Philippine Indonesian Moro PANABAS Kris barong sword knife.

Description

Maguindanao PANABAS. Condition is "Used".
Philippino Maguindanao PANABAS–
This was a proto-type.
Used by the Maguindanao Moros Warriors as an agricultural tool and some for combat. The wide square tip on blade is 4-1/4” wide and the blade is 10” long. It is 5/16” thick near the handle and tapers to about 1/8” close to the tip. Edge is tempered.  Brown hardwood handle is 12” long with a hexagonal cross section.  Blade tang is 4-1/2”long and is sandwiched on the handle with 4 brass bands to secure it including two brass pins.
THE PANABAS, ALSO KNOW AS
NAWI
, IS A LARGE, FORWARD-CURVED SWORD OR BATTLE AX USED BY CERTAIN ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES ISLANDS. IT CAN RANGE IN SIZE FROM 24 TO 48 INCHES AND CAN BE HELD WITH ONE OR BOTH HANDS, DELIVERING A DEEP, MEAT CLEVER-LIKE CUT. IN ITS HEYDAY, IT WAS USED AS A COMBAT WEAPON, AS AN EXECUTION OR MUTILATION TOOL, AND AS A DISPLAY OF POWER. OCCASIONAL USE AS AN AGRICULTURAL AND BUTCHERING TOOL HAS ALSO BEEN NOTED. BUT THIS SPECIFIC SHAPED TYPE OF SWORD HAS A NOTORIOUS REPUTATION AS IT WAS USUALLY USED FOR BEHEADING.
THE SWORD'S NAME IS A SHORTENING OF THE WORD
PANG-TABAS
, WHICH MEANS "CHOPPING TOOL". AS SUCH, ITS ETYMOLOGICAL ORIGINS ARE THE ROOT WORD
TABAS
"TO CHOP OFF" AND THE PREFIX
PANG
, "USED FOR".