PAKARANG KASOENDAN (Weapons of the Soenda)

[Amuk Murugul]

Hullo everybody,
FYI.

KOEDJANG:

The Koedjang is a traditional implement which has become synonymous with Oerang Soenda identity.
It started life as a simple farming tool (viz. the arit/sickle) and evolved into what it is today.

As a traditional symbol, its protocol virtually restricted the use of the variety of koedjang to the Pangreh Pradja/Prijaji (‘rulers of the realm’/governing bureaucracy), leaving only the basic farming-tool type for the common people.
Although the clergy were also allocated use of the koedjang, they were primarily as talismanic symbols of the clergy’s function: to nurture and protect the spiritual strength of the realm.


Koedjang Anatomy( ref. illustration 1 )

Waroega ( Body/Blade )
Tjongo/Papatoek ( Tip/Beak ), for gouging
Beuteung ( Stomach/Front Edge ), sharp edge for cutting/slicing
Tonggong ( Back/Back Edge ), sharp edge for cutting/slicing
Eloek ( Arc ), along the tonggong
Siih/Tjoetjoek ( Spur/Thorn ), along the tonggong; for ripping/tearing
Mata ( Eye/Eyelet ), along the tonggong (1-9, odd number); filled with precious metal. (Illustration 1 shows a koedjang-boepati, 5 eyelets)
Tadah ( Collector ), for blocking/disarming
Paksi/Boentoet/Paseuk ( Tang, inside Landean )
Seloet (Metal Spacer/Ring ), for firm handling
Pamor ( Damascene ), for poison retention
Tjombong ( Hole ), tang-hole in handle
Landean/Perah ( Handle )
Kopak/Kowak/Sarangka/Saroeng ( Sheath )


Basic Koedjang classification:

Tjioeng ( Whistling Thrush ): both illustrations are examples of this type
Djago/Hajam ( Rooster )
Koentoel ( Egret )
Bangkong ( Frog )
Naga ( Serpent )
Badak ( Rhinoceros )
Pamangkas ( Cutter/Clipper/Chopper/Slasher, a farming tool ): for common folk, typically a sickle or billhook
Bikang ( Female ): for females of nobility and those with definite functions
- Tjioeng
- Koentoel
Koedi: for females only
Boeta ( Blind ): has no eyelets

Koedjang Length: About two handspans (~ 42cm.), from point of blade to end of handle.
Koedjang Bikang: They were only half the size of the normal Koedjang.
Koedi: It is similar to the Koedjang, but with similar twin edges, serrated, with spurs and no beuteung or tonggong. It is the same size as the Koedjang Bikang. They are made of steel, finer than the Koedjang and like Koedjang Boeta, don’t have eyelets.

An anomaly:
The koedjang emblem for the regency of Bogor has FOUR eyelets.
This is because when the then Dutch governor-general created this regency (1689), (traditionally) it did not have the population to warrant a boepati/regent (5 eyelets). Thus the first ‘boepati’ of Bogor was a wadana (one level lower than boepati; 3 eyelets) but officially treated as a boepati. So actually, he was a kind of 'wadana-boepati', a thus-created new 'rank'. To reflect this, a fourth eyelet was added to the blade of his koedjang, but opposite the normal position ( ref. illustration 2 ). This koedjang indicates a rank higher than a wadana but lower than a boepati.

Best,