Sorry David, I know. Just when I read "Minangkabau culture is distinctly different from the Malay cultures of the Peninsula as well as other cultures on Sumatra", - Minang culture IS Malay culture, and a part of the Malay culture on Peninsula, one of it's oldest parts. Encyclopaedia Britannica from 1911 says:
"MENANGKABOS, the most civilized of all the true Malays of Sumatra, inhabiting the mountains above Padang. Their district is regarded as the cradle of the Malay race, and thence began, about 1160, those migrations which ended in the true Malays becoming the dominant race throughout the peninsula and the Malay Archipelago."
The date mentioned is somewhat of a legend, but around 1400 there is a bigger wave of Minang settling in Peninsula.
Well, I don't know about connection between small sized Minang Keris and dress Keris on Peninsula. What is for sure, Keris Panjang on Peninsula is an invention by Minang, the best Panjang coming from Rumbowe.
But it is appropriate to say, Keris (Karih) is part of ceremonial Minang dress. Being primarily such and not a weapon anymore, Keris surely becomes diminutive in size. Known are even Minang specimens with wooden blades.
Regarding influence of bans on wearing Kris on emergence of diminutive Keris form - wasn't there a ban on Keris imposed by Dutch on Minang after the Padri wars, which ended 1837?
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