thnx a lot for all your replies!

I knew about the US' involvement in WWII but not so much before that period.

Nevertheless these stories make it more interesting and give " life" to the barong. That is for me

better be kind to your wife then...:)

Watch n'The Real Glory' 1939 -Gary Cooper, available on Amazon Prime Video in the USA or on DailyMotion



Read up on Pershing and the Moro 'insurrection' which had been going on whhen the spanish were there, and continued when the USA took over. About half the Datu & tribes were pro-USA & fought the other half with us.



Not our finest hour. Pershing stopped the insurrection by killing everyone who rebelled, men, women, children, livestock, and bvurning their villages. It was a brutal war.

Sharing a recent acquisition from a retired Yakan military personnel in Basilan. 70s Yakan barung and matching sundang.

Hi Xas,

I hope you don't mind me asking - what is the difference? :)

Given that modern makers seem to allow for quite a bit of room regarding shapes and flow of lines, I'd be inclined to tag both as (modern) barung blades...

Regards,
Kai

Hi Kai,

If you look closely, the blade profile is different than that of a fighting blade. The bottom one is used for utility :) That blade is called "manuk-manuk" or simply "sundang" among the Yakan. Very useful in the farm or jungle.

Wayne, I think you will find that Pershing was involved mainly with incidents on Mindanao, and specifically in the area around Lake Lanao occupied by the Maranao groups. His activities were over a relatively short period, perhaps 3–4 years if I recall correctly. The worst treatment of the Moros at the hands of the U.S. was on Jolo, and Pershing was involved with one of the last of those battles, while others occurred before his time in the Philippines. Pershing was tough and methodical in battle. In the battle at Bud Bagsak in 1913, the Moros and their families had withdrawn into their fort that was then shelled by artillery. Most Moros died during the bombardment, including women and children. Many of the women were also combatants according to contemporary accounts. It was a decisive U.S. victory but not the last conflict.

Here are my 4 barongs:

I don't think things 'were pacified' with the Muslim tribes in the southern Philippines until the mid-late thirties pre-war with the advent of Japanese invasion.
The sporadic violence still continues to this day.
An acquaintance of mine's son was murdered on a diving trip in the area a couple of years ago. :eek:

Couple of months ago there were 3 barungs offered by a respectable auction house. Two were very handsome, and went for ~$1,500 ( as far as I remember).
The third one was very simple and even had no scabbard. But it has a yellowed paper glued to the blade with genuinely old inscription:

" Barong of the savage Moro. Taken from the Mag sabil devil Mahamet by Scout at Parang (a town on the main island of Sulu)and given to Sgt. Brewster, 1907".

Nobody bid on it, even though its expected price was $1,000 and starting price much lower.

Well, some people collect esthetically pleasing pieces. And that's fine. But I kind of cannot understand why would they pass on a true piece of history....


I sent the address to Ian: I am not good manipulating images; hopefully he can give us an idea of what a true killing barung looked like.

Years ago I saw a TV program dealing with the situation in Moro lands. Political violence was still in full blast. It was led by Moro Islamic Liberation Front ( MILF), Abu Sayyaf Group and Bangsamoro Liberation Front with ~12,000 fighters. We are not talking about isolated incidents. Many Moros joined ISIS.


And they apparently won: in 2014 they signed a peace agreement with the central government and their elected government is planned to be established in 2022.

What social/political course will it take is still unknown, but a big cause for concern for the entire SE Asia.

The barung to which Ariel refers has subsequently been sold by the auction house (no price indicated). Here are pictures of this handsome 19th C. weapon that likely killed at least a few Americans and their Filipino allies.

The blade is approximat4ly 18.5 inches in length, which was fairly long for the period. It is clearly a cutting and a stabbing weapon. The hilt has a minimal kakatua pommel that is found on many fighting barung.

.

Thanks Ian!

I visited southern Mindanao, Zamboanga, and Basilan in the late 1990s. I was accompanied by locals and only went where I was told I could go safely. Westerners were being kidnapped at that time and held for ransom. Some did not make it out. On a couple of ventures into the rural areas around Davao City I had an escort of Philippine soldiers. In the early 2000s there was the added concern about Abu Sayyaf, a group loosely linked to Al Quaeda.

Quite apart from the long time practice of piracy in the South China Sea, the Bangsamoro region has always been a tense and dangerous area for outsiders. The local politics are diverse, with internal conflicts, but are unified in opposition to outside interference. The struggle for self rule has played out for centuries, with increasing emphasis in the last 120 years and especially since WWII.

Got this barung from Mr Cecil Quirino's collection. My oldest barung so far. It's remarkably well-preserved. It's highly similar to the Leiden barung that was discussed in an old topic here. I fixed the misaligned blade and bent edge; other than that, it's in very good condition.

18-in blade with sandigan/shandigan edge, kamagong hilt, carabao horn pommel, a long ferrule with some sort of brass alloy.

New acquisition
 

After etching the blade slightly. Unluckily one of the MOP-pieces is missing. I needed to add the top 4 cm of the rattan on the scabbard. I very happy with this find.

Best Thomas

I had been looking for the right barong for a couple of years, a few months back I finally found one. The blade was very rusty but cleaned up nice outside of some pitting. The ferule is very thick silver. Below is a more recent purchase.

Nice barungs, gentlemen! It still amazes me just how many variants and personal effects barungs can have through the different eras and locations in the Sulu archipelago.

It's almost been a year, so I'm necro'ing this thread again :D here's my all-time favorite barung, a variant with an upper clipped edge. It is WW2-era, and I reset it just recently.

'Dyak' Barung
 

Forget to add this one from northern Borneo, fullered and decorated blade


Others at the Barung with fullers thread.

Hello Wayne,

I realise that you put 'Dyak' in quotes but for future reference we should clarify here that these barung originate from Moro expat communities on the northern coasts of Borneo and are not culturally associated with any of the Dayak ethnic groups.

I believe that most of these variant examples originate from Kota Belud which has been a blade making center supplying probably all of Sabah's western coast (and, considering the short distance, not surprising to show up in major ports like Kota Kinabalu). One might also note that Kota Belud is really close to Palawan, too.

Regards,
Kai

Attached are the sales pics from my example, which I bought about 2.5 years ago. Blade length 42 cm. The scabbard is missing a bit at the top and is split in a few places.

Wonderful barung, straight-up fighter!

A couple more have sprouted up since my last photo... Thanks to Kino for the great new addition.

Nice display. A little off topic, but could we see the back of those stands? Are they secure? I live in an earthquake zone.

Very nice barungs!

Answered this here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...7&postcount=99

Adding 3 more Barung’s to the thread.

The 3 in my collection.

Great barungs! I especially like the topmost- I'm guessing the ferrule was replaced somewhere in Central Luzon (likely Tagalog) and granted a new scabbard.

Thank you. When I found that barung it was in need of some serious attention.