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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
There are also those who presume that the culture of the keris blossomed since the year 1000AD.That matter is proven from the report of a Chinese traveller in the year 922AD.Thus, more or less at the time of the blossoming of the Kingdom of Kahuripan on the banks of the river Brantas. It was reported that there was a Javanese ruler who presented to the Emperor of China short swords with hilts of rhinoceros horn or gold (pedang pendek dengan hulu terbuat dari cula badak atau mas).It can be that the short swords meant in that report were the prototype keris like those shown in the reliefs of Candi Borobudur and Candi Prambanan.
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Thanks Alan for this critical examination of written material that i would otherwise have no access to. Just to further this examination, is there any evidence other than this one passage that Harsrinuksmo uses to support his "proof" that these short swords were indeed
keris at this early date and not some other form of short sword or pedang? This seems speculative at best to make such an assumption based solely on this passage. You called this a "free translation". Does Harsrinuksmo actually use words that literally translate to "proven". If so this seems irresponsible to me.
