Help Needed To Verify The Identity of A Golok

Nonoy Tan · 3rd July 2012, 04:16 AM

Hi Mohd,

Are you part of a group of collectors based in Malaysia? There is also a small group of serious collectors based in the Philippines, of which 4 are also members of this forum (including myself), that meet and collaborate. It would be great that at some point in time both our groups meet in Kuala Lumpur or Manila, as both countries share many cultural similarities.

Regarding the knife in question... it is from the Philippines. migueldiaz of this forum would be the best person to provide you details, especially on the nomenclature. With regards to its age... it is certainly old. How old exactly can be determined, at this point, through guesswork. There is still a lot of research to be made towards a scientific and fact-based classification of Philippine knives based on age or period.

Regarding the Malay kingdom... you must be referring to the Ma-i polity which is mentioned in Chinese records (before the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines). There is a lot of information about Ma-i which you can obtain from the internet. However, there is no fact as yet to link Ma-i to the knife in question.

By the way, the word "Malay" means different things, depending on the context and period. Some past writers, even erroneously used the phrase "Malay Race" which is a misnomer as there is no such thing. I hope this helps.

migueldiaz · 3rd July 2012, 06:28 AM

Hello all (and thanks, Nonoy). I think too that it's a Luzon bolo (peened tang, the blade profile, hilt shape, etc.). As to its age, and just guessing, it can be as old as from the late-1800s I think.

As to its local name, such a utility blade in Luzon is commonly called by a couple of names and they all mean the same thing -- sundang, gulok, or itak.

As a side note, sundang and gulok are also the most common names for utility blades and bladed weapons in our country. But there is also some regional variation, as can be expected. For instance in Panay Island and Negros Island in central Philippines, a sundang is a mere small utility knife. But in northern Philippines, a sundang is the typical 'bolo' we are all familiar with, which is of course much larger than a knife. And then as we all know also, sundang is a another term used in southern Philippines (i.e., Mindanao) to refer to a kris/kalis.

mohd · 6th July 2012, 03:37 PM

Thanks a lot to Nonoy and Miguel to confirm the identification of the 'golok' done by Vinny and Jones in the earlier postings

And now there's no doubt anymore that the origin of that particular sundang/gulok/itak is from Luzon and it was made sometimes in late 1800s.
Again thank you very much to Vinny, Jones, Nonoy and Miguel

mohd

KuKulzA28 · 6th July 2012, 06:10 PM

No problem Mohd, glad my educated guess was confirmed and expanded upon by these gurus.

I would agree that "Malay" is a very fluid term. Linguistically there's Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian languages... there's Malaysian nationals, there's Malay peoples of the archipelago, there's the aforementioned "Malay Race" (like Mongoloid race), etc... I would say Malay is as fluid as Chinese... which meant different things at different time periods.

3rd July 2012, 04:16 AM	#1
Nonoy Tan Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 293	Hi Mohd, Are you part of a group of collectors based in Malaysia? There is also a small group of serious collectors based in the Philippines, of which 4 are also members of this forum (including myself), that meet and collaborate. It would be great that at some point in time both our groups meet in Kuala Lumpur or Manila, as both countries share many cultural similarities. Regarding the knife in question... it is from the Philippines. migueldiaz of this forum would be the best person to provide you details, especially on the nomenclature. With regards to its age... it is certainly old. How old exactly can be determined, at this point, through guesswork. There is still a lot of research to be made towards a scientific and fact-based classification of Philippine knives based on age or period. Regarding the Malay kingdom... you must be referring to the Ma-i polity which is mentioned in Chinese records (before the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines). There is a lot of information about Ma-i which you can obtain from the internet. However, there is no fact as yet to link Ma-i to the knife in question. By the way, the word "Malay" means different things, depending on the context and period. Some past writers, even erroneously used the phrase "Malay Race" which is a misnomer as there is no such thing. I hope this helps.

3rd July 2012, 06:28 AM	#2
migueldiaz Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Manila, Phils. Posts: 1,042	Hello all (and thanks, Nonoy). I think too that it's a Luzon bolo (peened tang, the blade profile, hilt shape, etc.). As to its age, and just guessing, it can be as old as from the late-1800s I think. As to its local name, such a utility blade in Luzon is commonly called by a couple of names and they all mean the same thing -- sundang, gulok, or itak. As a side note, sundang and gulok are also the most common names for utility blades and bladed weapons in our country. But there is also some regional variation, as can be expected. For instance in Panay Island and Negros Island in central Philippines, a sundang is a mere small utility knife. But in northern Philippines, a sundang is the typical 'bolo' we are all familiar with, which is of course much larger than a knife. And then as we all know also, sundang is a another term used in southern Philippines (i.e., Mindanao) to refer to a kris/kalis.

6th July 2012, 03:37 PM	#3
mohd Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 41	Thanks a lot to Nonoy and Miguel to confirm the identification of the 'golok' done by Vinny and Jones in the earlier postings And now there's no doubt anymore that the origin of that particular sundang/gulok/itak is from Luzon and it was made sometimes in late 1800s. Again thank you very much to Vinny, Jones, Nonoy and Miguel mohd

6th July 2012, 06:10 PM	#4
KuKulzA28 Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: between work and sleep Posts: 731	No problem Mohd, glad my educated guess was confirmed and expanded upon by these gurus. I would agree that "Malay" is a very fluid term. Linguistically there's Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian languages... there's Malaysian nationals, there's Malay peoples of the archipelago, there's the aforementioned "Malay Race" (like Mongoloid race), etc... I would say Malay is as fluid as Chinese... which meant different things at different time periods.