Moro Spearhead, but from what Battle?

[David]

Bud Dajo (Tausug: Būd Dahu; Spanish: Monte Dajó)
In the photos it looks like the tag might have been Daho, not Dano and that the stem of the "h" wore away. If we consider the Tausug spelling and that the name is pronounced DA-ho, it would not surprise me that someone hearing the name would spell it "Daho". Remember that in Spanish, a "j" is pronounced as an "h".
If this is correct, there were two acknowledged Battles of Bud Dajo, the first in March, 1906 and the second December, 1911.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Bud_Dajo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bud_Dajo

There may have been fighting around Lake Danao, but i am not familiar with any battles that name the place specifically, so that seems less likely.

[Lee]

I think David is correct in reading the tag Daho.

I found two more in my brace of Southeast Asian spears that have a reinforcing tie of the head to the pole, one is again wire but the other is twine. Most of these lances have come from gun shows, so likely they are war souvenirs from the turn of the 20th century and, now that I am looking, at least a third in the collection have these reinforcements.

I'll agree in speculating that sometimes the heads were getting detached and that this would have been a "field modification" to prevent such failure. Next below are a couple of spearheads where the tang is visible and may be seen to not be especially long.

I have never been able to work out the chronology or geography of the various blade styles. I very strongly suspect that many are significantly older than is generally accepted and documented. Look at the dark brown patina on the exposed tangs: one uncovered over a hundred years ago while the blade remained bright and the other protected by resin until I dissolved it off. Then consider the patinated appearances of the tangs of Japanese swords which may be dated from signatures.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Lee

... I have never been able to work out the chronology or geography of the various blade styles. I very strongly suspect that many are significantly older than is generally accepted and documented. Look at the dark brown patina on the exposed tangs: one uncovered over a hundred years ago while the blade remained bright and the other protected by resin until I dissolved it off. Then consider the patinated appearances of the tangs of Japanese swords which may be dated from signatures.

I agree Lee. The variety and chronology are confusing. I've seen no study of dating these spears (other than an early attempt on this site).

In most cases, Moro war spears were used as thrusting rather than throwing weapons. At least this is what we see from the pictorial evidence of the late 19th and early 20th C. Some of them had unusually long shafts which appear to approach 5-6 meters in length. Adding to the confusion is that Lumad groups in the area often used similar heads on their combat spears. It is hard to know who borrowed from whom with some of the styles, although there appear to be one or two distinctively Moro versions. Simple, effective designs seem to have been copied freely.

As far as dating old Moro weapons, I agree completely. I think we often underestimate the age of Moro weapons that appear on these pages. It is tempting to label edged weapons from the area as late 19th C because they look older than when they were collected by Americans in the early 20th C. We don't have a clear idea of how old Moro weapons may be, or even when most of them came into existence. Spanish museums help a little with dating, but prior to the presence of Spain in the area there is very little to go by.

There are several groups of Filipinos who have been studying these questions for some time, but no clear data have emerged from their deliberations (or at least none that have been published widely).

I have been collecting data for some time on the varieties of Moro spearheads that appear online from various sources, including here, and will put my findings on these pages when I can make more sense of them.

It would help greatly if someone could point to Spanish or Filipino sources that provide provenance for older items (spears, swords, knives, etc.). I already have the data from this site. What we need is mainly museum information (pictures) with dates for collection of these and any other information available. Online sources barely scratch the surface of what museums hold.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by David

... There may have been fighting around Lake Danao, but i am not familiar with any battles that name the place specifically, so that seems less likely.

David, the only Lake Danao I can find in the Philippines is in Leyte (a popular tourist resort). Perhaps Kai was thinking of Lake Lanao on Mindanao, where the Maranao live. JJ Pershing conducted some actions in that area. I agree that Bud Dajo is the more likely origin for this piece based on the tag.

[kai]

Apologies, yes, I had Pershings exploits in mind and was too tired that evening...

[kino]

Originally Posted by Ian

Some of them had unusually long shafts which appear to approach 5-6 meters in length.

Whoa!, at 5 meters, that’s over 15 feet for just the shaft alone? Those are some lengthy spears.
I have a few that are in original form, none surpasses 8 ft. The spear in the accompanying photo is reinforced with a cord, if the spearhead does detach the cord could potentially serve as a lanyard.

[drac2k]

Posted late, but as promised.
Most of these spearheads are large and of excellent quality, however the bindings and the shafts are rather generic and simple.I wonder if only the spearheads are kept in the armory and in times of war, they are mounted on their bamboo hafts(a readily available material resource).This would save space, be easily transportable, and the shafts would not warp.

[Ian]

Moro combat was seldom "set pieces" but more in the nature of skirmishes that came up at short notice. Each man had his own set of weapons. Perhaps the Sultan and one or two prominent datus had an armory of sorts for their personal body guards.

My guess is that weapons were fully assembled and ready to go at all times. Not all combat spears were thrown—most were used as stabbing weapons in (somewhat) close combat.

[Rafngard]

Originally Posted by Ian

My guess is that weapons were fully assembled and ready to go at all times. Not all combat spears were thrown—most were used as stabbing weapons in (somewhat) close combat.

It goes without saying that modern martial arts practices (even "traditional" ones) don't necessarily reflect techniques used with historic weapons, but the Bruneian spear work I've studied does utilize quite a bit of cuts in addition to thrusts. The few budiaks that I've handled in person definitely feel like they could have been used in that way also.

Thanks,
Leif