Philippine weapons in Spanish museums

[Dimasalang]

Originally Posted by migueldiaz

Anyway, the pics below are from Museo Naval. An intriguing thing was the presence of Japanese katanas. One theory thus was that Spain used Japanese mercenaries then. Yet perhaps another possibility is that some of the Filipinos who joined the Spanish military then were armed with imported katanas.

In San Buenaventura's 1613 and Ruiz's 1630 Spanish-Tagalog dictionaries, they used "katana" to refer to a sword in the Tagalog dialect. It's a loan word of course, as there's no native "katana" word in Tagalog.

But the presence of katanas in the Philippines then, and the usage of the term to refer to the common sword actually makes a lot of sense. And that's because the Philippines then has been trading with China, Japan, Siam (Thailand), etc., long before the Spaniards came.

The complete San Diego pics are HERE.

Lorenz, check out "Events in the Philippine Islands"(or the original Spanish version: Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas) by Dr Antonio de Morga published in 1609...they are now released in English or Tagalog as "History of the Philippine Islands Vol I and II". Im sure you know of this book, but maybe you haven't looked in to it for the Japanese connection. For those that don't know Morga, he was a high ranking colonial official, but he is best remembered as a historian...and his book documents the history of the Philippine islands from 1493 to 1603. He also led the Spanish naval battle with the Dutch in 1600(which Lorenz mentioned previously). Jose Rizal and many historians today study his work. Morga makes mention of the Japanese in the Philippines on several hundred accounts, and some being of war. In one instance Morga speaks of one Japanese mestizo and his Japanese counterparts living in a Japanese community in Manila. They are hired men and collaborated at one time with Spanish forces. In 1594 the King of Cambodia fled to Laos after being invaded by the King of Siam(Thailand). In 1596 Luis Pérez Dasmariñas(son of Gomez) set sail for Cambodia with 3 ships consisting of Filipino, Japanese, and Spanish warriors...they planned to reconquer Cambodia for the Cambodian king. This plan failed once two of the ships reached the docks and made conflict with the residing community.
Morga also mentions he received notice of a possible invasion by Japan, but explains, due to their lack of ships and navigational skills they would never succeed. These are just bits and pieces I just looked up in the book...I myself still haven't really sat down and looked through it completely or thoroughly...I think I'll do that now. Katanas and samurai swords were possibly traded for goods in and around the Philippines, but as you can see also, there were in fact documented Japanese warriors roaming around the Philippines. Interesting don't you think...these Samurai warriors as hired men during the 15-16th century settling in the Philippines.

[migueldiaz]

sajen, nonoy, jose, gav, thanks for the comments.

ron, i don't have the pic of the whole design. in some museums for pieces like this, they put a mirror behind the item.

dimasalang, thanks for the comments on the samurais in the phils. i should read again morga as i missed that part

talking about phil. history, at the agustinianos' library in valladolid, spain (where museo oriental is located), i spent merely about half an hour at the library and i already found interesting titles (excerpts of some articles are below, and the entire articles are here .

i think [dimasalang] should spent at least a month there at valladolid!

[migueldiaz]

below are some more pics from museo naval in madrid.

the shipyard was in cavite (along manila bay), where many ships were built during the colonial period. the parao is a type of "pirate" ship that was used also in southern philippines then, i suppose.

the entire photo album is here.

[migueldiaz]

Another museum I saw was Museo Oriental in Valladolid (about 1 hour by train from Madrid).

I can't post the pics I took because of the museum policy. I bought their books on Phil. items, and below are sample pics from the book (the other pics are here).

[migueldiaz]

The last museum I saw is Museo de America, in Madrid.

Below are sample pics. Most of the items are inside a cabinet, which glass is textured(!) thus the poor pics.

All of the pics I took are here.

[Battara]

Once again some great pictures. Thank you for all your efforts and hard work. Love the Bagobo shield.

[VANDOO]

GREAT PICTURES WITH AN INTERESTING SELECTION OF WAR CLUBS. IT LOOKS TO BE 5 CLUBS FIJI/TONGAN, 2 SAMOA, 1 SOLOMON ISLANDS AND ONE SHORT CLUB FROM SOUTH AMERICA.
ITS NEAT TO SEE THE PHILIPPINE MORO KRISES WITH THE DAYAK DESIGNS ON THEM. THE THIRD PICTURE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE LAST GROUP IS OF A KRIS WITH A FIGURAL HANDLE. IS THERE ANY INFORMATION ON IT IN THE BOOK? I HAVE A KRIS WITH A SIMULAR FIGURAL HANDLE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO PIN DOWN AS TO WHERE IT ORIGINATED.

[laEspadaAncha]

Lorenz,

I have greatly enjoyed pouring over these photos - Thank you for taking the time to document your visits and to post all the photos you have...

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by laEspadaAncha

Lorenz,

I have greatly enjoyed pouring over these photos - Thank you for taking the time to document your visits and to post all the photos you have...

Thanks too. I enjoyed compiling the pics as well

Incidentally for everybody's info, here's a list of Filipino items I saw on display at Museo del Ejercito (the army museum), in Toledo:

A. ETHNOGRAPHIC SECTION

1. ME(CE) 43366: kampilan, Phil., Jolo archip., donated by Lt. Col. Fernando Molina in 1895

2. 43399: ligua [i.e., head axe], Phil., island of Luzon 1840; steel and wood, shaped & carved; donated by Lt. Gen. Narciso Claveria in 1850

3. 43020: cris, donated by Datto Dacula, ruler of Mindanao and Jolo, Phil., islands of Jolo and Mindanao, 1835; steel, wood, and vegetable fiber, shaped and carved and embossed; donated by Capt. Fernando Halcon in 1839

4. 120072; 120088; 120093; 120096; etc. - pics of Moros and other Filipinos

B. ESTADO LIBERAL SECTION

1. 43108: armadura [Moro armor]; armadura del Sultan Datto de Iligan

2. 43108.01: campilan; with disc and hair decoration at hilt

3. 43012.01[?]: campilan

4. 43219 - escudo [Kalinga-Igorot shield]

5. 43402 - ligua o hacha [head axe]

C. THE REFORMATION OF THE MONARCHY SECTION

1. 43075: machetes Filipinos [i.e., one left- and one right-handed chisel edged tenegres, with silver cladding on the 'monster' pommels] de Valeriano Weyner [a top general in the Phils. then];

2. 43397: machete golok; 1890-1895 [this is a typical Luzon tabak with a D-guard]

3. 43235: standard for the katipunan oath [green and red thick textile, with "KKK" and sun symbol, and with tassels on all edges]

4. 43393: mandil de Katipunan [with an image of a Spaniard's decapitated head being held by a hand, and an image of a dagger on the other hand]

D. [SECTION??]

1. 42280: campilan

2. 43219: escudo [Mindanao; this is the typical hour-glass shaped shield with sun symbol at the middle]

3. 43166: machete talibong [this is the typical Cebu variety]

4. 43266: machete barong

5. 43015: cris

6. 43292: machete panabas

E. ROMEO ORTIZ SECTION

1. 43461.01: armadura [Moro armor]

2. 43461.03: armadura, kurab-a-kulang