Bedil (term)

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Bronze lantaka with Arabic script, 1700s.
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Bedil is a term from Maritime Southeast Asia which refers to various type of firearms and gunpowder weapon, from small matchlock pistol to large siege guns. The term bedil comes from wedil (or wediyal) and wediluppu (or wediyuppu) in the Tamil language.[1] In its original form, these words refer to gunpowder blast and saltpeter, respectively. But after being absorbed into bedil in the Malay language, and in a number of other cultures in the archipelago, that Tamil vocabulary is used to refer to all types of weapons that use gunpowder. The term bedil and bedhil is known in Javanese and Balinese, in Sundanese the term is bedil, in Batak it is known as bodil, in Makasarese, badili, in Buginese, balili, in Dayak language, badil, in Tagalog, baril, in Bisayan, bádil, in Bikol languages, badil, and in Malay it is badel or bedil.[1][2][3] Southeast Asian sources also refer to Pole guns (bedil tombak).

History[]

It is possible that gunpowder weapons were used in Java by Kublai Khan's Chinese forces sought to invade Java in 1293.[4][5]: 245  Claims that the kingdom of Majapahit utilized gunpowder technology obtained from the Yuan dynasty are lacking in any substantial evidence.[6]: 57  The Javanese breech-loading swivel gun, the cetbang, has also been referred to as bedil.[7]

Gun-boring in Lombok, 1869.

The knowledge of making "true" firearms probably came to Southeast Asia in the late fifteenth century via the Islamic nations of West Asia, most probably the Arabs. The precise year of introduction is unknown, but it may be safely concluded to be no earlier than 1460.[8]: 23  This resulted in the development of Java arquebus, which was also called a bedil.[9] Portuguese influence to local weaponry, particularly after the capture of Malacca (1511), resulted in a new type of hybrid tradition matchlock firearm, the istinggar.[10]

Variety of Malay cannons: (1) Meriam kalok, short and squat swivel gun. (2) Lela. (3) Lela (or rentaka). (4) Lela rambang (blunderbuss lela). (5) Ekor lotong. (6) Lela.

Portuguese and Spanish invaders were unpleasantly surprised and even outgunned on occasion.[11] Duarte Barbosa recorded abundance of gunpowder-based weapons in Java ca. 1514. The Javanese were deemed as expert gun caster and good artillerymen. The weapon found there including one-pounder cannons, long muskets, spingarde (arquebus), schioppi (hand cannon), Greek fire, guns (cannons), and other fire-works.[12][13] When Malacca fell to the Portuguese in 1511 A.D., breech-loading swivel gun (cetbang) and muzzle-loading swivel gun (lela and rentaka) were found and captured by the Portuguese.[14]: 50  In the battle, the Malays were using cannons, matchlock guns, and "firing tubes".[15] By early 16th century, the Javanese already locally-producing large guns, some of them still survived until the present day and dubbed as "sacred cannon" or "holy cannon". These cannons varied between 180-260-pounders, weighing anywhere between 3–8 tons, length of them between 3–6 m.[16]

Malay firearms (post-1800): (1) Long ornamented flintlock gun (senapang/senapan). (1a) Bamboo and rattan barrel cover. (3) Flintlock gun (senapang/senapan). (4) Brass blunderbuss (pemuras).

Saltpeter harvesting was recorded by Dutch and German travelers as being common in even the smallest villages and was collected from the decomposition process of large dung hills specifically piled for the purpose. The Dutch punishment for possession of non-permitted gunpowder appears to have been amputation.[17] Ownership and manufacture of gunpowder was later prohibited by the colonial Dutch occupiers.[18] According to colonel McKenzie quoted in Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles', The History of Java (1817), the purest sulfur was supplied from a crater from a mountain near the straits of Bali.[19]

For firearms using flintlock mechanism, the inhabitants of Nusantara archipelago is reliant on Western powers, as no local smith could produce such complex component.[20]: cxli [21][22]: 42 and 50  These flintlock firearms are completely different weapon and were known by another name, senapan or senapang, from Dutch word snappaan.[23]: 22  The gun-making areas of Nusantara could make these senapan, the barrel and the wooden part is made locally, but the mechanism is imported from the European colonist.[22]: 42 and 50 [24]: 65 [21]

List of weapon classified as bedil[]

Ottoman and Acehnese guns, dismantled following the Dutch conquest of Aceh in 1874.

Below are weapons historically may be referred to as bedil. Full description should be found in their respective pages. It is sorted alphabetically.

Bedil tombak[]

Locally-made pole gun-type hand cannon.

Cetbang[]

Early breech-loading swivel gun built by Javanese people.

Ekor lotong[]

Swivel gun with tiller resembling lutung monkey's tail.[25]

Istinggar[]

A type of matchlock firearm, result of Portuguese influence to local weaponry, particularly after the capture of Malacca (1511).[10]

Java arquebus[]

Java arquebus is a primitive long matchlock firearm from Java, used before the arrival of Iberian explorers.

