Dayaks in Kayaks? Parang Nabour

[Bill M]

Of course they weren't in kayaks, but I like the sound. From Timonium also. 28" long in scabbard.

According to the seller, this is a pre-1900s parang nabour, sword of the Sea Dayak.

Any info appreciated.

[Conogre]

The term "sea Dayak" is still tossed around and often in several different contects with it often being used interchangably with the groups of Malay pirates that plagued, and still do, the region, being noted as among the three places on earth where piracy is practiced today on a large scale.
The parang nabur seems to be the "cutlas" version, with a shorter blade for use in relatively cramped confines on board ships.
That's a beautiful example, and I particularly noted the pattern in the blade, something that I've not seen a lot of.
Surprisingly, the kampilon was also a reputed weapon of the "sea dayaks", aside from its association with the Philippines.
Likewise, parang naburs are also commonly found comming from both areas to the best of my understanding.
Nice find!
Mike

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Conogre

The term "sea Dayak" is still tossed around and often in several different contects with it often being used interchangably with the groups of Malay pirates that plagued, and still do, the region, being noted as among the three places on earth where piracy is practiced today on a large scale.
The parang nabur seems to be the "cutlas" version, with a shorter blade for use in relatively cramped confines on board ships.
That's a beautiful example, and I particularly noted the pattern in the blade, something that I've not seen a lot of.
Surprisingly, the kampilon was also a reputed weapon of the "sea dayaks", aside from its association with the Philippines.
Likewise, parang naburs are also commonly found comming from both areas to the best of my understanding.
Nice find!
Mike

Thanks Mike,

Here is the other one. Hope that you like it as well. Hadn't thought about posting it, there seemed little interest in the other one.

[Rick]

Bill , those almost look like they both came out of the same shop !

Very nice , I think I like the non figural hilt better .

Here's my example , almost like a kilic :

[CharlesS]

Nice Rick! This is one of my favorite styles of nabur. The blades on these are remarkably functional as well as crafted with considerable imagination in blade style. I like the "Sea Dyak" ones above as well, but this type is on a whole different level, though sometimes their scabbards are just as simple.

[Rick]

Note the red painted ring right above the ferrule .
Dragon's blood I've been told .

I wonder if these are regional styles .

[Conogre]

Wow!
I love both of yours, Bill and honestly haven't seen that particular combination of clamshell and hilt before, but they seem to have a distincly Malaysian "feel" to them.
Rick's sword is one of the nicest that I've seen, with the hilt seeming to show a Dutch influence while the blade itself is reminiscent of a jimpul.
A similar shape and basic hilt treatment with knuckle guard regularly shows up in the Philippines as well and I just assumed that those, too, were known as parang naburs although in reflection I seem to recall another term for those with knuckle guards from around the turn of the century which honestly escapes me at the moment.
In my humble opinion all three of those that you guys have shown are well worthy of a prime display spot.
Mike

[tom hyle]

Is the thinking that the bathead parang nabur is the ancestral parang nabur? I like the shell guard, and note that the knucklebows come straight off the guard at a sharp angle, much like nimcha/sayf, and this does not seem to me like an Eurpean thing. Just jumping in with this; no-one's repeated the usual idea that this is an European inspired style; not an idea I'm real hot on; the style seems related to dha, for instance; a more obvious, local influence/relative; Occam's razor and all that. Parang nabur is a widespread sword type with many local/temporal varieties, and is a favourite; especially the bathead type, which pretty much always has a thick, overtly native blade; I really like the varient (not seen here though Rick's is on the road) with the fully rounded nonthrusting tip.

[Rick]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

Fanciest P.N. I have ever seen .

[Battara]

The engraving looked pretty clean. Do you think it was a more recent make?

[Rick]

This puzzles me too Jose .
Either the blade was polished recently or it has been very well cared for .

I wouldn't be surprised if some of these fancier examples were court regalia which would mean that they probably received very good care .

[Conogre]

The clamshell hilt may or may not have something to do with European inspiration, and would only be truly important if it was being used as a method of showing age, for example, with the Dutch having a long history in the region, but likewise it IS the Indian Ocean, although the sharp angles aren't a feature commonly seen on older swords with knuckleguards from India that I know of.
In regards to the clamshell itself, a similar feature is seen on the one kris in the museum in Madrid that Marc posted.
Whenever one culture came into contact with another, influences often began to appear in both directions, with even many "civilized" seamen having a flair for the exotic and incorporating it into their own personal weapons as well.
Unless I'm mistaken, the tatoo itself is an idea that originated in the S. Pacific or Indonesia as far as Europeans are concerned.
I wouldn't kick ANY of those swords out of my collection for cutting crackers, even in bed!**grin**
Mike

[Marc]

Just to set the record straight, it was Engar who actually made and posted the pictures in Madrid's Museums. To Caesar what is Caesar's...

Said that, I find the Parang Nabur a particularly nice weapon...

[tom hyle]

Originally Posted by Conogre

although the sharp angles aren't a feature commonly seen on older swords with knuckleguards from India that I know of.

Unless I'm mistaken, the tatoo itself is an idea that originated in the S. Pacific or Indonesia as far as Europeans are concerned.

Modernly, yes, but it was a lost art that used to be there, at least in the chalcolithic (spelling? copper/stone age; "ice man" times) age. "Oetzi"s tatoos are thought to be medicinal, BTW. There's at least one book on him that's really cool and in depth, though I got it from a library, a couple-few years ago and don't know its name. I think some of the N/W European bog corpses are tatooed, as well. Tatooing or body mutilation seemed to have been very common if not nearly universal in the distant past, and to have gone away some places, only to come back. It's often a tribal ID/rank marker/etc, and no doubt really helped old time people to look real alien and goblinny to each other, from different tribes. Some of the ancient Celts and Germans used to wear some pretty wild hair; similar to Eastern N American Indians, and some painted themselves, which seems related to tatoo, though requiring a less serious comittment, of course .

Think of a knucklebowed European sword. The knuckleguard starts as a quillon, and curves up (please disregard Mameluke sabre as a blatant copy; the "beaknose" hilt though; there's an objection to my idea....); now think of a knucklebowed tulwar. It has two straight quillons, and the knucklebow comes off of the tip of the forward one at an approximately square angle, then proceeding to curve. This is also similar to the way knuckleguards on copis/falcattas start out, when they have them (but AFAIK the more Western ones; hmmmm......), and (super-cool!) one I saw on a salwar yatagan.