Lelas
 

A word encountered in a report of a pirate attack near Sumbawa in +/- 1850:-

"--- she carried eight lillas as well as one large caliber gun---"

Does anybody know what a lillas is?

I've looked at Portuguese, Dutch, Javanese, Malay, Classical Malay, Oxford on Historical Principles.

Cannot find the word anywhere.

Attention Moderators.
 

The spelling is wrong.

It should be "lela", in use it would be "meriam lela".

It was a type of Malay lantaka, a light swivel gun. Some say double barrelled and longer than a normal lantaka, others say single barrel, just another name for a lantaka.

Mods, could you shift this to the Ethno Forum?

Thanks.

Thank you, Alan, for providing me with this interesting tidbit. As a collector of 'all things pirate', I was unaware of the name of the small, double barreled lantaka that almost looks like a pistol for use. Per haps this female of which you mention carried them in a bandolier, Blackbeard-style? Or just in a basket or bag (that was a lot of armament to go running around with!!)
Mark

Mark, "meriam" means "cannon" in Malay, some definitions of a lela give it as longer than a normal lantaka, some give it as doubled barrelled as well, so by either definition it was bigger than a normal lantaka, and a lantaka was a swivel gun used by boats, ships, canoes. It was not a pistol style weapon, but some of the smaller lantakas could be picked up by one man and carried.

Hi Alan and thanks for the clarification. I am actually mortified by the fact that I took your quote of the 'she' to be an actual female!!! :o Now, in reference to the size of these larger lantaka, the 'she' obviously refers to a ship! Thus, a Malay vessel well-armed with these amazing cannons-

Moved ... and title edited, as i though you wished, Alan :cool: .

Please see https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Lantaka where a good description and notes also about bamboo cannon are placed as well as this Miriam Lela weapon which as previously noted can be a double barrel affair...
:shrug:

A quotation from the reference states Quote "Typically the earliest cannon with beautiful ornaments from this region are from foundries in the Malacca and Pahang,[1] with later models from foundries in the Netherlands and Portugal, next from their respective settlements, and finally from Brunei and other local craftsmen. However, there were also double-barreled variants that were used extensively in the Philippines. In Malaysia, these double-barreled variants are called Meriam Lela (Malay for 'Lela Cannon') and appears to be longer than a typical Lantaka." Unquote.

Intriguing that this weapon had a number of roles including honouring dignitaries with gun salutes, protecting from pirates and as a barter system and gifted for safe passage.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

:shrug: