Subject: panglima warrior chief
Culture: Bugis, Malay-Bugis
Setting: Sulawesi, Riau 17-19thc
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Taylor/Aragon 1991 p296
"By the seventeenth century, three maritime kingdoms of southern Sulawesi -- the Makassar kingdom of Gowa, and the Bugis kingdoms of Luwu and Bone -- came to dominate eastern Indonesia. By the eighteenth century, the Bugis held power in Malay sultanates father west such as Johor as well. The Bugis and Makassar people were known throughout the archipelago as intrepid and professional warriors. There were even Bugis- and Makassarese-written translations of Spanish and Portuguese manuscripts on gun manufacture." [references omitted]
* Spruit 1995 p91-92
"One of the most important groups of immigrants in the 18th century were the Bugis from Sulawesi. They were known as traders, shipwrights, experienced seafarers and, above all, as fearless warriors. They gladly offered their services as mercenaries, and Malay sultans would make use of them to decide internal conflict. The capture of the port of Malacca by the Dutch forced many Bugis to find an existence elsewhere in Malaya. Slowly but surely the Bugis were able to seize power in an increasingly large part of Malaya. They claimed privileges because of their help in war, or by intrigue at the courts. The Bugis were realistic enough that they did not strive for the position of sultan, a foreigner as sultan being unthinkable to a Malay, but they did create for themselves the position of Yang Dipertuan Muda, a position comparable to that of viceroy normally reserved for the designated successor of a sultan. Other important positions were then taken over, or else the Bugis were able to enter the court through marriage.
"In 1717 the supposed son of the murdered Sultan Mahmud appeared in Johore under the name Raja Kecil. Many in Johore believed that Raja Kecil was coming to reinstate the old dynasty; a part of the nobility joined him and particularly the Orang Laut, the sea people once forming the sultans' proud navy, chose the side of Raja Kecil. War broke out between the two factions in 1718. After his victory, Raja Kecil married one of the daughters of Sultan Abdul Jalil and settled as ruler in Johore. Abdul Jalil himself fled to Terengganu, where he established a new court. But Raja Kecil quickly lost the confidence of his subjects. he had some of the leaders of the Orang Laut killed and ordered the murder of Abdul Jalil in Terengganu. But his biggest mistake was that he went to war against the Bugis, who controlled much of the west coast of the peninsula. Raja Kecil moved his court to the inaccessible Riau marchipelago [SIC], south of Singapore, but nevertheless he was pursued there and deposed. The Bugis took control. Their legendary leader Daen Perani and his brothers put the young Prince Sulaiman, son of the murdered Abdul Jalil, on the throne.
"The VOC was increasingly being hindered by the Bugis. They disturbed trade, broke the monopoly, and piracy was on the increase. In 1745 the junior merchant Claas de Wind was sent with the schooner Lijdzaambeid to Sultan Sulaiman of Johore to complain about the pirates who, as it was put, 'with many vessels to the north and south of here deter traders and without the least payment violently take their merchandise and eatables, under pretext of their own need, which causes excessive price rises ... and these robbers, in broad daylight and in sight of the cannon on the walls attack the fishermen and rob them.'"
* Ricklefs 1993 p65
"Arung Palakka's campaigning did not end with the victory over Gowa. He waged a series of campaigns against recalcitrant states, which brought much hardship to the people and damage to the lands of South Sulawesi. He also took an army to Java to aid the VOC during the Trunajaya war. It was largely because of these devastating campaigns and Arung Palakka's authoritarian rule that large numbers of Makassarese and Bugis fled from South Sulawesi in his reign. They took to their ships like marauding Vikings in search of honour, wealth and new homes. They intervened in the affairs of Lombok, Sumbawa, Kalimantan, Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and even Siam. Well into the eighteenth century these fierce warriors were the scourge of the archipelago."
* Steel and magic 2020 p113
"In the second half of the seventeenth century the Netherlands gained influence in Bone and Makassar, which resulted in an aggressive mobility of the Buginese. Later, during the colonial rule of the British, the Buginese were feared as ruthless pirates but also respected as highly efficient merchants who even set up dependencies in Australia."
* Khidhir bin Abu Bakr 2017-11-06 online
"Historian Khoo Kay Kim has criticised those who characterise the Bugis as pirates, saying they are ignorant of historical facts.
"Speaking to FMT, the emeritus professor said the lie was started in the 18th century by British civil servants in Malaya and they did it in order to get permission from the British government to extend their administration in the country.
""They needed a reason to give to the British government,' Khoo said. “By saying the Malay rulers were pirates, it was easier for them to intervene.
“'The British government would have stopped it if it knew that all this talk of pirates was based on lies.'
"He said there was no way the Bugis could be considered pirates because piracy, as defined by the law of the time, could be committed only in areas that had no government.
