I just have found a picture with these shields in "Woodbury & Page. Photographers Java". The text says:
"Militia, trumpeters and flute orchestra of the Sultan of Ternate. The uniforms these men are wearing are early ninetheenth-century European models, except for the men at right. They wear European-style cuirasses and helmets of the sixteenth or seventeenth century. However, their shields are typical of the Moluccas. These men were called ALBAHDIR, which is derived from the Portuguese and Dutch equivalents of the word halberdier."
Picture taken after 1880.
Last edited by Gustav; 9th November 2012 at 05:18 PM.
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