The West Javanese or Sundanese keris - a discussion

A. G. Maisey · 29th July 2018, 01:18 PM

The roots of the tangguh system might perhaps go back to the early 1700's, but the system seems to have become popular during the late colonial period. It fulfilled a needed function in Javanese aristocratic society during the late colonial period.

There could well be historic reasons for keris that originated in West Jawa to be included in a system that really only attached value to keris that originated in "The Land of Jawa", but the reason could as easily be argued to be economic rather than historic.

If keris that originated in areas other than The Land of Jawa could be classified in error as genuine Javanese keris, then it might have been deemed wise to provide guidance that permitted the identification of such keris.

29th July 2018, 01:18 PM	#8
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	The roots of the tangguh system might perhaps go back to the early 1700's, but the system seems to have become popular during the late colonial period. It fulfilled a needed function in Javanese aristocratic society during the late colonial period. There could well be historic reasons for keris that originated in West Jawa to be included in a system that really only attached value to keris that originated in "The Land of Jawa", but the reason could as easily be argued to be economic rather than historic. If keris that originated in areas other than The Land of Jawa could be classified in error as genuine Javanese keris, then it might have been deemed wise to provide guidance that permitted the identification of such keris.