Subject: ناصر nāṣir 'helper' cavalry

Culture: Sudanese

Setting: Mahdist states, 1880s-1910s

Object: kaskara sword

Higgins Armory Museum > Scimitars to Samurai: Arms around the World *

"Kaskara (sword) with scabbard, 1800s Sudanic region, northern Africa

Steel; iron; wood; crocodile skin; leather; scabbard: tooled leather; fabric; brass; iron Weight: 1 lb. 14 oz. (sword only)" ...

Museo Nacional de Antropología > Africa *

"Espada. Tuareg. [SIC] Sahara Occidental." [SIC]

Higgins Armory Museum *

* Royal Armouries Museum > Oriental Gallery

"Sword (kaskara) Sudanese, 19th century

The typical sword of the eastern Sahara was the kaskara.

With its cross-shaped guard and straight, double-edged blade, the kaskara has often been mistaken for

the European medieval sword. Kaskaras frequently incorporate imported European blades."

National Museum of Ireland -- Decorative Arts and History > Soldiers and Chiefs: The Irish at War at Home and Abroad since 1550 *

"Sudanese Sword, Scabbard & knife taken on battlefield" ...

* Royal Armouries Museum > Oriental Gallery

"Sword (kaskara) Sudanese, Darfur, dated 1898/9

The finest kaskara were made for the Sultan 'Ali Dinar or Darfur (1898-1916).

This example has a 17th century Italian blade. The inscriptions on the blade record that it was made for 'Ali Dinar,

and passed to his son, 'Abd al-Rahman, in 1909/10." ...

Royal Armouries Museum > Oriental Gallery *

"Swords (kaskara) Sudanese, Darfur, 19th century

Both of these swords have silver mounted hilts decorated with the embossed work of the swordsmiths of Darfur."