Kalis: Origin of Minadanaon Kris

[David]

Originally Posted by baganing_balyan

when I used the images in my previous posts, I did not mind about the dates. I only used them as representations since I had no idea about the exact dates the artifacts were made. So when I use the images of Indian swords and yataghan, my concern is mainly to show what they look like.

so far the oldest illustration of yataghan i read is the one in Richard Burton's The Book of the Sword, 1884, where the bird or sarimanok motif is evident.

This illustration that Baganing has linked to reminds me of the old story of the blind men and the elephant. How each one, capable of limited senses, describes what the elephant is by very limited contact with very specific parts of the beast. No single blind man is able to get a full grasp of the animal they are examining. This 2-dimensional drawing from Burton's book does not really give us a completely accurate idea of the overall shape of the yagatan hilt. From this angle we see some similarity to the Moro kakatau pommel, but seen in 3-dimensions the similarities diminish greatly. I seriously doubt that the yagatan hilt did or could have influenced the development of the kakatau pommel. And seen from multiple sides i don't get the impression that the yagatan hilt was ever meant to be the stylized bird head that the kakatau pommels seem to be (though like the keris tajong hilt, maybe it's not meant to be a bird at all ).
Baganing, your project is both interesting and ambitious. However, you cannot just pick and choose the evidence that supports your theories and throw the rest away. No one is going to take that kind of research seriously. I know that personally i am always open to new discoveries and more than willing to see old paradigms toppled in the face of overwhelming new evidence. But what you present is just too easy to pick away at. It has no substance. Maybe you need to do just a little more field research yourself. It doesn't seem that you have even handled any old yagatans before developing this theory. You also admit to knowing very little about Malay keris. But this is obviously the origin of the Moro kris/kalis/sundang so maybe it would serve your research well if you spent a few years examining the history and roots of the keris before rushing to conclusions on the origins of the kris/kalis. The study of Malay keris is truly a lifetime's undertaking, but a little study might give you firmer ground on which to set your theories.
"I have always believed that to really understand the origin of a weapon, a general or holistic study should be done-- art, folklore, genealogy, genetics, geography, metallurgy, woodwork, warfare, spirituality, etc. That's what I want to attempt."
This is the the wisest thing you have posted so far. I don't think anyone here would argue with this. I would encourage you to continue in this quest. Unfortunately you will never accomplish this if you continue to disregard ideas and evidence when it fails to support your own theories.... or to disregard or disrespect other researcher and their questions to you when they disagree with what you want the truth to be.