Another strange, non-textbook, parang

[VVV]

Thanks all who participated in the other thread on the Aceh/Batak Klewang that's "unfortunately" on its way to a non-forum member in France.

I hope you also could be interested to discuss this tricky parang?
I haven't either found this one in any reference works.
My guess is either Borneo (Murut, Melanau) or Sumatra?
Or could it be Moro (the handle has some resemblence to a Barong)?
Look forward to all input to help me trace its origin.

Thanks,

Michael

[Lew]

My vote is Moro some form of bangkung?

Lew

[Rick]

Here's another for some form of Bangkung .

[Tim Simmons]

Here is another strange one. I did show it on the old forum and Tom very kindly suggested that the scabbard had some Morro aspects. As you can see it is from around ww2 or latter. I would imagine it is probably from Borneo as the UK did not get that involved with the PI but things and people move around, N Borneo and PI only seperated by islands in the Sulu sea. Tim

[Tim Simmons]

The decoration at the ends of both Michaels and my knife seem to share the same form. The decoration on my prang being a little more stylised. Tim

[zelbone]

Looks more like a Janap to me.

[VVV]

Thanks for the feedback!
Moro weapons are rare here in North Europe so the only Bangkungs I have seen are those in Cato's book with another kind of blade.
But I always wanted a Bangkung in my collection so...
What puzzles me a bit is the way the belt rope is attached to the scabbard.
I haven't seen that with f.i. Barongs?
It reminds me more of a Pakayun scabbard or other parangs I have seen in NW Borneo?

Nice parang Tim.
Interesting that the wood on your handle is also striped like the wood on my scabbard.

Zelbone, what's a Janap (except that it looks like my and Tim's blade)?

Michael

[Tim Simmons]

How right you are, now you point it out, the wood is the same. I have another knife with a handle of the same wood, which I also suspect is from Borneo. I did show it many years ago but the response was a little poor. I think there are too many similarities in these knives, not to have come from the same place. Tim

[VVV]

Tim,

Could you please post a picture of the other knife again?

Here is a picture of my Borneo Sadop that also has striped wood.


Michael

[Tim Simmons]

This knife is quite different from the parangs but again we see this distinctive wood. We need a botanist, especially when looking at island flora. This knife, I have cleaned but not heavily, I suspect was brought back to the UK after the Malay emergency and brief war with Indonesia. Tim

[VVV]

Thanks,

My first impression was a parrot handle on this one.
Also the scabbard doesn't look like Borneo, more Batak/Sumatra like
some Kalasan.
The blade also looks a bit like a Batak Rawit.

Michael

[Tim Simmons]

That is a little more information than the last time I post pictures of this knife. So we still have no sure idea of there origin. Surely this distinctive wood must help. There are so many rather keen collectors of Indonesian weapons, where are they now. Tim

[kai]

I can see a vague similarity with a barong hilt but I have severe problems to believe that a traditional moro craftsman would butcher the kakatua pommel design in such a way. In my eyes this hilt could be based on the barong kakatua but I feel this was done by an outsider who didn't grasp (or didn't cared about) the underlying symbolism and went off in another direction. Areas close to Tausug territory (especially N or E Borneo) might be likely places for its origin IMVHO.

Regards,
Kai

[Tim Simmons]

I am pretty sure the parang that I post is from N Borneo and made by an outsider could just be cultural diffusion. I do not know about Michael's unless you include that one too. It would seem that the striped wood is widespread. Tim

[VVV]

Good morning Tim,

I think your first parang could be from Sabah.
When I was at the Kota Belud market I remember seeing newly made parangs with hilts and scabbards resembling yours.
I had a look at one I bought for my son and the part on the scabbard where the belt rope is inserted is identical to yours.
It's also probable that a parang from Sabah (former British Borneo) ends up in UK.
Maybe John (from KK) can confirm this?

Michael

[John]

Originally Posted by VVV

Good morning Tim,

I think your first parang could be from Sabah.
When I was at the Kota Belud market I remember seeing newly made parangs with hilts and scabbards resembling yours.
I had a look at one I bought for my son and the part on the scabbard where the belt rope is inserted is identical to yours.
It's also probable that a parang from Sabah (former British Borneo) ends up in UK.
Maybe John (from KK) can confirm this?

Michael

Michael,

I think the pictures from the following site may bring back some memories of the Kota Belud Tamu (Sunday market). Perhaps Tim could compare his parangs with some of those in my pictures... There seem to be resemblances but the curious thing is that the hilts wood on Tim's pieces appears to look like kemuning (or a similar grained wood) have not been something I've seen in recent times (within the limits of my exposure). So I can't be certain whether his are from Sabah...

http://www.kampungnet.com.sg/modules...view_album.php

[VVV]

Thanks John,

Great pics!
Maybe our parangs are older versions of those blades but from the same area? But our scabbards have rattan bindings instead of glue as is used nowadays.
Have you seen older blades from Sabah?
What disappointed me a bit, as a collector, when visiting the market is that all the blades were newly made.
Is there any museum in KK, Sandakan or elsewhere in Sabah where they have old blades?

Michael

[VVV]

John and other forumites,

Here is another, obviously Borneo, blade that I haven't found out from where it is. It's much smaller than the other.
This one I picked up in Holland so I didn't think of it as from Sabah.
But looking at John's pictures from the market I recognised some of the features.
What do you think?

