FILHISTORY.com -- Filipino weapons & history

Ang Filhistory ay nasa Facebook na!

Ang Filhistory ay nasa Facebook na ngayon. Narito ang LINK. Salamat. [The updated posts of Filhistory are in Facebook. Kindly go to this LINK. Thanks.]

Tagumpay ng Himagsikang Pilipino

Noong 1898, naging pangkaraniwan ang eksenang ito sa buong bansa -

"At 5:00 pm on 24 December 1898, 333 years of Spanish rule in Cebu came to an end when the Spanish flag was lowered at Fort San Pedro. Montero turned over the government [to the Filipinos] ... It was an emotion-charged moment and, in a fit of despair, some Spaniards tore their own flag after it was lowered. In the dusk, the ceremonies over, the Spaniards and their dependents moved out in a lonely convoy of boats bound for Zamboanga, their way station for the final withdrawal to Spain."

Mabuhay ang Pilipino!

Ang sipi ay mula sa The War Against the Americans ni Resil Mojares. Ang mga larawan ay galing sa Univ. of Michigan. 

Ang walong "villa" ng Pilipinas

Mula kay Dr. Luciano P.R. Santiago (2005) -- "A villa is a Spanish territorial classification as well as an institution. It is little known in the Philippines, even among historians, because it was sparsely granted in these parts during the Colonial Period. Though small in number, the villas were huge in significance as the centers for regional consolidation as well as, when linked together, the general dissemination of Spanish rule, commerce and culture in the archipelago. In current works, the term is usually, but inaccurately, translated as 'village.' However, its closest English equivalent is 'borough' (as in Marlborough). In this article, we shall retain the Spanish word villa.

"In the more than three centuries of Spanish domination in the Islands, only eight settlements or towns were raised into the status of a villa - one each in five major ethno-linguistic regions (Cebú, Bicol, Ilocos, Panay and Pampanga) and in three Tagalog provinces (Laguna, Tayabas [now Quezón] and Batangas). Thus, the eight Philippine villas were Cebú (founded 1565), Libón, Albay (1573), Vigan (1574), Arévalo, Iloilo (1581), Pila, Laguna (c1610), Tayabas, Tayabas (1703), Bacolor, Pampanga (1765) and lastly, Lipá, Batangas (1887)."

Ang Colt .45 at ang Pilipinong mandirigma

  
Ang simulain ng pistol na .45 M1911 ay nag-ugat sa Digmaang Filipino-Amerikano, na pumutok noong 1899.

Bago pa makalaban ng Amerikano ang mga Moro (1903 pataas), kinailangan na ang .45 laban sa mga Kristyanong sandatahanes at talibones [bolomen] ng Luzon at Kabisayaan (1899 pataas).

Kung magkagayon, and buong Kapilipinuhan ang siyang 'hilot' na nagsilang sa pinakatanyag na baril sa buong mundo.

        

Uniporme ng mga sundalong Pilipino (1890-1910)

Ang mga litrato ay kuha sa mga eksibit ng Buhay na Kasaysayan (BNK). Ang pananaliksik ay ginawa ni Engr. Perry Javier at Nonito "Ding" Flores. Ang ibang info ay nagmula kay Bill Combs ng Estados Unidos. Salamat din kay Sumaquel Hosalla.

 

Anting-anting ng mga Pilipinong sundalo (1800s - 1900s)

Ang mga larawan ay mga anting-anting o agimat o bertud [talisman] na display sa nakaraang War and Dissent na exhibit, sa Museong Pambansa ng Pilipinas.

Sandata sa Museo Oriental (Augustinian), sa Espanya

MGA PILIPINONG SANDATA, sa Museo Oriental (Augustinian) sa Espanya.

Philippine Luzon kris swords

The Philippine full-wave and the half-wave kalis (kris) swords are commonly associated with the Moros of southern Philippines.

The fact of the matter however is that krises (as well as kampilans) were used throughout the Philippine archipelago, even before the precolonial times (1500s and earlier):

Tagalogs [of Luzon] fought with the usual Philippine weapons -- the single-edged balaraw dagger, the wavy kris (kalis), spears with both metal and fire-hardened tips, padded armor and carabao-hide breastplates, and long narrow shields (kalasag), or round bucklers (palisay). -- William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, 1994.

Examples of such krises (Luzon, i.e., northern Philippines, probably 19th century) are shown above. The full-wave kris on top probably had Visayan (i.e., central Philippines) influence, given the parallel engravings on the ricasso.  

The dimensions of the above examples are as follows:

Full-wave kris

Overall length = 562 mm (22 1/8 inches)

Blade length = 438 mm (17 1/4 inches)

Blade at widest = 41 mm (1 5/8 inches)

Blade at thickest = 8 mm (5/16 inch)

Half-wave kris

Total length = 690 mm (27 3/16 inches)

Blade length = 549 mm (21 5/8 inches)

Blade at widest = 40 mm (1 9/16 inches)

Blade at thickest = 5 mm (3/16 inch)

Filipino weapons at Macao exhibit

Source: Macao exhibit webpages

Filipino Luzon sword 3 (Macao exhibit)

Website description:

Item 200: Luzon Matulis

Period: Post 1900, Katipunan Era
Hilt: Carved wooden hilt with octagonal iron ferrule and D guard. Decorative brass tacks. Peened tang.
Blade: Forward curve double edge blade. Laminated steel blade with file work by ricasso. 
Scabbard: Tooled leather scabbard with leather throat and silver tip at scabbard toe.
Origin: Northern Luzon

Overall Length: 66 cm (26.4 inches)
Blade Length: 52.1 cm (20.8 inches)
Handle Length: 13.9 cm (5.6 inches)
Scabbard Length: 53 cm (21.2 inches)

[Note: Luzon swords are commonly found with leather scabbards. Visayan and Mindanao scabbards on the other hand are usually made of wood.]