Jenis : Senjata Api
Nama : Meriam Kapal CETBANG
Era : Kerajaan Majapahit, abad ke-14
Koleksi :
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
1000 5th Avenue, New York, NY – USA
Cannon
Period: Majapahit period (1296–1520)
Date: ca. 14th century
Culture: Indonesia (Java)
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: L. 37 7/16 in. (95.2 cm)
Classification: Metalwork
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Lerner, in honor of Professor Samuel Eilenberg, 1986
Accession Number: 1986.503
Quote:
The Javanese Majapahit Empire was arguably able to encompass much of the modern day ASEAN due to its unique mastery of bronze-smithing and use of a central arsenal fed by a large number of cottage industries within the immediate region. Documentary and archeological evidence indicate that Arab or Indian traders introduced gunpowder, gonnes, muskets, blunderbusses, and cannon to the Javanese, Acehnese, and Batak via long established commercial trade routes around the early to mid 14th century CE. Portuguese and Spanish invaders were unpleasantly surprised and occasionaly even outgunned on occasion. The resurgent Singhasari Empire overtook Sriwijaya and later emerged as the Majapahit whose warfare featured the use of fire-arms and cannonade. Circa 1540 CE the Javanese, always alert for new weapons found the newly arrived Portuguese weaponry superior to that of the locally made variants. Javanese bronze breech-loaded swivel-guns, known as meriam, or erroneously as lantaka, was used widely by the Majapahit navy as well as by pirates and rival lords. The demise of the Majapahit empire and the dispersal of disaffected skilled bronze cannon-smiths to Brunei, modern Sumatra, Malaysia and the Philippines lead to widespread use, especially in the Makassar Strait.
A Chinese pirate or commercial shipwreck site[where?] yeilded a paired swivel gun, for rapid firing: one barrel would fire whiles its opposite was being reloaded, though this remains a rare find. Other archeological finds have unearthed triple-barrel and double-barrel swivel-guns, though they were not widely duplicated.
Saltpetre harvesting was recorded by Dutch and German travelers as being common in even the smallest villages and was collected from the decomposition process of large dung hills specifically piled for the purpose. The Dutch punishment for possession of unpermitted gunpowder appears to have been amputation.[unreliable source?] Ownership and manufacture of gunpowder was later prohibited by the colonial Dutch occupiers. According to a colonel McKenzie quoted in Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, The History of Java (1817), the purest sulphur was supplied from a crater from a mountain near the straits of Bali.
CATATAN :
Quote:
Armada laut Majapahit yang dipersenjatai CETBANG inilah sangat disegani oleh kawasan Asia. Terdiri dari beberapa ukuran (1 meter hingga 3 meter), menggunakan mesiu jenis low explosive berdaya bakar tinggi. Hal ini beda dengan mesiu yang ditemukan China yang high explosive berdaya dorong tinggi. Sempat menggetarkan armada laut Spanyol dan Portugis di Malaka, karena mereka tidak mengira ada bangsa di belahan timur (yang dianggap primitif) sudah menggunakan senjata api (meriam dan senapan). Dikemudian hari jenis meriam ini kalah jauh dengan meriam eropa (yang lebih baik kwalitas materialnya dan mampu melontarkan proyektil lebih jauh karena memakai mesiu China), tetapi tetap disegani karena bentuknya yang kecil dan berdaya bakar tinggi mampu dibawa bergerak cepat. Di era berikutnya di warisi oleh Demak dan era kerajaan berikutnya. Ketika masa penjajahan kolonial Belanda, semua meriam dan senjata api dikumpulkan dan dilebur menjadi senjata mereka. Pengetahuan tentang membuat mesiu dan senjata api dilarang keras dan akan dihukum berat pelakunya. Senjata sisa peninggalan Majapahit justru tersisa banyak di negara-negara bawahannya di semenanjung Melayu dan Sumatera serta di Kalimantan. Karena banyak dimusnahkan, adalah suatu kebanggaan bagi kita semua bisa melihat sisa peninggalan yang ada walau disimpan oleh museum asing di Amerika Serikat ini. Pada gambar, bagian hulu yang seharusnya tertutup dipapas / dipotong guna memperlihatkan mekanisme kerjanya.
Janganlah ditangisi bila artefak sejarah kita dimiliki Kolektor dan Museum ASING, mungkin itu dijarah saat masa penjajahan atau dijual orang kita sendiri atau bahkan anak keturunan yang sedang membutuhkan uang.
“AMATI DENGAN SEKSAMA, TANGKAP AURA-NYA. DAN CIPTAKAN YANG LEBIH INDAH DARI ITU. MEREKA TIDAK AKAN PERNAH BISA MENJARAH BAKAT DAN KELUHURAN YANG DIWARISKAN LELUHUR KITA”.
