A Fabulous & Massive Antique Moro Keris Kalis, A Phillipines Pre Colonial Style Warrior's Sword

A kalis ( in Jawi script: كاليس ) is a type of Philippine sword. The kalis has a double-edged blade, which is commonly straight from the tip but can be wavy near the handle. Kalis exists in several variants, either with a fully straight or fully wavy blade. It is similar to the Javanese keris, but differs in that the kalis is a sword, not a dagger. It is much larger than the keris and has a straight or slightly curved hilt, making it a primarily heavy slashing weapon (in contrast to the stabbing pistol grip of the keris).

Blade length (incl. gangya): 58.5 cm (23 in.)
Width of blade (mid-point): 4 cm
Hilt length: 10.2 cm
OAL: 71 cm (27 7/8 in.)
Width of gangya {guard} tip to tip: 13.2 cm

This blade is of laminated construction. The ricikin shows a secah kasang (elephant trunk), gandhik, praen (tusk), and lambe gajah (elephant lips). The orientation of these features is similar to the much later forms of Indonesian Keris, although the lambe gajah straddle the line of separation between the gandhik and the gangya, instead of appearing low on the gandhik. There is no sogokan or blumbanggan. Greneng and jenggot are present, and both show wear. There is a single, one-piece, asang asang. The hilt is a single piece of carved banati wood, topped with cushion shaped pommel. The grip is bound with criss-crossing rattan, which also secures the extension of the asang asang. The scabbard is made of local wood and bound with plaited rattan strips. Its durability and sharpness can be comparable to the Japanese katana.

A collection of Moro keris types are archived in the United States National Museum.

Even before the arrival of Spain, the knowledge of metallurgy in the pre-colonial Philippines was neither tribal nor primitive. In fact, it was already sophisticated. Because if it was not, Panday Pira would not have come to be. The blades of these swords are a testament to the expertise of these early Filipinos.

The history of the Philippines from 1565 to 1898 is known as the Spanish colonial period, during which the Philippine Islands were ruled as the Captaincy General of the Philippines within the Spanish East Indies, initially under the Viceroyalty of New Spain, based in Mexico City, until the independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain in 1821. This resulted in direct Spanish control during a period of governmental instability there.

The first documented European contact with the Philippines was made in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan in his circumnavigation expedition,1 during which he was killed in the Battle of Mactan. Forty-four years later, a Spanish expedition led by Miguel López de Legazpi left modern Mexico and began the Spanish conquest of the Philippines in the late 16th century. Legazpi's expedition arrived in the Philippines in 1565, a year after an earnest intent to colonize the country, which was during the reign of Philip II of Spain, whose name has remained attached to the country.

The Spanish colonial period ended with the defeat of Spain by the United States in the Spanish–American War and the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, which marked the beginning of the American colonial era of Philippine history.

The scabbard throat have small side elements lacking

Code: 25638