Recently made Omani Kattara / Saif

[Iain]

Originally Posted by katana

As a footnote, is there any evidence of blades made in Oman being sold in Africa ? The thinking is ....could some Omani blades be used, rehilted as Tabouka ?

Kind Regards David

I'll jump in here for a sec. To my knowledge there is really no reason to think this is the case. This basic pattern was in plentiful supply it would seem from European sources and from local manufacture. The resemblance in blade profiles I think is simply due to local copying of similar European patterns.

It is possible that there was importation from the Red Sea area, but I have never run across a reference to it in the period accounts from the Sahel region - just references to local manufacture and European imports.