.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This powerful sword was made for ‘Ali Dinar ibn Zakariya, the last Sultan of the Keira or Fur Sultanate of Darfur. When the British quashed the uprising of the Sudanese Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad in 1898, ‘Ali Dinar re-established the sultanate of Darfur and ruled until 1916 when he was overthrown by the British and his territory was annexed into Sudan. This sword was made two years before this momentous event.
Although characteristically Sudanese, the form of the kaskara was clearly based upon European swords of the Middle Ages with its large cruciform cross-guard. For further discussion on similar swords please see D. Alexander, The Art of War, Vol.XXI, London, 1992, cat.no.144 and Howard Ricketts, Splendeur des Armes Orientales, 1988, pp.145, 151 and 204, nos.256 and 257. Our sword, like others in the group has lengthy inscriptions on the blade, and a heavily worked silver grip and pommel. Julie Anderson writes that such rich weapons cannot thus be considered ‘munitions’ grade (like the many known rifles that bear the name of ‘Ali Dinar), but that they were elite items that belonged to his personal armoury (Julie Anderson et al, ‘Royal Regalia: a sword of the last Sultan of Darfur, Ali Dinar’, Sudan & Nubia, The Sudan Archaeological Research Society, Bulletin no. 20, 2016, p.163). Each side of the blade of our kaskara, and the chape, is marked with the name ‘Abd al-Rashid. This was the name of ‘Ali Dinar’s great grand-father, and it may be that this was an inherited blade that was reworked in al-Fashir, possibly with the addition of a new guard and/or grip and then inscribed at the Sultan’s command (Anderson et al, 2006, p.168).
Few similar swords are published, but examples are known in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection (recently exhibited in the Ashmolean exhibition, Power and Protection – Francesca Leoni, Power and Protection. Islamic Art and the Supernatural, exhibition catalogue, Oxford, 2016, p.75, no.39), the British Museum, the Durham Sudan Archive and the Sultan ‘Ali Dinar Museum in Al-Fashir. In total there are only around 10 outside Sudan, including that offered here. A similar sword was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 5 October 2011, lot 317.
Sir Harold MacMichael (1882-1969), by whom this sword was acquired, presumably as the British forces took over ‘Ali Dinar’s palace, was a British colonial administrator who joined the Sudan Political Service in the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium government in 1905 and published extensively on the Sudan - many of his papers are now in the Sudan Archive, Durham (https://www.dur.ac.uk/library/asc/sudan/GB 33) as well as in St Antony’s College and the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and the University of Khartoum. In 1916 he was the Political Officer in the Darfur Expeditionary Force and he ended his time with the Sudan Political service as Civil Secretary (1926- 1934). He was later governor and Commander in Chief of Tanganyika (1934-1938) and High Commissioner and Commander in Chief Palestine (1938-1944).
Although characteristically Sudanese, the form of the kaskara was clearly based upon European swords of the Middle Ages with its large cruciform cross-guard. For further discussion on similar swords please see D. Alexander, The Art of War, Vol.XXI, London, 1992, cat.no.144 and Howard Ricketts, Splendeur des Armes Orientales, 1988, pp.145, 151 and 204, nos.256 and 257. Our sword, like others in the group has lengthy inscriptions on the blade, and a heavily worked silver grip and pommel. Julie Anderson writes that such rich weapons cannot thus be considered ‘munitions’ grade (like the many known rifles that bear the name of ‘Ali Dinar), but that they were elite items that belonged to his personal armoury (Julie Anderson et al, ‘Royal Regalia: a sword of the last Sultan of Darfur, Ali Dinar’, Sudan & Nubia, The Sudan Archaeological Research Society, Bulletin no. 20, 2016, p.163). Each side of the blade of our kaskara, and the chape, is marked with the name ‘Abd al-Rashid. This was the name of ‘Ali Dinar’s great grand-father, and it may be that this was an inherited blade that was reworked in al-Fashir, possibly with the addition of a new guard and/or grip and then inscribed at the Sultan’s command (Anderson et al, 2006, p.168).
Few similar swords are published, but examples are known in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection (recently exhibited in the Ashmolean exhibition, Power and Protection – Francesca Leoni, Power and Protection. Islamic Art and the Supernatural, exhibition catalogue, Oxford, 2016, p.75, no.39), the British Museum, the Durham Sudan Archive and the Sultan ‘Ali Dinar Museum in Al-Fashir. In total there are only around 10 outside Sudan, including that offered here. A similar sword was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 5 October 2011, lot 317.
Sir Harold MacMichael (1882-1969), by whom this sword was acquired, presumably as the British forces took over ‘Ali Dinar’s palace, was a British colonial administrator who joined the Sudan Political Service in the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium government in 1905 and published extensively on the Sudan - many of his papers are now in the Sudan Archive, Durham (https://www.dur.ac.uk/library/asc/sudan/GB 33) as well as in St Antony’s College and the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and the University of Khartoum. In 1916 he was the Political Officer in the Darfur Expeditionary Force and he ended his time with the Sudan Political service as Civil Secretary (1926- 1934). He was later governor and Commander in Chief of Tanganyika (1934-1938) and High Commissioner and Commander in Chief Palestine (1938-1944).