Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

278 III. Судан и его соседи Fallata/Fulani, Baggara and Abbala Arab tribes, etc., who followed the same Bedouin pattern of life with a correspondent tribal military system. Besides, in Sudan, as well as in the neighbouring takouba -dominated Sahara area, the external cultural influences were limited, resulting in a particular ‘traditionalism’ of the local society. It was always a peripheral area in terms of the Middle Eastern history. The eastern military practices of the Abbasid era never reached farther than Egypt. Thus in Maghrib the tribal levy has never been replaced by semi-regular ghulam contingents of the emirs. Later, theGreat Steppe influence did not affect this area either, and no outer invasion ever reached it in pre-colonial period; thus only Egyptian influence was of some significance. The absence of the Steppes’ ‘impulses’ is of particular importance, since the transition from straight blades to curved ones, as it has beenmentioned, took place in the Middle East after the coming of the Mongols. In Sudan, as well as in the neighbouring Sahara, the traditional society remained almost unchanged. Thus traditions of tribal warfare inherent in older Arabian society managed to survive there, providing a social basis for preserving the straight blade. There was simply no objective need to invent some new weapons, as the traditional sword remained appropriate for the given type of warfare. As external cultural influences were also limited, this led to the survival of the straight sword throughout centuries, though in its regional form in each particular area. The same — to some extent — is true for the rest of Maghrib (beyond Sahara), Oman and Arabia in general, as the Bedouin warfare did not seriously change, being not affected by the problems which the Mamluks had faced. This factor allowed them to preserve the straight blade in their arsenal for a much longer period than in Syria and Egypt, but in their case the older tradition was finally undermined by a stronger external influence — the European one in Maghrib and the Persian in Arabia and Oman. In result, the foreign influence and objective advantages of the sabre eventually led to the victory of the latter. The sabre became dominant; and even the straight swords’ types that survived in those areas underwent serious changes. Thus, only in the case of Sudan and the neighbouring Sahara-Sahel region the early Arabic tradition remained almost intact. But even there it was not a stagnation, as a certain development took place. A typical