Tenaga Dalam - Pukulan Cimande Pusaka

have their own characteristics to a blade but the
differences are so small that these fall out of
context in a short article. In present time the
timetable of Java’s history is seen as follow.
Before the year 1000 of our timetable there
was the kingdom of Mataram, this is probably the
time of birth of the first keris recognizable as such.
In 1019 the era of Djengala started and this lasted
until about 1250. Djengala was followed by
Singosari in 1268 until 1293. At this time
Singosari fell apart and broke up into Padjadjaran
(1200 to 1400) which was situated in West Java
and Madjopahit ( 1294 to 1520) in central and
east Java. At the end of the great Madjopahit
Empire there were several other kingdoms with
much influence. For example around 1500
Sedayu, Tuban (1500 to1600) and Pirang or
Blambangan. From the last came the royalty that
fled Java to keep their Hindu religion and went on
with their own art and weaponry in Bali. Also the
kingdoms of Demak (strongly Islamic) and Pajang
came into play. Both these two made war against
a newcomer; Mataram, named after the first
Mataram kingdom some 600 years before.
Mataram won and lasted from 1613 to 1703 at
which time it became the era of Kartasura (1705
to1749). This split up in Surakarta (1745 to the
present) and Yogyakarta (1755 to the present).
So from the 10th to 12th century there were the
area’s / kingdoms of Segaluh, Singasari, Pajajaran
and Djengala. From the 13th to the 15th century
there were Madjopahit, Tuban, Madura and
Blambangan. From the 15th century to present
time there were; Cirebon, Mataram, Pajang,
Demak, Kartasura, Surakarta and Yogyakarta.
This is a rough description but enough for
my purpose. These are the three eras’ I want to
focus on. As said before all of these areas had
their own characteristics. For example Tuban was
at the same time as late Madjopahit. There are a
lot of characteristics that place blades from these
two in the same time yet they are very different.
Tuban blades are heavier and broader then
Madjopahit blades; there was more raw iron
involved in making a Tuban blade. The fact that
Madjopahit blades are often more valued comes
more from history. Madjopahit was a big dynasty
that ruled almost all of Asia at the time. Therefore
Madjopahit blades are considered more powerful
by present day collectors and old royalty from
later kingdoms alike.
In estimating the age of a keris there are
some factors that need our attention. First of all
dapur, the overall shape of the keris and it’s
incrustations. Then pamor, the way of forging and
blending different kind of metals. In this case
especially the nickel content and the design it
makes on the blade. Third the type of iron used
as raw material and last but not least the attention
given to making the blade and the way it is
corroded.
It is the combination of these factors that
make it possible to determine the age of a keris.
No one factor of this can do the job. For example
there are still keris being manufactured with a
dapur that is the same as that of a Madjopahit
keris. And maybe this is easy to see due to the
newness of the blade and the fact that it has no
signs of rust or use but what about a Madjopahit
shaped blade made in lets say 1700? This might
well have been completely rusted over at some
time or even been used in battle. That is why I
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