Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 26th January 2022, 06:33 AM

I do not know what a "gobang Bandung is".

I know what a gobang is, its a Javanese general purpose knife with big blade.

Interestingly, in Bahasa Indonesia a "gobang" is a coin with a hole in the middle --- 19th century I think.

I know what a golok is, and this blade looks like a golok to me.

Hilts such as the one on this implement are not unusual on Colonial era weapons in Central Jawa.

The scabbard looks very much like Kota Gede or Ngayogyakarta work, the motif is very common in Central Jawa.

I would welcome being educated on exactly what a "gobang Bandung" is, and the reference. As I said, I have never heard this term in Jawa --- or outside Jawa either, but it appears to be used fairly freely in this Forum.

One additional thing, I doubt that the blade will display pamor, I think we're looking at sanak, but with a relatively high inclusion of steel rather than iron.

EDIT

I think I might have answered my own question.

The word "gobang" occurs in a number of Malayo-Polynesian languages. In Javanese it is a general purpose knife with a large blade, in Sundanese it is a type of sabre. The word appears to be generic, much as "pedang" is generic.

Rigg gives "golok" as the direct Malay equivalent of the Sundanese "gobang".

It appears that the addition of "Bandung" was probably a reference to the area where some early gobangs in European collections were acquired.

https://docplayer.net/123814397-Rese...ger-sword.html

so "Gobang Bandung" would seem to be a description, rather than a name.

26th January 2022, 06:33 AM	#12
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,697	I do not know what a "gobang Bandung is". I know what a gobang is, its a Javanese general purpose knife with big blade. Interestingly, in Bahasa Indonesia a "gobang" is a coin with a hole in the middle --- 19th century I think. I know what a golok is, and this blade looks like a golok to me. Hilts such as the one on this implement are not unusual on Colonial era weapons in Central Jawa. The scabbard looks very much like Kota Gede or Ngayogyakarta work, the motif is very common in Central Jawa. I would welcome being educated on exactly what a "gobang Bandung" is, and the reference. As I said, I have never heard this term in Jawa --- or outside Jawa either, but it appears to be used fairly freely in this Forum. One additional thing, I doubt that the blade will display pamor, I think we're looking at sanak, but with a relatively high inclusion of steel rather than iron. EDIT I think I might have answered my own question. The word "gobang" occurs in a number of Malayo-Polynesian languages. In Javanese it is a general purpose knife with a large blade, in Sundanese it is a type of sabre. The word appears to be generic, much as "pedang" is generic. Rigg gives "golok" as the direct Malay equivalent of the Sundanese "gobang". It appears that the addition of "Bandung" was probably a reference to the area where some early gobangs in European collections were acquired. https://docplayer.net/123814397-Rese...ger-sword.html so "Gobang Bandung" would seem to be a description, rather than a name. Last edited by A. G. Maisey; 26th January 2022 at 11:53 AM.