Maguindanao twistcore Kris.

[Ian]

Rob,

This is an old thread. I have not seen CharlesS posting here for some time, so you may not get a reply from him. Perhaps you could explain what you mean by a baca baca being "a one piece form."

[RobT]

Ian,

A two piece baca baca has a closed “stirrup” (usually steel) that fits around the blade. The second piece is a strap (brass in every example in my collection) that is looped around the the stirrup and extends up under the hilt wrap. As you can see in Gustav’s example, the stirrup isn’t closed off on the top and the two legs that fit under the hilt wrap are of a piece with the stirrup. I believe that the baca baca were originally added to stabilize the blade/hilt connection against shock and torque stresses when a blow is struck and the one piece design offers a mechanical advantage over the two piece version. In support of this I will mention that I have never seen a kris with a pair of one piece baca baca. I assume that is because the one piece design is strong and rigid enough to make a pair unnecessary.

Sincerely,
RobT

[kino]

RobT, Are these the 2 types that you’re referring to?

[RobT]

kino,

Your example on the left is the one piece and the right example is the two piece (albeit with a broken brass strap).

Sincerely,
RobT

[Rick]

One is steel and one is silver.

[Ian]

Hi Rob,

I see what you are referring to from the subsequent pictures. It is not a feature that I have followed in my records of several hundred Moro kris found online. Looking just at those that appear in the Sold section on the older Oriental Arms web site (over 200 examples), the single-piece asang asang (baka baka) appears to make a relatively late appearance on Mindanao kris with one asang asang. I could not find any kris with two asang asang that had single-piece constructions--that effectively excludes most Sulu kris.

As to dating when this feature appeared, judging from the swords on which it appears it seems to correspond with the second half of the 19th C and later (i.e., mainly on longer and heavier kris from that period, including straight and waved blades). Examples of two-piece asang asang predate the appearance of the single-piece feature, and are contemporaneous with it well into the 20th C.

I think the single-piece construction is limited almost entirely to some Mindanao kris from the second half of the 19th C and later. These are mainly Maguindanao kris judging from the "elephant trunk" area and the dress of the sword.

Because we still see a majority of two-piece asang asang on Maguindanao/Mindanao kris during the same period, I would say that the single-piece version is probably more of a style variant than a functional variant. As best I can judge, the single-piece construction is not a Sulu feature.

Cheers, Ian.

[RobT]

Ian,

Save for the functional superiority issue, your conclusions and mine generally agree. I would have put the one piece version’s first appearance as in the last quarter of the 19th century if not later because five of my examples have a ganja iras and the other three have ganja fitted very closely to the blade (think crankshaft bearing tolerances). However, I’m not really sure whether these ganja iris and tightly fitted ganja first appeared in the mid or in the late 19th century.
I am not very good when it comes to using the Cato classification but, of the eight kris in my collection with a one piece baca baca, five appear to be Maguindanao, two appear to be Maranao, and one appears to be a crossover. One of the Maranao blades tapers distally in width from 2” (5.08 cm) at the baca baca to 1.5” (3.81 cm) at the last luk and has 19 luk in its 22.75” (57.785 cm) length. An odd looking blade for sure.
My reasons for thinking that the one piece baca baca was deliberately created as an improvement over the two piece version are as follows: I don’t think that there can be any question that, all other things being equal, the one piece design would provide greater torque resistance than a two piece version. A blow struck with a large and wide blade can be expected to generate more impact and torque forces than a blow struck with a smaller and narrower blade. As you noted, the one piece baca baca appears most often on large, wide blades and, in the examples I have, only the crossover is of average size. The other seven blades are large and wide. A closely fitted ganja (or better yet a ganja iras) would also have helped the kris hang together during the rigors of combat. I suspect that the one piece baca baca was more than just a style and the smiths were trying to sell the notion that a single one piece version could perform as well as a pair of the two piece kind but were perfectly willing to fit a pair of the two piece baca baca should the customer be unconvinced.

Sincerely,
RobT