Yes Gustav, we've been down this road before.
If we're talking about Sumatera, second half, 19th century, probably any definitive answer depends upon interpretation of local belief in the place where these hilts originated, at that time.
I don't have any answers in respect of this, and quite frankly, I don't have any idea where such answers might be found.
One of the repeated problems that I have found in trying to attach any reliable information in respect of belief in talismanic objects, or anything else for that matter, is that things that are often generally accepted as long standing beliefs passed down from the ancestors very often turn out to be no more than a generation or two old. Not only that, but individual informants often change direction depending on how they feel on the day.
In short, in respect of beliefs in Indonesia it is often best to qualify everything by statements that name the informant, place and time, something like:-
" on (date) I was told by (informant) that (this material) is regarded by (inhabitants of) this (place) as being very efficacious for
(whatever)" .
Ask the same person the same question next year the reply is likely to alter.
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