The baju lamina (also known as lamena by

Bugis The Bugis people (pronounced ), also known as Buginese, are an ethnicity—the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassar and Toraja), in the south-western province of Sulawe ...

, sa 'dan by

Toraja The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Chri ...

, lamina or laminah by Malays) is a mail and plate armor from the Nusantara archipelago (

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

, and

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Description

The baju lamina is a chain armor that is worked in the form of a vest. The back portion consist of small rectangular

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

plates, the front of brass rings. Several rectangular brass plates are attached to the brass rings, which extend from the height of the

collarbone The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the right ...

to about the lower edge of the last costal arch. The brass plates serve to reinforce the chain armor at the level of the more vulnerable

chest The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...

and

pelvis The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

. The baju lamina has neither sleeves nor a collar.Albert G. van Zonneveld: ''Traditional weapons of the Indonesian archipelago.'' C. Zwartenkot Art Books, Leiden 2001, , p. 28. One of the earliest references to this armor is after the conquest of Malacca by Portuguese (1511). The son of

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

mentioned the armament of

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

: Around the 17th century, the Bugis people started using mail and plate armors and they were still used until the 19th century.

Gallery

File:Lamena Bugis.png, Traditional Bugis lamina armor. File:KITLV 87611 - Isidore van Kinsbergen - Armor at Telaga in Kuningan - Before 1900.tif, Armor at Telaga, Kuningan,

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

. File:Drie krijgers van Bantam, 1596, RP-P-OB-80.252.jpg, Warriors of

Banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Se ...

, 1596. File:Moro-Rüstung.jpg, Baju lamina is similar to this Moro mail and plate armor (kurab-a-kulang). File:Malay war dress baju lamina and kechubong.jpg, Malay baju lamina and kechubong helmet. File:Bugis brass armor.jpg, Bugis brass lamina, with large plates.

References

External links

Baju Lamina in Pitt Rivers Museum
{{Indonesian Weapons Indonesian inventions Asian armour Body armor Military equipment of antiquity Military equipment of Indonesia

Description

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links