Kris (Dagger)

The kris is a dagger of the Malay Archipelago, most closely associated with Java, distinguished by an asymmetrical blade that is often forged in a distinctive wavy shape, though straight-bladed kris also exist, with the number of curves traditionally carrying symbolic meaning. Documented use of the kris in the historical and archaeological record extends back to the Majapahit era of the ninth through fourteenth centuries, and the weapon spread from Java across the wider Malay world, including present-day Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the southern Philippines, as those regions came under related political and cultural influence. Beyond its practical use as a stabbing weapon, often carried alongside a longer sword as a sidearm, the kris held deep spiritual and social significance in Malay and Javanese culture, believed by many traditional owners to carry its own protective or even malevolent power depending on how and by whom it was forged, and passed down as a family heirloom rather than treated as an ordinary weapon.