KALIS BISAYA

[Amuk Murugul]

Hullo Everybody!

Originally Posted by Battara

Congratulations for saving these and many thanks for posting them.

Great condition too!

Hullo Battara,
Thank you. It took a lot of 'elbow-grease' to get them to the condition they are now in. Still needs some work, especially on the handles. On the bottom one, part of it was greasy charcoal, which I tried to remove without causing too much further damage.

Originally Posted by Rick

We have one Kalis with a round tang in your last picture, and one with a flattened tang .
Does this mean that one is Malay, and one Moro ?
They both would appear to be Moro without seeing the tangs .

Do we put another assumption to the test here; or have I forgotten something ??

It appears to me that the Malay/Moro line is becoming a bit blurred .

Hullo Rick,
The 'round' tang is actually a square tang with smoothed corners.
They are both from the same people, the Bisaja, whom I consider to be essentially Malay. With every piece I own, I try to delve into the historical and cultural background of the people who owned it (as far as I can), to get a 'feel' for it. My attributations are based on my findings.
By 'Malay', I mean the Austronesians who populated the Malay Archipelago for millenia and who at times 'cross-pollinated' with each other.
There's nothing wrong with your method/approach/analysis. I just have a slightly different approach. ( In keris terms ... I simply follow a different pakem.). Sorry.

Best,