Keris

Keris

The modern keris has existed since at least the mid 14th Century. It developed in East Java from an earlier form known in Java as the keris buda. The keris buda was preceded by and, coexisted with, a Javanese dagger with a leaf shaped blade which resembled the leaf shaped blades of Indian swords.

The period during which the keris buda, and its immediate predecessor, came into being was the Early Classical Period (end 7th Century to end 9th Century). This period of Javanese history was heavily influenced by Indian culture and ideas. The evidence, although incomplete, points to the keris being a descendant of the line of weaponry which embraces the leaf shaped blades of India, and proposed by Rawson as " ...a common Aryan heritage of the Indo Aryan peoples".

1 A keris buda from the period 11th to 13th Century. No pamor is in evidence, and the laminated construction technique has not yet appeared.
2 A late keris buda. The blade is of early form, but laminated construction was used, and pamor is in evidence. This keris was probably made after the mid 14th Century, as a copy of an earlier piece.
3 Transitional form of keris. In this blade the emergence of the modern keris has begun. Some features of the keris buda are still in evidence, such as the square tang, high gandik, and broad gonjo. However, the tang, although still essentially square has a slight radius on its front and back, and the blade has lengthened, and become lighter. Close examination reveals residual traces of black iron with what appears to be an inclusion of nickelous material. The bulk of the blade material is heavily grained iron or steel, and as it retains much of its original form, indicates that the laminated outer skin would have been very thin. This blade appears to be an early attempt at laminated construction, and probably dates from 13th to 14th Century East Java.
4 A modern keris made in 1987, the blade executed in the Central Javanese Surakarta style.

Description

The keris is a South East Asian dagger.

Typically the blade of a keris is of asymmetric form, with the blade wider on one side than on the other. The blade can be either straight or with an uneven number of waves, is usually about 12" to 15" long, and is sharpened on both edges. The surface of the blade frequently bears a pattern, produced during the forging process, and made visible by etching, which is known as pamor.

The foregoing blade description relates to the modern keris, which dates from at least the 14th Century. Some keris do deviate from this description, however, for the purposes of this paper, these deviations are not material.

Origin

A number of theories have been put forward to explain the origin of the keris (Hill). These range from adaptation of a broken spear, to development from the sting of the stingray. Javanese and Malay traditions attribute origin to legendary figures. An examination of these theories would use much time and space and would contribute little. Suffice to say that when viewed against evidence available in the country of origin of the keris, Java, these theories are difficult to support or accept.

Solyom states: "We may only speculate about how and when the keris and its manner of use evolved." He then goes on to mention an early form of keris known in Java as keris buda, which the Javanese attribute to the Central Javanese Hindu Buddhist era (c. 700 A.D. to c. 900 A.D.). He comments further: "Apparently no reliable dating has been obtained for them."

Examination of monumental evidence in Java demonstrates that the keris buda did indeed exist during the Central Javanese period. The same sites where representations of the keris buda can be found, contain representations of another very similar dagger which can reasonably be considered to be the direct predecessor of the keris buda. The form of this predecessor is very similar to the leaf shaped blades identified by Rawson as one of the two chief forms of Indian sword blades. Considered in the time and cultural frame work of the Central Javanese period this would seem to indicate the influence of post-Gupta culture on this weapon design. These blade forms are leaf shaped, waisted and with a splayed base. Rawson states that, along with a second Indian blade form, "Both these blade forms are consistently represented in Greek vase paintings from antiquity, so it is very probable that they are a common Aryan heritage of the Indo-Aryan peoples."

Another point of similarity with Indian weapon design is in the pommels shown on the swords and daggers of the Central Javanese period. On the swords, these are the common Indian round disc, surmounted by a small dome. On some of the daggers, this disc has become an oblong shape (Harsrinuksmo, p.19), an alteration which would facilitate a waist level, vertical carry.