Lantaka[]

Lantaka is a type of bronze portable cannon or swivel gun, sometimes mounted on merchant vessels and warships in Maritime Southeast Asia.[26]

Lela[]

Lela is a type of cannon, similar but larger in dimension to rentaka.

Meriam[]

Formerly used for a kind of cannon, now it is de facto Malaysian and Indonesian term for cannon.[27][28]

Miniature meriam kecil[]

Also known as currency cannon, this firearm is produced mainly for trading and novelty item.

Pemuras[]

Native name for blunderbuss.

Rentaka[]

Native swivel gun, very popular among the Malays.

Terakul[]

A type of dragoon pistol, used mainly by sailor and pirates.

See also[]

  • Firearm
  • Cannon
  • Artillery

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Kern, H. (January 1902). "Oorsprong van het Maleisch Woord Bedil". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 54: 311–312. doi:10.1163/22134379-90002058.
  2. ^ Syahri, Aswandi (6 August 2018). "Kitab Ilmu Bedil Melayu". Jantung Melayu. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  3. ^ Rahmawati, Siska (2016). "Peristilahan Persenjataan Tradisional Masyarakat Melayu di Kabupaten Sambas". Jurnal Pendidikan Dan Pembelajaran Khatulistiwa. 5.
  4. ^ Mayers (1876). "Chinese explorations of the Indian Ocean during the fifteenth century". The China Review. IV: p. 178.
  5. ^ Manguin, Pierre-Yves (1976). "L'Artillerie legere nousantarienne: A propos de six canons conserves dans des collections portugaises" (PDF). Arts Asiatiques. 32: 233–268. doi:10.3406/arasi.1976.1103.
  6. ^ Pramono, Djoko (2005). Budaya Bahari. Gramedia Pustaka Utama. ISBN 9789792213768.
  7. ^ "Mengejar Jejak Majapahit di Tanadoang Selayar - Semua Halaman - National Geographic". nationalgeographic.grid.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  8. ^ Crawfurd, John (1856). A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries. Bradbury and Evans.
  9. ^ Kern, H. (January 1902). "Oorsprong van het Maleisch Woord Bedil". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 54: 311–312. doi:10.1163/22134379-90002058.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Andaya, L. Y. 1999. Interaction with the outside world and adaptation in Southeast Asian society 1500–1800. In The Cambridge history of southeast Asia. ed. Nicholas Tarling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 345–401.
  11. ^ Atsushi, Ota (2006). Changes of regime and social dynamics in West Java : society, state, and the outer world of Banten, 1750–1830. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-15091-1.
  12. ^ Barbosa, Duarte (1866). A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century. The Hakluyt Society.
  13. ^ Partington, J. R. (1999). A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-5954-0.
  14. ^ Charney, Michael (2004). Southeast Asian Warfare, 1300-1900. BRILL. ISBN 9789047406921.
  15. ^ Gibson-Hill, C. A. (July 1953). "Notes on the old Cannon found in Malaya, and known to be of Dutch origin". Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 26: 145–174 – via JSTOR.
  16. ^ Modern Asian Studies. Vol. 22, No. 3, Special Issue: Asian Studies in Honour of Professor Charles Boxer (1988), pp. 607–628 (22 pages).
  17. ^ Raffles, Thomas Stamford (1978). The History of Java ([Repr.]. ed.). Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-580347-1.
  18. ^ Dipanegara, P.B.R. Carey, Babad Dipanagara: an account of the outbreak of the Java war, 1825–30 : the Surakarta court version of the Babad Dipanagara with translations into English and Indonesian volume 9: Council of the M.B.R.A.S. by Art Printing Works: 1981.
  19. ^ Thomas Stamford Raffles, The History of Java, Oxford University Press, 1965 (originally published in 1817), ISBN 0-19-580347-7
  20. ^ Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford (1830). The History of Java, Volume 2. Java: J. Murray.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Egerton, W. (1880). An Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms. W.H. Allen.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b Tarling, Nicholas (1999). The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-66370-0.
  23. ^ Crawfurd, John (1856). A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries. Bradbury and Evans.
  24. ^ Dasuki, Wan Mohd (2014). "Malay Manuscripts on Firearms as an Ethnohistorical Source of Malay Firearms Technology". Jurnal Kemanusiaan. 21: 53–71.
  25. ^ Teoh, Alex Eng Kean (2005). The Might of the Miniature Cannon A treasure of Borneo and the Malay Archipelago. Asean Heritage.
  26. ^ FILIPINO BLADE CULTURE AND THE ADVENT OF FIREARMS
  27. ^ Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (2014). Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
  28. ^ Departemen Pendidikan Nasional (2008). Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia Pusat Bahasa Edisi Keempat. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
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