Borneo Parang Ihlang

[kai]

Hello Jim,

You're welcome! I'm one of the smaller fishes in the huge Borneo lake...

One has to realise that the early indigenous groups on Borneo are just lumped under the Dayak catch-all name. Many of the lineages are likely to be pretty old; thus, we see a lot of diversity - much more than among the late comers, especially the Malay/Moro/Bugis along the coasts. Aside from long-standing contacts with neighbouring groups (trade/raiding), there also have been small & large scale migrations into "new" territories to evade pressure by more aggressive neighbours as well as famine or epidemics (small pox, cholera, etc.) continuing into modern times.

One of the most confusing matters seems to be the terminology, which is understandable as there are so many languages and dialects involved. I am presuming the Iban (Sea Dayaks)were situated in North/West Borneo and into Malaysia.

The Iban dominated pretty much the lowlands along the whole coast of Sarawak while other groups inhabited the northern/central headwaters (some coastal areas have been inhabited by other groups, especially in what is now Brunei). In addition, there are Iban groups extending well into Sabah, into the middle Mahakam river basin (Kalimantan Timur), and, especially, into Kalimantan Barat (mainly Kapuas tributaries). Sarawak and Sabah belong to Malaysia while Brunei is ruled by an independent Malay Sultanate. The 5 provinces of Kalimantan belong to Indonesia.

I have never followed the difference...mandau....parang ihlang??
Now tilang kamarau?

Mandau, Malat, Parang Ilang are just the most well known/published names for the most common and widespread Borneo blade. The defining feature is a blade with a kinda spoon-shaped cross-section: For a right-hander, the right side would be convex (curved to the outside) and the left side (flat to) concave (a shallow hollow grind, rarely a fuller, or an almost flat surface. There also are left-handed examples. Thus, pretty much shaped like wings of an airplane/bird. One of the theories, that are tough to disprove, is that this shape may facilitate head-taking with the sword being less likely to dig into the body of the victim...

Obviously, this lumps swords from pretty much all over Borneo with significant local differences. Thus, it might be highly preferable to assign local names rather than extending usage of mandau as an East Borneo name for blades from all other ethnic groups. There is also another variant, called Bayu, which has a double-edged blade with a flat side and a "convex" side (and, thus, similar functional cross-section).

All other Borneo swords - exhibiting much greater diversity (shape, function, etc.) - feature flat, symmetric sides and usually saber-grind bevels (slightly convex on both sides along the edge). These are by no means rare - however extant numbers of genuine antiques for some types may be pretty low.

Regards,
Kai