Batak Sword

[Bill M]

Looky what Santa brought me.

Batak sword. 26" long overall.

Comments?

[RhysMichael]

Very nice would this one be called a Piso Halasan ?

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by RhysMichael

Very nice would this one be called a Piso Halasan ?

Thank you RM,

I would call this a "Piso n Datu."

"Piso" meaning "Knife," --- "Datu" or "guru" being meaning "magician" in Batak.

It seems that many Batak words have roots in Hindi. Possibly from the Tamil region of South India. Still researching.

The Piso n Datu was considered so powerful that the Batak would not keep it in their home. It was kept outside in its own house.

Still researching this also and would appreciate comments. I really love Batak carvings and artifacts.

I do happen to have a Toba Batak "Piso Halasan" also. Pictures below.

See "The Batak" by Achim Sibeth, (pub 1991, by Thames and Hudson, Ltd., London) Page 164

[David]

Hi Bill. Very nice sword. I have seen a number of these presented on eBay lately, so my question is this: Is this really one of these swords that would be considered too powerful to keep in ones house, or is it a finely made sword (i love the carvings) in a traditional style, but meant for import? While i like this blade i don't get the impression that it was ever used in Batak magic as the name implies.Mind you that's just a hunch and i know nothing about these swords (that's why i ask) or Batak culture particularly.

[Battara]

Merry Christmas Bill. Yes I would also call this a "piso ni datu".

[Bill M]

Gee, 12 years ago thread!

Some more information on the Piso n Datu.

The story goes that a Batak king was told by a soothsayer. His wife was about to have twins, male and female. Often twins were serious portents. Could be very good or bad.

The soothsayer told the king that these twins must never meet. At birth they must be separated to opposite ends of the kingdom and never told about each other.

As the twins grew into their teens, they each had a powerful yearning to hunt for a soulmate. Some people say that twins have one common soul.

They were drawn to each other and not knowing they were brother and sister, they spent the night together.

The next morning they began walking and came to a very tall tree. They could not see the top, but wanted to climb it. The boy climbed to the top and disappeared in the upper branches. The girl waited quite a while, called and with no response from the boy that she also climbed and was gone from the villagers below.

Another villager climbed up and also did not come back down. The king heard about this and sent his greatest magicians to climb up and find the people.

What was happening was that the people at the top were frozen in time, becoming part of the Tree (which was part of a Singha Barong).

This Tree was where the Batak staffs and swords like this one came from it.