Subject: panglima rebel chief
Culture: Pattani Malay
Setting: Malay Peninsula 1786-1839
This dagger came from my friend Adni Aljunied at the Malay Art Gallery in Singapore, during my visit there in 2003. Adni believes the blade to be 18th or 19th century, mounted with a contemporary hilt and scabbard. When sheathed, the blade ganja remains exposed, a feature supposedly common with peninsular Malay keris (Steel and magic 2020 p ).
The hilt, while expertly carved, is not comfortable to hold, much less fight with. This is true of all tajong hilts I've handled, and contradicts the claim that these are intended for serious fighting (Steel and Magic 2020 p ).
2. Wearing the keris tajong
I'm surprised that no source I've encountered -- whether visual or textual -- tells us how these large daggers were worn with costume.
Keris panjang from coastal Sumatra are similar in length to keris tajong, and we know the Sumatran Malays who had panjang wore them on a shoulder baldric (Steel and Magic 2020 p). This to me seems the most likely -- and also most comfortable -- way tajong were worn, so I've adopted it in my costuming.
We should mention one ridiculous comment that circulates among collectors, and is published in Stone 1934 p388 and Sheppard 1972 p12. The claim is that tajong were worn at the back waist, and when needed the wearer kicked the scabbard by the heel, launching the dagger out of the scabbard and into a waiting hand. A few attempts trying to do this will prove its absurdity.
3. Lampung keris in peninsular scabbard
Considered without its scabbard, this keris has features associated with the Lampung Malays of southern Sumatra, 18th-19th centuries. The long-beaked hilt figure appears on other keris hilts from Lampung and related areas of western Java across the Sunda Strait.
However, the scabbard sampir form is associated with peninsular Malays. It's possible that the keris without its scabbard was found and mistaken for a peninsular keris tajong or coteng, and a new scabbard was made based on that mistake. The hilt and scabbard were then lacquered to provide the whole assembly with a single harmonious color.
The tunic, trousers, sarong, and head cloth were a gift from my friend Adni Aljunied at the Malay Art Gallery. This ensemble was essentially the same across the Malay-Muslim cultural sphere by the 19th century. To this I added a tunic coat I had gotten in southern Thailand some years earlier, which is consistent with the description of peninsular Malay male costume in Sheppard 1972 p108.
