A Rudus is a sword or cutlass associated with the Malay culture of Sumatra. Together with the ''pemandap'', the rudus is among the largest swords of Malay people. Rudus is also a symbol of certain Malay state in the Island, e.g. the Province of

Bengkulu Bengkulu (), historically known as Bencoolen, is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the area of the historic Bencoolen Residency from the province of ...

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Description

The rudus is associated with the Islamic

Malay culture Malays ( ; , Jawi: ) are an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations. These locations are today part of the countries ...

. It is found to be more common in Sumatra than in the Malay peninsula. Together with the pemandap, the rudus is considered to be a symbol of the Sumatran Malay culture. The

Acehnese people The Acehnese (, ), also written as Atjehnese and Achinese, are an indigenous ethnic group native to Aceh, a province on the northernmost tip of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The area has a history of political struggle against the Dutch ...

and the Malay of

are recorded to have the rudus as their cultural identity. Rudus is also found in the Malay

Banjar people The Banjar or Banjarese () are an Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic group native to the Banjar Region, Banjar regions (notably Banjarmasin, Banjarbaru, Banjar Regency, etc.) in the South Kalimantan, southeastern Kalimantan regions of In ...

South Kalimantan South Kalimantan () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is the second most populous province on the island of Kalimantan, the Indonesian territory of the island of Borneo after West Kalimantan. The provincial capital was Banjar ...

, where it was an official traditional weapon of the province of South Kalimantan, together with the kuduk. In the Islamic period of Indonesia, the island of Sumatra was divided into multiple small sultanates that were at war with each other. The province of

in South Sumatra alone had many sultanates, among the sultanates were the Sultanate of Sungai Serut, Selebar, Pat Petulai, Balai Buntar, Sungai Lemau, Sekiris, Gedung Agung and Marau Riang. These warring sultanate states would equip their warriors with weapons e.g. the

badik The badik or badek ( Makassarese: ᨅᨉᨗ ''badiʼ'', Buginese: ᨀᨓᨒᨗ ''kawali'') is a knife or dagger developed by the Bugis and Makassar people of southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Description The badik consists of three parts, namely ...

, rambai ayam and rudus. Rudus was also used in the ceremony of the election of the datuk, the chief of the

adat Alesis Digital Audio Tape, commonly referred to as ADAT, is a magnetic tape format used for the Sound recording and reproduction, recording of eight digital audio tracks onto the same S-VHS tape used by consumer VCRs, and the basis of a serie ...

. During the colonial period, rudus was used by the natives as a form of resistance toward the colonial government. Because of this romanticized patriotic notion of using the rudus to rise against the oppressor, the rudus is featured in the seal of the

province to symbolize heroism.

Form

The rudus consists of the ''mata'' (literally "eyes", the blade), the ''ulu'' ("hilt"), and the ''sarung'' ("sheath"). The rudus is often inscribed with

Jawi script Jawi (; ; ; ) is a writing system used for writing several languages of Southeast Asia, such as Acehnese, Banjarese, Betawi, Magindanao, Malay, Mëranaw, Minangkabau, Tausūg, Ternate and many other languages in Southeast Asia. Jawi ...

at certain parts of the sword, usually at the blade or at the hilt. The Jawi script is a kind of Perso-Arabic alphabet that was used for writing the Malay language, especially by the Acehnese, Banjarese, and

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see bel ...

. The maker of the rudus sword would carve the date of the completion of the sword, as well as his name and his village of origin. In some cases, however, the inscription indicated the date of the re-decoration of the blade. A rudus kept in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

has inscription which identifies that the artist came from a village in Peninsular Malaysia, however the shape of the decoration is not endemic to the Peninsular Malaysia, but more to the northern Sumatran region which is inhabited by the

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

and the Batak Pakpak people. This indicates that the rudus was brought from Sumatra to neighboring Malaysia to be redecorated. Inscriptions can be written on the blade or on the hilt. The Metropolitan Museum of Art example has the inscriptions inlaid with gold. Some chose to carve it on its wooden hilt. The rudus is carried slung at the side.

References

Cited works

* {{Indonesian Weapons Southeast Asian swords Edged and bladed weapons Weapons of Indonesia Weapons of Aceh

Description

Form

See also

References

Cited works