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Originally Posted by Ian
It has long been my understanding that the "Malay sundang" was a variant of the Moro kris, a sort of back development from the historic origin of the kris from the keris. In handling a few older Malay sundang, which were consistent with pre-1900 manufacture, I was impressed by the feel that they had in hand which was different from the more substantial Moro kris. My sense was that these "Malay" versions were somewhat lighter and thinner in the blades, although their straight blades were quite wide. That suggested to me that at least the older ones were not imported from the Sulu Archipelago or Mindanao, but were made elsewhere. My assumption was that they were made in what is today Malaysia. I'm willing to accept that these could have been made, say, in Brunei or North Borneo, but I have no good reason to think that is where they were made.
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Ian, i believe we are pretty much on the same page here. The keris travelled to the Philippines, developed into the slashing, longer blade and then was re-introduced back into Indonesia mist probably through trade lines with the Bugis people. While the example that started this thread is more than likely exactly what you describe i remain fairly confident that there are numerous examples of Malay Sundang with indigenous Indonesian blades that were in fact not created solely for the tourist trade. I also don't know whether to not these blades were made in Borneo, Brunei or even somewhere on the Peninsula, but i am fairly certain that they did not originate with Moro smiths and were not created as souvenirs.