clues.

This most interesting motif in the fullers appears to be a linear approach to certain stylized impressions of what may have been the stamped cartouche of Mashin Khana in Kabul in the 1890s. By about 1900 this was also in a round cartouche, and these are often so degenerated or worn the most prominent features are the lines in the device.

I have seen a knife of unclear origin (but likely Nepali or regions in Northern Bengal) with three of these squares and another kaskara with a single square cartouche with this type of image, but no illustrations at hand, just my notes.

I know there are guys out there who collect kaskara and this as I have noted probably goes to Ethiopia and Eritrea. I once had a friend from Eritrea who was Beja, and knew kaskara well (they never heard that term) and shared a video of tribal dances using them (the sa'if broadsword)

I know this is not Amharic, nor any particular script as these are simply linear repeated characters which are just lines in X's and I's . Thus, I would doubt talismanic unless there is some numerical order, and more likely to be a stylized 'impression' of the Amharic or other script.
With the singular instances (and triple on the knife) it is hard to say what these mean,

Perhaps one day someone out there might recognize these markings ( lately I have seen threads come up from nearly a decade ago!).

Thanks again Jose, very much appreciated .

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6th May 2016, 05:34 PM	#5
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,454	Hi Jose, Thank you so much for the support. It is always disappointing when a query is posted and from nearly two hundred views, there is not a single response beyond my entry last week. This is a most curious blade, as I noted, and as it is pretty obscure among most kaskara data, it took me quite a long time through old notes to find clues. This most interesting motif in the fullers appears to be a linear approach to certain stylized impressions of what may have been the stamped cartouche of Mashin Khana in Kabul in the 1890s. By about 1900 this was also in a round cartouche, and these are often so degenerated or worn the most prominent features are the lines in the device. I have seen a knife of unclear origin (but likely Nepali or regions in Northern Bengal) with three of these squares and another kaskara with a single square cartouche with this type of image, but no illustrations at hand, just my notes. I know there are guys out there who collect kaskara and this as I have noted probably goes to Ethiopia and Eritrea. I once had a friend from Eritrea who was Beja, and knew kaskara well (they never heard that term) and shared a video of tribal dances using them (the sa'if broadsword) I know this is not Amharic, nor any particular script as these are simply linear repeated characters which are just lines in X's and I's . Thus, I would doubt talismanic unless there is some numerical order, and more likely to be a stylized 'impression' of the Amharic or other script. With the singular instances (and triple on the knife) it is hard to say what these mean, Perhaps one day someone out there might recognize these markings ( lately I have seen threads come up from nearly a decade ago!). Thanks again Jose, very much appreciated .