View Single Post
Old 31st January 2005, 10:44 AM   #14
MABAGANI
Member
 
MABAGANI's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 221
Default

The same can be asked of Makassar and Ternate, an explanation can be they both fall to foreign rule, while Brunei, Sulu and Mindanao remain independent. If you've read either the Darangen or the Indapatra, they both had pre-Islamic roots but in the Darangen, there began a mix of Islamic culture intertwined with earlier beliefs, yet still no mention of the kris, a curiousity...
So where does Sulu/Tausug and the barung in your opinion fall into place, if the Maranao and Iranun retain the kampilan early on as their weapon of choice with the kris coming at some later point. Again it is in the 17th century where I find first mention of the barung and strangely it is in relation to Maguindanao history. In regards to the diffusion of the keris to kris, I don't see it only limited to Sulu, there are clear examples of the early form transcending the major Moro regions that remained independent including Brunei, Sulu, Maguindanao and Maranao each carrying their own characteristics but only one verifiable point in history where they converge, during the rise of the Maguindanao Sultanate, an explanation for the uniform shape of the early kris form. This does not point to an exclusive origin to the Maguindanao but a joint effort among the various Sultanates to consolidate culturally. The barung became favored among the Tausug and was later used to indentify themselves as a distinct group as they began their rise to power while the Maguindanaos declined.
btw After studying Tausug Silat and the traditional use of the barung, I see no relation to what I've heard repeated over and over among some eskrima and arnis practitioners and the short stick or close range fighting systems, that their art is based on the barung, its been passed on as truth for as long as I can remember but needs a good hard look at reality among FMA teachers.

Last edited by MABAGANI; 1st February 2005 at 08:01 AM.
MABAGANI is offline   Reply With Quote