The surik is a traditional sword native to the island of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, al ...

(

West Timor West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The c ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Timor Leste East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

) or

Nusa Tenggara The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up ...

in wider extent, as well as Sumatra (

Jambi Jambi is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the east coast of central Sumatra and spans to the Barisan Mountains in the west. Its capital and largest city is Jambi. The province has a land area of 50,160.05 km2, and a sea area of ...

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java ...

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5,534,472 at the 2020 cen ...

). The first

coat of arms of East Timor The national emblem of East Timor (officially: Timor-Leste) is one of the national symbols of East Timor. Current emblem The emblem was introduced on 18 January 2007 by the Law 02/2007. It is based on a design first used when the country unil ...

depicted crossed suriks.

Description

The surik has a single edge blade. The width of the blade narrows from the base down to the tip. Most of the handle is made from horn, and is decorated with tassels to look tough. Goat's hair or horse's hair is attached to the handle. Carving an eye at the center of the handle is meant to strengthen its supernatural power. The sheath of this sword is made of wood. A surik sword used along with a long curved shield is called ''surik samara''.

Cultural

For the Belu people of

, the ''surik'' is considered as a sacred sword. Its supposed supernatural abilities depend on the person who wield the sword; it is believed by the people that no commoner can touch the ''surik'', or the else the sword would turn against that person. Because of that, the community will take counsel to determine who should wield the ''surik'' before going to war. The ''surik'' is also used in traditional dance in

Timor island Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...

called , which is meant to portray the local warrior's customs. ''surik''s were also worn by the ''Meos'', the foremost fighters, and usually also the most successful head-hunters of the village. In cases where a dispute is to be settled between two parties in places like Maubara and Ermera,

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-we ...

are known as ''nahe no lulun biti'' (to open and close the mat) or ''tula mesa leten'' (to put on the table). Once it is decided which party are at fault, a form of compensation is made by a payment of money or valuable objects; and the ''surik'' in this case is also accepted. ''Surik'' also refers to another sword used by the

Batak people Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

, as well in other provinces such as

and

Description

Cultural

See also

References

Further reading