Help Needed To Verify The Identity of A Golok

Nonoy Tan · 3rd July 2012, 04:16 AM

Hi Mohd,

Are you part of a group of collectors based in Malaysia? There is also a small group of serious collectors based in the Philippines, of which 4 are also members of this forum (including myself), that meet and collaborate. It would be great that at some point in time both our groups meet in Kuala Lumpur or Manila, as both countries share many cultural similarities.

Regarding the knife in question... it is from the Philippines. migueldiaz of this forum would be the best person to provide you details, especially on the nomenclature. With regards to its age... it is certainly old. How old exactly can be determined, at this point, through guesswork. There is still a lot of research to be made towards a scientific and fact-based classification of Philippine knives based on age or period.

Regarding the Malay kingdom... you must be referring to the Ma-i polity which is mentioned in Chinese records (before the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines). There is a lot of information about Ma-i which you can obtain from the internet. However, there is no fact as yet to link Ma-i to the knife in question.

By the way, the word "Malay" means different things, depending on the context and period. Some past writers, even erroneously used the phrase "Malay Race" which is a misnomer as there is no such thing. I hope this helps.

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3rd July 2012, 04:16 AM	#4
Nonoy Tan Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 293	Hi Mohd, Are you part of a group of collectors based in Malaysia? There is also a small group of serious collectors based in the Philippines, of which 4 are also members of this forum (including myself), that meet and collaborate. It would be great that at some point in time both our groups meet in Kuala Lumpur or Manila, as both countries share many cultural similarities. Regarding the knife in question... it is from the Philippines. migueldiaz of this forum would be the best person to provide you details, especially on the nomenclature. With regards to its age... it is certainly old. How old exactly can be determined, at this point, through guesswork. There is still a lot of research to be made towards a scientific and fact-based classification of Philippine knives based on age or period. Regarding the Malay kingdom... you must be referring to the Ma-i polity which is mentioned in Chinese records (before the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines). There is a lot of information about Ma-i which you can obtain from the internet. However, there is no fact as yet to link Ma-i to the knife in question. By the way, the word "Malay" means different things, depending on the context and period. Some past writers, even erroneously used the phrase "Malay Race" which is a misnomer as there is no such thing. I hope this helps.