Central Javanese Period (Early Classical)

It is generally accepted that there had been Indian contact with Java from about the second century A.D. (Coedes). By the early 8th Century, the Shailendras, a Buddhist dynasty, had established themselves as rulers in Central Java. Between 775 A.D. and 864 A.D., during the reign of King Samaratunga, the great Buddhist monument of Borobudur was completed, and was probably consecrated in 824 A.D. (de Casparis). Not long after this, early in the 10th Century, the temple complex of Lara Jonggrang was completed.

The Lara Jonggrang complex is situated near the village of Prambanan, not far from Jogjakarta in Central Java. Because of its siting it is often referred to as Candi Prambanan (Prambanan temple). This is a Hindu temple devoted to the worship of Shiva.

Both Borobudur and Prambanan are examples of Indian art and architectural influence in Java. The architecture of Borobudur is influenced by Indian Gupta and post-Gupta styles (Britannica), and the art and architecture of Prambanan is a synthesis of northern and southern Indian styles (Kempers). The reliefs at both these monuments, although influenced by Indian culture, do not show Indian settings, but place the stories related by the reliefs in a Javanese context.

East Javanese Period (Late Classical)

In the late 10th or early 11th Century, the centre of Javanese cultural and political life shifted to the East. The first king after the shift of the court from Central to East Java is known to be King Sindok. He is mentioned in several inscriptions, the earliest dating from 919. He claimed descent from the dynasty of Mataram, which ruled in Central Java following the failure of the Shailendras in about 870 (Vlekke).

We know little of East Java in the period from the arrival of Sindok up until the establishment of the kingdom of Majapahit in 1292. Sindok ruled over the kingdom of Kadiri, which was destroyed around the year 1000. Airlangga reunified East Java, and then divided his kingdom between his two sons. Almost nothing is known of this period. In 1222 the kingdom of Singosari arose, followed by Majapahit in 1292. Vlekke suggests that the constant change in the centre of power during this period of Java's history indicates the existence of a number of small principalities in more or less permanent competition with each other. If this was the case, the resulting political instability probably generated unrest and a less than peaceful social environment. History tells us that in such a social environment, the members of that society customarily carry arms as they go about their daily business.

From this late classical period there are further examples of the evolution of the keris. An 11th Century East Javanese carving (Fontein, plate 19), shows a demon grasping a weapon with two blades, both of which display the same short, broad, heavy form with waisted blade, splayed base and heavy central ridge, as found in the Prambanan I dagger. However, in this East Javanese example, the blade features are more accentuated than in the Prambanan examples.

Candi Singosari (c. 1300), located not far from present day Malang, provides an example of gandik and gonjo, albeit, not on a keris. These features, which are now accepted as being typical of the keris, are found on a dagger with a jambiya shaped blade and bearing a domed, disc shaped pommel (Fontein, plate 25).
Fontein also presents a 14th Century East Javanese finial, which shows a man holding a keris of modern proportions. This keris is held in the rapier like fashion of the modern keris.

Transition

Examination of physical specimens of pre-modern keris and of early examples of modern keris, shows that on some pre-modern keris, a line drawn through the centre of the blade deviates from a line drawn through the centre of the tang by 3°, on other pre-modern keris, this deviation is 8.5° to 9°, and on the modern keris the deviation varies from 8° to 12.5°. The smaller angle of deviation found on some pre-modern keris, and resulting in a blade with a straighter presentation, is consistent with a weapon used to stab overarm, whilst the wider angle of deviation found on other pre-modern keris, and on all modern keris, is consistent with the thrusting style of use of the modern keris. The existence of two distinct angles of deviation in pre-modern keris would seem to indicate that even before the appearance of the modern keris, its immediate predecessor was being used to thrust, as well as to stab.

Further evidence that the keris buda was used as, and developed from a weapon used with an overarm stabbing action, is to be found in the tang. The tang of the keris buda is of square section. Such a tang was necessary to prevent the blade from turning in the handle, something very undesirable in a weapon used with a powerful overarm, downwards stabbing action. Conversely, the tang of the modern keris is round, which allows adjustment of the orientation of the blade to the grip, to suit the individual user, a desirable feature of the keris used as a thrusting weapon, which is unimportant where the weapon is used overarm.

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Copyright © 1998 by A. G. Maisey. All rights reserved. Country of first publication: Australia