Mandau/ Parang nyabur?
 

It's been quite a while since there are any posts on mandaus and related blades...

Here is one I obtained very recently. I was told that this is strictly not refered to as mandau but parang nyabur. And it is made by the Ibans of Serawak instead of the 'orang ulu (Kenyah/kayan) that make the typical mandaus/parang ihlang.

The blade is curved upward which is a charateristic of nyabur but I'm not sure if it is really is a nyabur. The blade is simple and flat on both sides and with no decorations apart from at the base with small brass inlays and the ' half hook' at the bottom.

The scabbard looks relatively new and in good condition. The hilt looks good to my untrained eyes and has a nice owl like creature .
Appreciate any comments with regards to what type, age etc.

Thanks in advance.

Hello Green,

this is a nice and old blade and yes, it's a Dayak head hunting sword from Borneo but no Mandau.

I would call it "Jimpul" but I'm no expert like others in this forum.

If this would be my blade, i would bring it to a better finish than now, but this is just my subjective opinion.


Roland

Hi,

This is not a parang Nyabor. A Nyabor has a totally different kind of blade.
I attached a photo of a Nyabor blade from my personal collection, which is typical for a Nyabor.
It is not the upward curve which should be typical for a Nyabor, as there are more kind of different Borneo blades with upward curves. It is the combination with the "fingerguard" called "kundieng" and the space before the "kundieng" is thick and rounded or polygonal in section.

I agree the blade is not a mandau blade, as than it would be convex and concave, which does not seem to be the case looking at your photos.
I do agree that it is from the Sarawak tribes.
How thick is the blade at the spine at the base just after the hilt?

The sheath indeed is new, and they did a lot of effords having to look it old. The patina unfortunately is not right as one sees on the oldies, as well of the wood as the antler/bone carvings.

The hilt is also which I am sceptical about IMO. For sure the wrapping at the handle had been done later.

Best regards,
Maurice

The blade by the way is not a jimpul blade.
If you try the search function "tilang kamarau" you find blades which looks close like the blade Green depicted.

Best regards,
Maurice

Maurice:

Thank you for your detailed knowledge about these swords and their points of distinction. I found this very helpful.

Ian.

Maurice,

Many thnks for the comments. I can now understand that It is not a nyabur , but what is it ? could it be just a mix and match item that people did to make a quick buck? I won't be surprised... but the hilt to me looks quite genuine and has a nice patina to it.So is the blade in fact. simple but look genuine enough?

Btw, when i meet people in serawak, they never use the term mandau, but parang ilang for those blades made by orang ulu (a group of people in hinterland serawak comprising of kenyah , kayan and a few other smaller gps).

When i showed this to a few poeple there, they simply call it a parang... i guess even locals are now quite clueless about their heritage.

Thank you Ian. Glad I can be of any help here.



Green: How thick is the spine of the blade near the hilt?

PS a mandau has different names in different tribes. You can read it in Shelford (other names: parang ilang, malat or baieng)

But all are referring to a blade where the inner side is concave and the outer side is convex.

As the word Parang is used for sword in English, I think you could call your sword a parang indeed, when the authentic word is unknown. Because the blade isn't convex and concave you can't call it a mandau though, as that would be not right.

Best wishes,
Maurice

Maurice, it is 1cm thick at the base and 0.5 cm in the middle.But feels light in the hand.

OK thanks!
That is a good thickness to do for what it was designed :-)