Pirate swords and weapons

[Ed]

This always struck me as having seafaring roots. The guard is hammered steel and the grip is bone(?). Blade is marked as the picture shows but has that north african vibe.

Came with a wooden scabbard too. I bit long for hand to hand on a ship's deck I think.

[Rick]

We seem to have overlooked the Iranun peoples somehow.

https://the-iranun.blogspot.com/2011...of-iranun.html

[Ian]

Thank you Rick for bringing us back to the ethnographic aspects of this topic. We have traveled far and wide, including westerners. Many of the Ilanun (Iranum) were a plundering group. I posted last year some drawings from the 1840s in the following thread showing some of these pirates: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...&postcount=498


Some of the weapons, including lantaka, are illustrated.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Ian

Thank you Rick for bringing us back to the ethnographic aspects of this topic. We have traveled far and wide, including westerners. Many of the Ilanun (Iranum) were a plundering group. I posted last year some drawings from the 1840s in the following thread showing some of these pirates: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...&postcount=498


Some of the weapons, including lantaka, are illustrated.

Thank you Ian, and Rick. In the pirate spectrum, there are many factions and theaters of operation for this maritime phenomenon, and these more exotic areas definitely bring in the ethnographic factor.

In the thread just posted by Pirate Lady, on Zheng Yi Sao, the woman who took over the huge Chinese pirate confederation that had been run by her late husband (over 400 junks and up to 60,000 pirates!), who operated in the South China sea in early 19th c.

It seems to me that the European pirates operating in from the Atlantic from Madagascar to the Red Sea, and Indian Ocean may well have ventured as far as the South China Sea in some cases. There are unproven accounts of Captain Kidd reaching an island off the coast of Viet Nam (said to be near the China Sea/South China Sea).
I am wondering if perhaps some of the native weapons in use in these areas of piracy in the many asian archipelagos might have diffused into pirate armories via capture of European vessels frequenting or trading in those areas. Though doubtful there was direct contact between our European pirates and the Eastern versions, the diffusion of weapons through networking it would seem.

I was thinking that the unusual 'scimitars' with notably clipped points etc. seen in the woodcuts of pirate notables in 'Johnson' (1724) might have been influenced by these exotic sword types of Asia, Indonesia, Philippines etc.

[Rick]

I believe I have an Iranun Kampilan,or so Xasterix tells me. It seems that it would be pretty cumbersome for boarding another vessel but it cerainly would be a fearsome weapon once one was ashore raiding.

I only have 2 examples of these swords, and I believe he was referring to this one that went to Macao for the H.O.S. exhibition.

Pardon the poor photo quality.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Rick

I believe I have an Iranun Kampilan,or so Xasterix tells me. It seems that it would be pretty cumbersome for boarding another vessel but it cerainly would be a fearsome weapon once one was ashore raiding.

Thats pretty cool Rick! I dont know a great deal on the weapons of these regions, and the kampilan seems to have been used by various tribal groups including sea dyaks (?) and of course Moro.
As you note, these full size swords would have been awkward in melees on deck, but deadly in encounters ashore.

I recall always wondering why full length bladed swords were so often associated with pirates such as the 'Barbary pirates' and the so called nimchas. What I found later was that shore raids and combat were far more prevalent than boarding vessels with these ethnographic pirate groups.

With the 'black flag' pirates of the 'Golden Age', there was seldom boarding and combat as in most cases merchant vessels surrendered without such action.

Question, on these kampilan, how does one distinguish one kampilan used by one group from another?
Whatever the case, I agree, these would be extremely deadly swords!

[Ian]

Jim,

The Ilanun (Iranum) kampilan that Rick shows has an unusual tip for kampilan in that it has no spike or file work, and the length of the edge from tip to the spine is a little longer. I have associated that arrangement as a distinguishing feature between Borneo (Iranum, "Sea Dayak") and Moro kampilan. Perhaps Xasterix can add further distinctions.

Attached is an enlargement from one of the drawings I linked to in the comment above. This unhappy local in the Brunei Datu/Sultan's retinue has a sword with a similarly shaped tip. This sword seems to have a slightly curved blade (such kampilan are very uncommon) and a mandau style hilt. This may not be a kampilan but a sword more akin to a Dayak parang.

Regards,

Ian.
.