Sharing Moro Kris data

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Ian

Ray, thanks for sharing this interesting update about Moro kris. It is interesting to note how often the modular parts of the sword can be of mixed age and mixed heritage. While this has been appreciated for some time, it's good to see you lay it out with clear examples.

Just a few thoughts and comments.

I notice that all your examples are listed as being from the late 1800s/early 1900s. Do you plan to prepare further information about older Moro kris?

The Malayan influences present a challenge, I think, with respect to the style of kris blades (and hilts to some degree). There are clear Malayan elements in some kris blades that are labeled as Moro in origin. You mention in your article about the intermingling of Moro and Malayan blade smiths, and I wonder if you can elaborate further. Also, which of the references that you list online relates to this intermingling? Was this recorded at the time it occurred, or was it based on individuals' recall of events more than a century ago?

I have read and heard almost nothing about kris from the Sultanate of Brunei. As you know, the Brunei Sultanate predated the Sulu Sultanate and later sultanates on Mindanao. Where do Brunei kris fit into the picture? Are you lumping them with "Borneo kris?" Are "Borneo kris" an extension of "Malayan kris?"

Do you think that the early prototypes of Moro kris were based on Malayan keris, Indonesian keris, Bugis keris, or even Bali keris? To varying degrees, a case can be made for each of these possible sources. Do your informants have any information to share on this?

Lastly, and off topic somewhat, the issue of round tangs attributed to very early Moro kris. In the limited available archeological evidence of Filipino sword/knife tangs predating the 14th C, I have not found any record of round tangs being used. Given the likely methods for using knives and swords at that time, round tangs would likely have not worked very well. Thus, a round tang emulating the keris would have seemed unusual on Moro kris. What I have seen is (almost) round tangs on some Malayan sundang, which might be expected given that much of the Malayan world has a strong keris culture. I think we need to be wary of attributing round tangs to "early" Moro kris, and vice versa in requiring "early" Moro kris to have round tangs.

Hullo Ian, thanks for the feedback!

1. Regarding older Kris. I refrained from them because I wanted to keep the data as airtight as possible...ideally, oral traditions backed by, or directly reflected in historical documentation. The original article had extensive footnotes attributing each data to either or both oral tradition and historical documentation. Unfortunately the publisher likely didn't have space for the footnotes, so it wasn't published. Late 1800s/early 1900s had a lot of documentation both from the Spanish and American sides; that's why I focused on that era.

Older Kris present a huge challenge because while the oral tradition does exist (and blade experts have really sound theories), it's harder to get pre1800 written sources; I imagine I'll have to access deeper Spanish and Dutch texts to populate the historical documentation side. Then there's the complication of "completing the circle" or matching the pre1800 history of both Moro and Malay sides (they had a lot of interactions from that era up to precolonial). I imagine it'll take probably another decade for me to come up with a solid publication that would fill in as many gaps as possible regarding older Kris.

2. Regarding the Malay keris/Kris side: I planned to expound on that connection longer, but I was running out of article space (the publisher has a strict word limit). Aside from what I mentioned earlier, completing the Moro-Malay circle, the terminology is also pretty complicated- my Malaysian friends have distinctions between keris sundang/Moro sundang vs Malay sundang vs tempasuk sundang (Iranun/East Malay); all of these can be found in the Malay archipelago, but made in different areas and by different groups of people. My Malaysian friends echo what's written in some older publications the Moro/keris sundang is "the youngest and most battle-worthy" in the keris family.

I focused on Borneo because that was the site of a major Moro colony (Sabah, the one in contention nowadays), hence I believe that it was the "center" of interactions between Moro and Malay artisans, a melting pot of sorts. This is also supported by the provenance of many museum samples; a lot of Malay-looking Krises were noted to come from Borneo.

3. Regarding the other keris, I didn't dive into that as there are keris experts who would be able to expound on that in a well-researched and authoritative manner; however in my personal capacity, I believe the Bugis had significant interaction with the Moros, especially since one of their scripts- Lontara Bugis- appears on pre-1900 Mindanao-made Krises. It's also mentioned in Spanish documentation that the Moro employed Bugis captains and sailors (as they were highly capable at sea), especially before and during the Moro Raids era.

4. I don't have a satisfactory theory yet for the round-tang puzzle. Hopefully with more round-tang samples and historical documents, we'll be able to figure that one out someday.