Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Dimasalang · 20th March 2009, 11:02 PM

I don’t know, I would just label this sword, “Visayan/Talibon/Garab/Pulahan/Dios Dios type sword”.

I agree this is a Pulahan type sword too, but the date is interesting. In 1899, the Pulahan was really in its infancy and was not really established at that time…and it is possible they did not exist yet. Faustino Ablen is said to be the originator of the Pulahans. During the Spanish era he was in prison, he was not released until the Americans came along(~1899). Papa Ablen was originally a member of the Dios Dios(God-God) group. The Dios Dios started in the early 1890s and became famous in the mid-to-late 1890s...some members of this group participated in the Revolution of 1896(Ablen being one of them). After Ablen was released, he branched off from the Dios Dios and his group evolved in to the Pulahans. As far as farming tool, I wouldn't think so. The Pulahans had several different tribes...they were Mountain dwellers/Nomads. They did farm a bit, their main cash crop was hemp. But prior to either group, there has always been conflict between the mountain tribes and the costal villagers for centuries…they were always on the move and constantly fighting, I would believe that is the main purpose of these type of weapon. And the Pulahan group just became the most ruthless in terms of fighting and killing after the Phil-Am War because they did not spare anyone, and that includes women and children. All the while, their religion spread like wild fire, within a couple years(1900-1902) there were said to be 15-20,000 members, and they terrorized everyone including US soldiers and the Philippine Constabulary. So fighting south of Luzon continued with the Americans years after the Philippine-American War(ended 1902). Fighting didn’t start easing until the capture of Ablen in 1907. The last fighting Pulahan group belonged to Papa Otoy…Otoy was killed in Oct of 1911. Sad really, the Pulahans do not get much recognition in history as say the Moros...many Pulahan battles are confused with and grouped in with the Moro uprisings because both groups were fighting the Americans at the same time. They are nothing close to the Moro Muslims, in fact they were nothing more than a crazed Christian killer cult.
To go even more off topic. Some eskrima grandmasters claimed to have been taught by members of the Pulahans. For example, Floro Villabrille claims to have been taught eskrima by a "blind" princess from the Pulahan group of the Gandara Samar region....another group claims their grandfather was taught eskrima from Faustino Ablen himself. The Pulahan group still exists today. After the fighting in the early part of the 20th century, they migrated south…covering the Cebu and north Mindanao area. A few years ago this Pulahan group had it out with swords in hand with another Christian cult group.
Rival Cults in Surigao Norte Clash

20th March 2009, 11:02 PM	#15
Dimasalang Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 264	I don’t know, I would just label this sword, “Visayan/Talibon/Garab/Pulahan/Dios Dios type sword”. I agree this is a Pulahan type sword too, but the date is interesting. In 1899, the Pulahan was really in its infancy and was not really established at that time…and it is possible they did not exist yet. Faustino Ablen is said to be the originator of the Pulahans. During the Spanish era he was in prison, he was not released until the Americans came along(~1899). Papa Ablen was originally a member of the Dios Dios(God-God) group. The Dios Dios started in the early 1890s and became famous in the mid-to-late 1890s...some members of this group participated in the Revolution of 1896(Ablen being one of them). After Ablen was released, he branched off from the Dios Dios and his group evolved in to the Pulahans. As far as farming tool, I wouldn't think so. The Pulahans had several different tribes...they were Mountain dwellers/Nomads. They did farm a bit, their main cash crop was hemp. But prior to either group, there has always been conflict between the mountain tribes and the costal villagers for centuries…they were always on the move and constantly fighting, I would believe that is the main purpose of these type of weapon. And the Pulahan group just became the most ruthless in terms of fighting and killing after the Phil-Am War because they did not spare anyone, and that includes women and children. All the while, their religion spread like wild fire, within a couple years(1900-1902) there were said to be 15-20,000 members, and they terrorized everyone including US soldiers and the Philippine Constabulary. So fighting south of Luzon continued with the Americans years after the Philippine-American War(ended 1902). Fighting didn’t start easing until the capture of Ablen in 1907. The last fighting Pulahan group belonged to Papa Otoy…Otoy was killed in Oct of 1911. Sad really, the Pulahans do not get much recognition in history as say the Moros...many Pulahan battles are confused with and grouped in with the Moro uprisings because both groups were fighting the Americans at the same time. They are nothing close to the Moro Muslims, in fact they were nothing more than a crazed Christian killer cult. To go even more off topic. Some eskrima grandmasters claimed to have been taught by members of the Pulahans. For example, Floro Villabrille claims to have been taught eskrima by a "blind" princess from the Pulahan group of the Gandara Samar region....another group claims their grandfather was taught eskrima from Faustino Ablen himself. The Pulahan group still exists today. After the fighting in the early part of the 20th century, they migrated south…covering the Cebu and north Mindanao area. A few years ago this Pulahan group had it out with swords in hand with another Christian cult group. Rival Cults in Surigao Norte Clash