Jose:
Nice job on that one! I think you are right that this is most likely Maranao in origin. Do the bells resemble "tiger bells?"
A couple of years ago I picked up a very similar
kampilan, also online, with several "tiger bells." There is an interesting site devoted to these bells,
http://www.tigerbells.nl/intro.htm, that I think Gavin has mentioned here before. That same site has a page (
here) about these bells on
kampilan, and shows an example of a Maranao sword with tiger bells taken in combat by US Army Captain JJ Pershing (later General Pershing). Not all of the jingles on that sword were of the tiger bell form, however. Among Muslim groups, the occurrence of tiger bells is thought to be rare.
The significance of these bells on a Maranao sword is something I would like to learn more about. Anyone have any thoughts?
Ian.