Kaskara

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A Sudanese Kaskara Sword with scabbard Sudanese Kaskara with Scabbard.jpg
A Sudanese Kaskara Sword with scabbard
Kaskara sword and wooden handle, Tropenmuseum, Netherlands. COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Zwaard met houten greep TMnr 5939-1a.jpg
Kaskara sword and wooden handle, Tropenmuseum, Netherlands.

The kaskara is a type of traditional sword, which is characteristic of Sudan, Chad, and Eritrea. [1] The blade of the kaskara was usually about a yard long, double edged and with a spatulate tip. While most surviving examples are from the 19th century, the type is believed to have originated around the early 14th century, and may represent a localized survival of the straight, double-edged medieval Arab sword. The kaskara was worn horizontally across the back or between the upper arm and thorax. According to British Museum curator Christopher Spring, "in the central and eastern Sudan, from Chad through Darfur and across to the Red Sea province, the straight, double-edged swords known as kaskara were an essential possession of most men."

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falchion</span> One-handed, single-edged sword

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This is a list of types of swords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blade</span> Sharp cutting part of a weapon or tool

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classification of swords</span> Types of swords

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takoba</span> Type of sword used across the western Sahel

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parrying dagger</span> Small bladed weapon

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scimitar</span> Middle-Eastern sabre with a curved blade

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basket-hilted sword</span> Sword with basket-like hand protection

The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. In modern times, this variety of sword is also sometimes referred to as the broadsword.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knightly sword</span> Straight, double-edged bladed weapon

In the European High Middle Ages, the typical sword was a straight, double-edged weapon with a single-handed, cruciform hilt and a blade length of about 70 to 80 centimetres. This type is frequently depicted in period artwork, and numerous examples have been preserved archaeologically.

There are two notable swords known recovered from the River Witham, both kept in the British Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab sword</span> Weapon from The Arabian Peninsula

The Saif, sometimes called a shamshir, depending on the era, originated in Arabia before the 7th century. Little is known about this weapon besides what Al-Kindi wrote in his treatise On Swords in the 9th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turko-Mongol sabre</span> Type of cavalry sabre

The Turco-Mongol sabre, alternatively known as the Eurasian sabre or nomadic sabre, was a type of sword used by a variety of nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes, including Turkic and Mongolic groups, primarily between the 8th and 14th centuries. One of the earliest recorded sabres of this type was recovered from an Avar grave in Romania dating to the mid-7th century.

References

  1. Wills, Chuck (2006). Weaponry: An Illustrated History. Irvington, NY: Hylas Publishing. pp. 90–91. ISBN   978-1-59258-127-6.