[kai]

Hello Alan,

So your "pekaka" in Post #20 was just a typo, Kai? It was that typo that roused my curiosity.

Not exactly a typo - Adni is still using pekaka which seems to be the accepted Malay spelling. I have not tried to research whether perkaka is a northern Malay spelling/pronunciation variant.

I've just had a look at "Spirit of Wood" --- great book. It seems that the authors consistently refer to the entire keris as "Keris Tajong", P120:-

<snip>

The word "tajong" is actually the name of a kind of fishing boat, and the form of a keris tajong scabbard is very similar to this boat, so I think we will find that the keris gains its name from the scabbard:- it is a tajong scabbard, and a tajong keris --- just like Jawa terminology:- a ladrangan wrongko, thus a ladrangan keris.

But what sort of hilt is it?

Regrettably the authors of this wonderful book do not give the hilt a name, they refer to it as "hilt, keris tajong" or "hulu keris tajong", in other words the hilt of a keris tajong, so the name tajong hilt is actually a descriptor rather than a name.

It is my understanding that the tajong hilt and name-giving tajong scabbard have to go with each other - neither the hilt nor the scabbard is complete/correct without the other.

Prior to 1936 Gardner wrote this about the hilt now known as the hilt for a keris tajong:-

"The hilt developed a big head with such a long nose that it has been mistaken for a kingfisher; but it is really intended to be human, and there will often be found tiny arms clasped around the body"

It is clear that Gardner knew exactly what he was writing about, and that people in Malaya prior to 1936 did refer to this hilt as a pekakak. It is equally clear that he was familiar with the hilt now known as a perkaka but he had no name for this, he just referred to it as the Northern Type Jawa Demam.

Very clear indeed that Gardner wrote exactly what he intended to write and simply reported what he heard from people living in Malaya at that time. The Two Niks seem to think he was confused, I'm sorry , but I see no confusion.

I agree we need to dig into this a bit more, especially since Stone also seems to go in the same direction even before Gardner - so the name seems to have been around in colonial circles.

Gardner was based in Johore which is pretty much the opposite end of Malaya as far as things Pattani/Kelantan are concerned. There might be a slim chance that his sources where local Malay who possibly mixed things up...

There is also the chance that the whole kingfisher thing is a late development/invention to cover-up the pre-Islamic origin of either hilt type.

Let's see if we can get some more input from within the culture (and also possibly more period sources).

About Bugis and Malay hilt form terms.

Again my thanks Kai, Bugis term : Malay term, yes, or course, I did not even consider this, I was thinking in strictly Bugis terms, for, as we are aware, when we speak of the Bugis people we speak of a culture , rather than a geographical location.

What you say about the "perkaka" form being absent from Bugis usage, might well be true, even though it would seem that Bugis keris do exist that use this form of hilt. I was coming to the same opinion as yourself, but there are a couple of pics of hilts in the Bugis book that look like pekaka type to me, but I'm probably wrong, because the camera angle doesn't show enough of the hilt for certainty.

None of the hilts in this book is of the northern Malay type (with its characteristic shark fin but also characteristic proportions/details).

While this JD variant is most commonly seen with northern Malay blades (especially but not limited to pandai saras blades) and the taller northern Malay scabbard variant, it also does show up with more typical keris Bugis-Melayu. I can't remember seeing it combined with fittings that seem to suggest a Bone/Gowa origin though - if you can come up with pics, this would be certainly interesting.

Regards,
Kai