What Is Balaraw? About The Dagger In The Philippines
WHAT IS BALARAW – In this topic, we are going to know and learn about a dagger in the Philippines known as balaraw.
As mentioned above, it is a Filipino dagger used throughout the pre-colonial Philippines. It is also known in English as “winged dagger”.
The dagger is unusually shaped, has a leaf-like blade and a finger-fitting grip which consists of two horn-like projections at the hilt and no guards. The back portion of the blade or tang protrudes at the back.
The dagger serves as a status symbol among nobility and warriors and is finely-worked with precious metals, ivory, and horn.
It is 12 inches or 30 centimeters in length and 4 inchers or 10 centimeters in width. It is a double-edged blade with its hilt made from, as mentioned above, ivory, metal, hardwood, and carabao horn.
Its sheath or scabbard is made of hardwood, carabao horn, and metal.
This was described in the early 1600s by Spanish soldier Antonio de Morga, where he mentions its use by Visayans in headhunting raids.
It was never seen during the Spanish colonial period, but survived to modern times at the hands of the Mandaya people in the form of bayadau or badao, which is also a name givern to gunong daggers.
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