"Funj cavalry" Topic

It's been stated that because Funj (Sennar) armoured cavalry used toe stirrups they could not use a lance, and so carried large broadswords instead. Anyone know what the source for this is or if it's backed up by period imagery?

I haven't a clue but cataphracts used lances and had no stirrups at all.

Very Victorian to say lack of stirrups means no lance.

I dunno about the Funj specifically, but Cairns' The African Knights depicts armoured cavalry further west (Bagirmi, Bornu) as using lance with toe stirrups.

stirups replaced highback sadles. not having stirups doesnt preclude lances.

In "African Arms and Armour" by Christopher Spring (pub.1993)on page 97 he states, "Their saddles were of the simplest construction, the stirrups consisting of nothing more than iron rings through which the rider placed his big toe. They were armed principally with two or more light javelins for throwing and a sturdier spear or lance for close combat." This observation is made about Sudanic African cavalry.

In Cairns' "The African Knights" page 28 the picture by Nachtigal of a Bornu lancer based on Denham's Bagirmi lancer states, "The rider's boots are split, so that he can grip the stirrup between his first and second toes." He is most definitely carrying a lance.

One would think that gripping a flexible stirrup with one's toes might be even more secure than using boots (even with heels) in a flat metal stirrup.