Kawaca

Short description: A Javanese term for war attire

Close-up of a statue in Singhasari temple. According to I.D. Nugroho, this is an armor made of assembled plates.

Kawaca is a term for war attire mentioned in Old Javanese texts.^[1]^:320 Its name comes from the Sanskrit kawaca which means armor, cuirass, a type of chain mail, any kind of cover, corset, jacket.^[2]^:823

Description

A cuirass being presented by a brahmin, depicted in the Borobudur temple.

Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder, in his Old Javanese-English dictionary, defines kawaca as a chain mail, possibly shaped like a jacket, which is made of metal. The word also has a second meaning, namely the shirt worn by the clergy.^[2]^:823 Irawan Djoko Nugroho argues that in a military context, kawaca means armor. It is shaped like a long tube and is made of cast copper.^[1]^{:202, 386} According to Jiří Jákl, kawaca was a metal breastplate worn on the upper body of a high-ranking soldier.^[3]^:78 In high Balinese language, kwaca or kuwaca is a general term for a jacket, although it used to mean armor in Old Javanese.^[4]^:216 In modern Javanese language, kawaca means cuirass or chain mail.^[5]

The Kakawin Ramayana (c. 870 AD), which is the Javanese version of Valmiki's epic Ramayana (c. 500 CE), mentions clothing and armor that reflect the era. A member of the royal family is said to wear crown, padaka (collar, medallion, or breastplate), karambalangan (girdle or plastron) and use gold-plated armor even in battle.^[2]^:802^[6]^:27 Kakawin Ramayana also mentions the term watek makawaca, which means armored troops.^[3]^:77

A suit of armor, or specifically cuirass,^[7]^:47 is depicted on the reliefs of the Divyavadana story in the Borobudur temple. In that story, it is said that Rudrayana sent a gift to king Bimbisara in the form of his famous cuirass which not only had miraculous powers but was also adorned with priceless gems.^[8]^:282 The cuirass is depicted as sleeveless and apparently closed in front.^[9]^{:233, plate XXXVII}

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Nugroho, Irawan Djoko (2011). Majapahit Peradaban Maritim. Suluh Nuswantara Bakti. ISBN 978-602-9346-00-8.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Zoetmulder, P. J. (1982). Old Javanese-English dictionary. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. ISBN 9024761786. http://sealang.net/ojed/.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Jákl, Jiří (2014). Literary Representations of War and Warfare in Old Javanese Kakawin Poetry (PhD thesis). The University of Queensland.
↑ Jákl, Jiří; Hoogervorst, Tom (2017). "Custom, Combat, and Ceremony: Java and the Indo-Persian Textile Trade". Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient 103: 207–235. doi:10.3406/befeo.2017.6248.
↑ Robson, Stuart; Wibisono, Singgih (2013). Javanese English Dictionary. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9781462910618. https://books.google.com/books?id=-ZvTAgAAQBAJ&dq=javanese+chainmail&pg=PT627.
↑ Tjoa-Bonatz, Mai Lin (2019). "JAVA : ARTS AND REPRESENTATIONS. Art historical and Archaeometric Analyses of Ancient Jewellery (7–16th C.) : The Prillwitz Collection of Javanese Gold". Archipel (97): 19–68. doi:10.4000/archipel.1018. https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/1018?lang=en.
↑ Wales, H. G. Quaritch (1952). Ancient South-East Asian Warfare. London: Bernard Quaritch. http://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.10026.
↑ Krom, N.J. (1900). Barabudur: Archaeological Description Volume I. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281274/page/n289/mode/2up?q=cuirass.
↑ Foucher, A. (1917). Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central Asian Archaeology. London: Humphrey Milford. https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.2045/page/n425/mode/2up?q=cuirass.

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[:12-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Nugroho, Irawan Djoko (2011). Majapahit Peradaban Maritim. Suluh Nuswantara Bakti. ISBN 978-602-9346-00-8.

[:0-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Zoetmulder, P. J. (1982). Old Javanese-English dictionary. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. ISBN 9024761786. http://sealang.net/ojed/.

[:1-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Jákl, Jiří (2014). Literary Representations of War and Warfare in Old Javanese Kakawin Poetry (PhD thesis). The University of Queensland.

[4] Jákl, Jiří; Hoogervorst, Tom (2017). "Custom, Combat, and Ceremony: Java and the Indo-Persian Textile Trade". Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient 103: 207–235. doi:10.3406/befeo.2017.6248.

[5] Robson, Stuart; Wibisono, Singgih (2013). Javanese English Dictionary. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9781462910618. https://books.google.com/books?id=-ZvTAgAAQBAJ&dq=javanese+chainmail&pg=PT627.

[6] Tjoa-Bonatz, Mai Lin (2019). "JAVA : ARTS AND REPRESENTATIONS. Art historical and Archaeometric Analyses of Ancient Jewellery (7–16th C.) : The Prillwitz Collection of Javanese Gold". Archipel (97): 19–68. doi:10.4000/archipel.1018. https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/1018?lang=en.

[:02-7] Wales, H. G. Quaritch (1952). Ancient South-East Asian Warfare. London: Bernard Quaritch. http://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.10026.

[8] Krom, N.J. (1900). Barabudur: Archaeological Description Volume I. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281274/page/n289/mode/2up?q=cuirass.

[9] Foucher, A. (1917). Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central Asian Archaeology. London: Humphrey Milford. https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.2045/page/n425/mode/2up?q=cuirass.

Kawaca

Description

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References