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Originally Posted by Battara
Ashoka - an unusual piece. Usually I see these wavy blades from the Visayas or the Ilocanos. Cavite is far from both. Hmm.......
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Interesting... That is with out a doubt a Cavite sword. The Revolution started in Manila on August 23, 1896. August 30 is the official date Cavite joined the revolution.
Undoubtedly with the differences we see in all the swords of this era, many had to be custom made for individuals. This being a quality piece, I would definitely say it was made for a high ranking individual in the Katipunan. There were only two Katipunan factions in Cavite; the Magdalo(Emilio Aguinaldos group) and the Magdiwang(Mariano Alvarezs group). Both were rivals to one another(The Supremo Andres Bonifacio was associated and accepted with the Magdiwang). The wavy blade is obviously of Ilocos or south Philippines, so it is very odd to see this coming from Cavite. But there was a famous Ilocano hero who achieved a high ranked status in Cavite during the revolution, his name is Artemio Ricarte(El Vibora - the Viper). Ricarte was born in Ilocos Norte and later resided in Cavite as a school teacher prior to the revolution. And interestingly enough, he was accepted and affiliated with both Katipunan groups of Cavite...it was well known Aguinaldo gave gifts to high ranked officers of his rival(the Magdiwang) in order for them to switch sides. Ricarte was a Magdiwang member Aguinaldo highly sought. During the Tejeros Convention in 1897(which was made up of nearly all Cavitenos and heavily Magdalo influenced), Ricarte(the only Ilocano) was elected Captain-General of the Army...which is a extremely high position for a outsider, and I would say is a position higher then the Supremo Andres Bonifacio(elected Director of Interior). This elected position for Ricarte shows the love and high respect they all had for Ricarte. Well anyways, not saying this could be Ricartes sword, but you can see the possibility of how a Ilocano style blade could of been custom made for a Ilocano rebel in Cavite. Also worth mentioning, during this era, more particularly in Luzon then in the deep south, many families moved and resided in other regions. It was not uncommon to see Tagalogs living in Ilocos region or Ilocanos in Tagalog territory...so this could just very well be a sword made by a Cavite smith who wanted to replicate a Ilocano blade. But I still would like to believe it was made for El Vibora.
