Yemeni Sayfs? Omani Kattaras?

[kahnjar1]

It would appear from the links to Michael Blalock's pics, that the long "Yemeni/Saudi" hilt in fact is a genuine article, and not some "backyard invention". Particularly, the pic of the display in the Museum seems to confirm this. It's a pity we don't know what the descriptive caption says.....
It now remains to try and establish some time line for these, and if possible their place of origin.
I have taken the liberty of reproducing Michael's pics here for reference.
Regards Stu

[T. Koch]

Hi Stu!

Sorry for a tiny bit of OT, but in which museum was the above photo taken? The middle saber with the brass hilt appears to be a Bornean/Sumatran Piso Podang - what a strange company he here finds himself in.


Cheers, - Thor

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by T. Koch

Hi Stu!

Sorry for a tiny bit of OT, but in which museum was the above photo taken? The middle saber with the brass hilt appears to be a Bornean/Sumatran Piso Podang - what a strange company he here finds himself in.


Cheers, - Thor

Hi Thor,
I am no expert in these but also thought that Piso somewhat out of place.....I understand that the pic was taken at a Military Museum In Yemen. Michael may respond to this and clarify for us.
Regards Stu

[Gavin Nugent]

Perhaps not out of place at all....Sea trade and Arabian influences are seen in the region.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by freebooter

Perhaps not out of place at all....Sea trade and Arabian influences are seen in the region.

Salaams freebooter. Absolutely correct. A lot of estates and plantations in the Far East were owned by Yemeni landlords. In addition see Wikepedia;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaush

Quote "Since the early 19th century, large-scale Hadhramaut migration has established sizable Hadhrami minorities all around the Indian Ocean, in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Africa including Hyderabad, Bhatkal, Gangolli, Malabar, Sylhet, Java, Sumatra, Malacca and Singapore.

In Hyderabad, the community is known as Chaush and resides mostly in the neighborhood of Barkas.

Several Indonesian ministers, including former Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and former Finance Minister Mari'e Muhammad are of Hadhrami descent, as is the former Prime Minister of East Timor, Mari Al-Kathiri.

Hadhramis have also settled in large numbers along the East African coast, and two former ministers in Kenya, Shariff Nasser and Najib Balala, are of Hadhrami descent". Unquote.

For the linguists Chaush is a Turkish word which probably gave the Arabic version Jeysh (military) and the region in Hyderabad ...Barkas ...comes from the English word Barracks. Typing into search CHAUSH will unveil a part of Indo Arabian history that most people have never heard of but is fascinating reading for those that do..

The movement of Yemenis to Hyderabad was substantial thus what is important is the swordmaking potential link between Hadramaut Yemen and Hyderabad India and to what extent this migration of Arabian people to Hyderabad actually contributed to that art.

Regarding the Piso question it is entirely natural through trade and cross migration that such a weapon co-exists in the Red Sea armoury.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

It would appear from the links to Michael Blalock's pics, that the long "Yemeni/Saudi" hilt in fact is a genuine article, and not some "backyard invention". Particularly, the pic of the display in the Museum seems to confirm this. It's a pity we don't know what the descriptive caption says.....
It now remains to try and establish some time line for these, and if possible their place of origin.
I have taken the liberty of reproducing Michael's pics here for reference.
Regards Stu

Salaams kahnjar1 ~ Yes, I thought that's what we were doing?...trying to ascertain whether or not ? Try prefixing the concept with the tried and tested formula- where, what, why, when, how and who? It often works.

Further more~ and checking back through the forum library there is nothing set in "stone" here (scuse pun) and quite often a fresh look uncovers unforseen detail. For example what if the Mamluke style of sword blade on post #31 of this thread is related and is there any link to the Omani Battle Sword hilt? Not least in the questionaire is when did it appear, who used it (and for what?) and where? What I do know is this is from the Red Sea region and is absolutely not Omani...

#1 I believe holds the key...since it becomes clearly obvious that the hilt which has some age to it was made to fit this specific style of weapon therefor it was all made at the same time hilt, blade and scabbard...perhaps focus on that.

After that, the field is wide open for a "forum" solution.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.