African Late 19th Century Sudanic Kaskara & Scabbard

Original era manufacture. A large, medieval pattern sword with a wide, double edged, 33 inch steel blade, decorated with two half moons on each side. There is a central fuller running nearly the entire length on each side. The handmade steel blade shows imperfections in it's making, but is quite sharp and a lethal weapon in the hands of a skilled swordsman, minor corrosion issues near the point.Crusader-like steel guard with a simple, flat shaped, steel covered guard. Wrapped steel grip, with an oval pommel with a pointed top.   The scabbard is nicely done in hardened leather with a simple decoration. Both scabbard suspension loops are present, however they display considerable age and wear. Hand wrought brass trim decoration on the chape, with a flat steel throat decorated with three bands of brass.Overall the sword and scabbard are quite sound for their age, although the metal throat will slip off when drawing the blade if not careful. Swords of this pattern were wielded with great effect by the Ansars of the Mahdi, their incredibly brave onslaughts against the British Square are legendary, inspiring Rudyard Kipling  to write a poem in their honor entitled Fuzzy-Wuzzy, 'for they broke the British Square'.   This one was in our own collection for many years, I have two others; just can't be my own best customer.