“'The areas around the Straits of Melaka and the South China Sea were all part of the Malay realm of governance and if a ship were to enter the region and not pay toll, then the ruler had the right to attack the ship. That’s not piracy.'”
Keris Dagger
* Wagner 1988 p157
"In southern Celebes the hilt has changed its shape. Whilst the hilt of the Javanese kris is straight and only gently curved, the one from southern Celebes is sharply curved. This variation can be explained by the fact that different basic forms determined its development; in Java the human figure, but in southern Celebes an animal figure. The kris found in Malacca also displays a certain affinity with that from southern Celebes, whilst the sizes that are most commonly met with bear Javanese names. Even the armourer himself is designated by the Javanese word pande."
* Newbold 1839 p213
"They swear by their krises, for which they have a great veneration, and on going into battle, drink the water in which they have been dipped, uttering imprecations on the foe."
* Steel and magic 2020 p
"
* Draeger 1972 p
"
* Frey 1988 p
"
Armor
* Newbold 1839 p213
"The Bugis tribes inhabiting Celebes, are celebrated for the temper they give to steel, and for their arms in general; in addition to those of the Malays on the Peninsula, they use defensively the baju ranti (chain jacket), and both a long and round sort of shield."
Costume
*
"
Sword
* van Zonneveld 2001 p
"
* Draeger 1972 p
"
* Steel and magic 2020 p112
"[T]he scabbards of Bugis alamang were usually wrapped with genuine rattan, or had a noble metal cover with an embossed imitation of a wrapping. [...]
"... It remains open to debate if the [hilt] shape represents a crocodile head, a draconic mythical creature (for example the aso of the Dayak or the lasara of the Nias people), or a stylised hornbill, the last of which is symbolically connected with headhunting."
Knife
* Ensiklopedi budaya nasional p45
"BADIK adalah senjata tikam tradisional dari daerah Sulawesi Selatan, khususnya pada suku Bugis dan Makassar serta Goa. Bentuknya hampir menyerupai pisau, dengan bagian tajam hanya pada salah satu sisi matanya saja. Tangkainya (hulu badik) terbuat dari kayu, gading, tulang atau tandu,. Sarungnya (warangkanya) terbuat dari kayu, kadang-kadang dihias pula dengan lapisan perak atau emas.
"Badik terbuat dari besi, baja dan bahan pamor. Pada umumnya, bahan yang dipakai untuk pamor adalah batu bintang yang mengandung unsur titanium. Itulah sebabnya, badik juga mempunyai pamor yang bagus, kuat dan tahan karat. Pecinta keris banyak yang beranggapan, bahwa badik juga memiliki daya atau kekuatan gaib, yang bermanfaat bagi pemiliknya.
"Selain berfungsi sebagai senjata, badik juga merupakan kelengkapan pakaian adat. Cara memakainya, dengan menyelipkannya pada lipatan kain sarung, di bagian perut di pemakai.
"Zaman dulu, pada peristiwa perang tanding (duel) karena soal emmpertahankan kehormatan, biasanya yang digunakan sebagai senjata adalah badik. Dua orang yang saling berusuhan masuk ke dalam sebuah kain sarung dengan badik di tangan masing-masing, sedang tangan yang satu lagi memegang tepi sarung. Meraka saling menikam, dan kemungkinan untuk menghindar, kecil sekall.
"Karena suku Bugis dan Makassar banyak yang menjadi pelaut dan perantau, maka senjata badik tersebar luas hampir di seluruh Asia Tenggara. Orang Malaysia, Brunei, Filipina dan Thailand juga tetap menyebutnya badik atau badek."
* National cultural encyclopaedia p44
"BADIK is a traditional dagger from the area of South Sulawesi, especially of the Bugis, Makassar and Goa. Their forms bear the very likeness of a knife with the sharp edge only at one of the sides. Their hilts are made of wood, ivory, bones or horns. Sometimes they are also ornamented by a layer of silver and gold.
"Badik is made of iron, steel and pamor. Generally, the material used for the pamor are Batu Bintang which contains Titanium elements. That's why the Badik has also a nice pamor, strong and rust-free. Kris lovers are of opinion, that Badiks are also in a possession of mysterious, occult power, which is very useful to the possessor.
"Besides functioning as a weapon, Badiks also form the complement of the traditional clothings. The custom to wear them are to shove it into the pleats of the Sarong cloth, at the part of the stomach of the user.
"In times gone by at a duel to defend their honors, usually they use as a weapon the badik. Two antagonists enter a sarong cloth with a Badik in each hand, while their other hands [sic] hold fast the side of the sarong. They stab each other and the possibility to evade, is very small.
"Because the Buginese and the Makassarese Tribe are for the greater part sailors or wanderers, that's why the badiks are spread in almost the entire of South East Asia [sic]. The Malayers, Bruneiers, Philippines and the Thailanders are constantly calling them Badek."
* Draeger 1972 p
"
* van Zonneveld 2001 p
"
