The West Javanese or Sundanese keris - a discussion

[jagabuwana]

I’d like to open up a discussion about Sundanese or West Javanese kerises. I use the two terms, but not interchangeably because of the following reasons:

1) despite Sundanese people living on the island of Java, they (well, “we”, seeing as I am Sundanese) consider themselves a distinct people with a distinct culture, while also having shared ethnolinguistic roots and histories with the Javanese people.

2) I have seen the term West Javanese being used to refer to kerises that come from that geographical area, which to the chagrin of some proud Sundanese, is called Jawa Barat or West Java instead of Tatar Sunda or Priangan/Parahyangan. For the purpose of the accuracy of my discussion, I will cease to use the term West Java, as what I am really interested are keris from culturally Sundanese lands and people as opposed to just a geographical area.

The reason is that I want to learn or perhaps approach an answer to the following questions:

1) If we accept from a historiographic and perhaps empirical point of view that the keris is an object born from the Javanese imagination, and from there we can say that there are Javanese keris as well as other classifications and sub-classifications of both Javanese and non-Javanese keris, is there then such a thing as the Sundanese keris?

2) If not, are there other qualities and features that we can distinguish for keris from Sunda, other than the classification of Pajajaran, which of course does not necessarily refer to having been made by someone from Pajajaran, within Pajajran, during the time of Pajajaran and so on?

3) With Pajajaran being a classification in the tangguh system, whose namesake refers to a Sundanese kingdom, how can a Pajajaran keris still be considered Javanese generally, as opposed to distinctly West Javanese or Sundanese?

Please start wherever you wish, or add questions of your own if you find this interesting.

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Attached are some photos of Sundanese regents with their keris visible in the photos. I have included these in case it gives extra material for discussion and comment, whether related to questions above or not.

1, 2, 3 - Raden Adipati Aria Prawiradiredja, Regent of Cianjur, with keris with dressings of various style

4 - Raden Adipati Suria Nataninggrat, Regent of Lebak, with what looks to me to be Javanese style dress.

5 - Wiranatakusuma IV (Dalem Bintang), Regent of Bandung.

6 - Painting of Aria Kusumadininggrat, Regent of Galuh