Tooray (Billao)
Tooray (Billao)
Somali / Darod
Italian Somaliland - British Somaliland (Somaliland - Puntland)
Second quarter 20th century (ca. 1925 - 1945)
Steel, brass, horn, iron
Blade: 15,9cm
Hilt & Blade: 28,3cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: -cm
Collection Date: 2016
Collection Number: 41
Ex. US Art Market (2016)
Ex. Auctions Imperial (2015)
A variation of the billao dagger known as tooray. Used by the various Somali clans such as the Darod in Somaliland and Puntland. Related to the traditional Somali billao knives but with a slightly different hilt shape and sheath.
The blade is unsymmetrical, double- edged steel with a raised central plane and a strong squared medial ridge spanning to the point. The hilt is composed of layered segments of brass and horn with a bone central grip. There is a large missing chip to one side. Brass pommel resembling the shape of a crown. Missing its leather embossed sheath. Dating to around the World War II period, likely a military bring back from the Italian War campaigns.
This specific knife is featured on wikipedia under the Somali language page titled, Maxamed Cabdule Xasan," or in English , "Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah Hassan, who was the Somali founder and head of the Somali Dervish movement. The uploader used the photograph from a vikingsword forum thread that I posted back in 2017 showcasing a few billao examples. (Both references listed below).
Photograph 9: " A Somali Dubat," published in the 1970s Italian monthly magazine "Storia."
Photograph 10: Warrior with a similar tooray.
[1] https://www.icollector.com/A-SOMALI-BILLAO-DAGGER_i21580554
[2] https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxamed_Cabdule_Xasan
[3] http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22508
[4] http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27673&highlight=billao
[6] https://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18201
[7] https://africanarms.com/gallery.html?1-afar-dagger-29-cm