Sword "surik"

Description:

Indonesia East, Timor, Central, Belu / Tetum, early 19th cent.
L. 111 cm (115,5 cm mit Haaren)
Steel, horn, wood, hair (goat). A very rare, outstanding surik sword from Central Timor, which played a major role as an object of prestige among the Tetum. It embodies status and warriorism per se. Curved swords like this one are common among the Tetum, while the Atoni, who were partially displaced by them, prefer the typologically older, straight swords. However, the symbolic content is similar. The term surik is derived from Sanskr. curiga, “sword”, other derivatives are corik or sonri. The single-edged, fullered back blade is a French or German sabre blade from the early 19th century, which was imported to the archipelago on a large scale. The blades were often shortened for practical reasons; the full sabre length (cavalry sabre) is rarely found. The large handle is made of dark buffalo horn. The shape with a pronounced pyramidal pommel is typical of Central Timor and bears red-colored goat hair, probably from a sacrificial animal. The central “eye”, which can also be found on sword hilts in southern Philippine treasure finds from the 9th and 10th centuries, is clearly recognizable. The two-part wooden scabbard with the thickened scabbard mouth is covered with a thick, crusty, organic patina, which is probably a mixture of the blood of sacrificial animals, betel juice and alcoholic beverages - renowned, high-ranking swords like this one had to be propitiated by regular “sacrifices” with magically charged substances. The abstracted pommel is ultimately based on the hornbill or another symbolic animal. Swords of this type were only allowed to be carried by high-ranking warriors.
Collected from an old German private collection since the 1950s - Collection number: 06-1564
On Timor, the specialized warrior or champion, meo, is responsible for organizing and moderating the ritualized warfare and the taking of life according to the adat. Meo was a special warrior rank on Timor, both among the Tetum and the Atoni. Its symbol is the surik. The Malayo-Polynesian Tetum (also Tetun, formerly Belu), to whom this sword can be assigned, are the largest ethnic group in East Timor. In Indonesian West Timor, they make up a large part of the population in the government districts of Belu and Malaka. The Tetum are the largest ethnic group in East Timor with around 450,000 members and the second largest in West Timor with 500,000. They migrated to Timor in the 14th century, according to tradition from Malacca / Sumatra. This is probably the reason why they prefer curved blades (under Indo-Persian influence), while older ethnic groups tend to have straight swords. They first settled in the center of the island and displaced the Atoin Meto in the western part of Timor. Later they also advanced into the eastern part and successively founded four kingdoms, of which Wehale was the most powerful