Takoba

The takoba is a straight, double edged sword about a meter long used across the western Sahel by peoples including the Tuareg, Hausa, and Fulani, with a tapering blade cut by multiple hand ground fullers and a rounded tip. Because Tuareg custom forbids warriors from touching iron directly, the hilt is entirely covered, typically in tooled leather over an iron or wood crossguard with brass or silver fittings, a metal pommel usually of brass or copper, and a scabbard of elaborately worked leather; the swords themselves are forged by the inhaden caste of smiths, whom the Tuareg warrior class credits with something like magical skill. How closely sword carrying was restricted to the warrior class, as against vassals, remains debated, and the quality of blade and fittings a takoba carried generally reflected its owner's wealth. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/