Michael

[Tim Simmons]

Great pictures and very helpful, the striped wood does not seem to feature in the parangs of today. Could that type of timber now be rare? It is a most beautiful wood that might have added value to otherwise fairly ordinary knives. Seeing all these new ones makes my one a lot better than I previously thought. The binding on mine is nylon fishing line. Thanks for the interesting help. Tim

[Tim Simmons]

Micheal,

I have pictures of a very similar knife in a book issued to British officers in Malay. I will post all info latter as I must dash out to the mother inlaws . Tim

[John]

Michael,

Frankly, Sabah is NOT quite a place to find old blades apart from the odd ones here and there eg Moro kris, pakayun. Not quite a place for a collector to pick up older edged weapons. There's only one museum (in KK) and if you've been there you'd have seen a few old edged weapons like barongs, kampilans, Mandaus, Kris, keris, pakayuns, spears etc but no parangs. Personally I find the collection there rather small.

Apart from Kota Belud, other new items are being made in Semporna, near Tawau.

Your last example; In Sabah, it's unmistakeably a parang.

[VVV]

Tim,

I look forward to the picture.

John,

Thanks for all the info.
I am ashamed not having visited the Sabah museum even if I have been in KK three times. Next time when in Semporna I will also take a better look. Last time, in 1991, I was to eager to go out scuba diving around Sipadan.

Michael

[Tim Simmons]

This is the picture of a very similar scabbard to Micheal's parang. Taken from a small book issued to British officers { An Introduction to the Malayan Aborigines, P.D.R. Williams-hunt } when faced with duty in the Malasian jungle. The book covers all aspects of life with a small mention of tools and weapons. In case the print is too small the caption reads- A Semelai carved parang sheath. Lipis District, Negri Sembilan. October 1950. Tim

PS, also interesting map. I wonder how much has changed.

[VVV]

Thanks Tim,

That was interesting.
Is there any other weapon references in that book?

Michael

[Tim Simmons]

By Major P.D.R. Williams-Hunt

[The basic domestic utenensil without which no Aborigine can survive is the jungle knife or parang. In recent years I have only come across two Aboriginal blacksmiths, both Semelai, and then thier activities were confined to repairing damaged articles and fashioning small knives from scraps although in every community there are, of course, several individuals who can knock up fish spears and arrow heads from four or six inch nails. What happened before trade parangs were available from Malay and Chinese blacksmiths is not clear as even the earliest observers do not appear to have met a group entirely without some form of iron cutting tool. Presumably there were no ladangs{farmed clearings} and roots were grubbed up with pointed sticks whilst wild fruits and snared animals formed the main items of food. But iron trade goods have been available in Malay for many hundreds of years and the purely wandering root grubbing stage must have been passed at some remote period by most of our present day groups.]

popular parang types

[ (a) A tanged bill hook like tool some six to eight inches long in the blade and mounted in a straight rotan handle in the case of the Semaq Jeram Negritos elaborately decorated. This pattern is in general use with the Negritos and may also be found with the fringing Ple population.
(b) A rectangular bladed knife from eight to sixteen inches in length by some two and one half wide (poular length is about thirteen inches in the blade) usually with a tang but sometimes found with an iron handle in one piece.

Most Aboriginal groups fashion well made handles of soft wood for their parangs but the Orang Kanaq have not progressed beyond the stage of wrapping the tang with the latex of a jungle tree. The majority of Aborigines do not worry about parang sheaths but sheaths are found in limited use in all communites employing the second type of parang. Those of the Semelai are sometimes beautifully carved.

The parang is kept razor sharp on a stropping stone, any fine grained stone is considered suitable, and used for cutting almost everything from tree felling to hair cutting. A parang hair cut is brought about by holding the hair over the sharp edge and pressing or rubbing with a soft block of wood. Needless to say a parang hair cut has a distinctive appearance which connot be mistaken.]

there is also mention of the use of stone axes, bows and most famous of all jungle weapons the blow pipe. Judgeing by the carved scabbard in the picture, your parang with a similar scabbard could well be Semelai, which I think is rather nice to know. Tim

[VVV]

Thanks Tim,

This was a big surprise and great info.
But I don't think I will try the parang hair cut

Michael

[RobT]

Hi all,
Perhaps the scabbard details of my blade will aid in assigning location. I have been torn between the Philippines and Indonesia but I think the Philippines is more likely.
Sincerely,
RobT

[Tim Simmons]

Hello RobT,

I wish I could be more helpful but we just got lucky with a picture of Micheal's Semelai finished parang. Your knife is very much like the one that started the thread. Tim

[zelbone]

I still think that both Michael's and RobT's swords are utak janaps which are Moro tools/weapons. A bangkung would have a straighter spine much like a lumad kampilan or a binangon. The janap has also a more squared off tip. Basically, it's more of a utilitarian bolo, but as seen with other bolos across the Philippines they can be used as weapons. The two examples posted here are fancier than more typical janaps meaning these were intended to be used as weapons. The scabbards look like mid 20th C. sulu design and the hilts also have the hybrid kakatua/horsehoof or nay kuray pommel (I believe that's the term...my reference book on this is being borrowed by the guy that won the ivory pommel barung the other day.) If I had to take a guess, I suspect these are from Sulu or Basilan. Hope this helps .

[Tim Simmons]

If this works, there is a little interesting background and information on the fate of Major Williams-Hunt

No I cannot get the link to work.

Use google enter Major P.D.R. Williams-Hunt, the first site should be, The Aboriginal Factor, worth a look. Tm