Filipino swords and axes in the 13th Century?

[Nonoy Tan]

Hi Steve,

I believe that we may be able to get an idea of the form and design of weapons by looking at those used by peoples in the Philippines that were least influenced by "civilization." Their weapons may have not changed much over many centuries, except for the gradual increase in the use of metal (obtained from the Chinese traders, etc.). Spears with metal points became more in use as trade increased, but the design remained. These were to replace (but not fully) those made from wood, bamboo or stone. The same is the case with bamboo/wooden arrows, which later had their metal counterparts. Spears and arrows are found everywhere in the Philippine islands - even in places where there was no apparent outside influence (Chinese, Japanese, Arab, etc). Stone adzes/axes may have also taken the same transformation. I can post some pics of arrows if you are interested in weaponry apart from swords and axes. I am reminded too of the Tasaday people which you might want to look into as well.

Meanwhile, some islands which had trade contact with borneo and sumatra and/or inhabited by explorers/immigrants from the same brought with them their weapons. Thus, researching the weaponry in these places during the 13th century will provide some clues. However, whether or not one would regard these weapons as "Filipino" is debatable and there are valid points on both sides of the argument. As mentioned earlier, there was no such place called "Philippines" in the 13th century. It would help to consider the Philippines as a part of the larger austronesian group and thus IMHO good to look at the austronesian weaponry for clues.

I hope i can provide more specific information. Unfortunately, I do not have access to my source materials at this time as I am traveling until May 2009. I can look into the matter if you are willing to wait.

[Nonoy Tan]

Hi Miguel,

I will be back home (Manila) in May 2009. Shall we meet up again?

Nonoy

[wilked aka Khun Deng]

Steve not too much to add to the excellent info Miguel has supplied other than the second question you had about Muslim convert tribes in the 13th century. Islamic missionaries are not recognized as having reached Mindanao (Sulu specifically) until late in the 14th century.

One other point of interest. Several years back as I went through the National Museum there in Manila, they had an exhibit that tracked all the historical trade routes from the different trade eras. What struck me was that the only two ports that every era (Chinese, Arabic/Southeast Asian and Spanish) had in common were Cotabato and Jolo City (I would have thought Manila would also be a constant but it wasn't).

Dan

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by wilked aka Khun Deng

Steve not too much to add to the excellent info Miguel has supplied other than the second question you had about Muslim convert tribes in the 13th century. Islamic missionaries are not recognized as having reached Mindanao (Sulu specifically) until late in the 14th century.

One other point of interest. Several years back as I went through the National Museum there in Manila, they had an exhibit that tracked all the historical trade routes from the different trade eras. What struck me was that the only two ports that every era (Chinese, Arabic/Southeast Asian and Spanish) had in common were Cotabato and Jolo City (I would have thought Manila would also be a constant but it wasn't).

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your comments.

Browsing the forum archives, I have read your earlier posts with great interest. It's good that you can write again.

Next time you're back in Manila, please drop me a note beforehand. If it's ok with you, I'll take care of the beverage and you take care of the stories and I'll be all ears

On which Philippine ports were most active then (prehispanic), yes Sulu would be it. And then next in line would be Cebu and Manila, but I'm not sure which is busier between these other two. Mindoro for a while was a trading center, too, according to Ms. Beyer's article above.

[migueldiaz]

Following the extrapolation idea I mentioned, here now would be the description of warfare in the prehispanic Philippines, as described in WH Scott's excellent book, Barangay.

Once again, this is not 13th century. But I think that from 13th century till the early 1500s when the Spaniards first started documenting what they saw, things may not have changed much as far as weapons design is concerned (that's just a hunch though).

There will be three locales described -- warfare in the Visayas (central Philippines), in Bikolandia (southmost portion of Luzon, and Luzon would be in northern Philippines), and in Tagalog region (present day Manila and surrounding areas).

[Note: I'll post the pages one at a time. If I post them in one 'go', the sequence gets jumbled.]

[migueldiaz]

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[migueldiaz]

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[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Fantastic work Miguel!!!! Now that is research... with excellent overview, resources and great suggestions. I think this will present some great perspective for Steven's project, and I would think he would be able to use this overview for a benchmark to direct toward whatever his project entails.

Hi Jim,

That query posted by Steven sure is intriguing, if that's the right word. Let's see where this will all take us ...

Originally Posted by Nonoy Tan

Hi Miguel, I will be back home (Manila) in May 2009. Shall we meet up again?

I'd love to do that, Nonoy. Perhaps at the Ayala Museum again where we can take a second look at those 10th to 12th century Philippine gold artifacts?

Too bad they don't allow taking pics. But I'm planning to bring a sketch pad this time!