Kawaca

Kawaca is a term for war attire mentioned in Old Javanese texts.[1]: 320  Its name comes from the Sanskrit kawaca which means armor, cuirass, a type of chain mail, any kind of cover, corset, jacket.[2]: 823 

Close-up of a statue in Singhasari temple. According to I.D. Nugroho, this is an armor made of assembled plates.

Description

Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder, in his Old Javanese-English dictionary, defines kawaca as a chain mail, possibly shaped like a jacket, which is made of metal. The word also has a second meaning, namely the shirt worn by the clergy.[2]: 823  Irawan Djoko Nugroho argues that in a military context, kawaca means armor. It is shaped like a long tube and is made of cast copper.[1]: 202, 386  According to Jiří Jákl, kawaca was a metal breastplate worn on the upper body of a high-ranking soldier.[3]: 78  In high Balinese language, kwaca or kuwaca is a general term for a jacket, although it used to mean armor in Old Javanese.[4]: 216 

See also

References
  1. Nugroho, Irawan Djoko (2011). Majapahit Peradaban Maritim. Suluh Nuswantara Bakti. ISBN 978-602-9346-00-8.
  2. Zoetmulder, P. J. (1982). Old Javanese-English dictionary. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. ISBN 9024761786.
  3. Jákl, Jiří (2014). Literary Representations of War and Warfare in Old Javanese Kakawin Poetry (PhD thesis). The University of Queensland.
  4. Jákl, Jiří; Hoogervorst, Tom (2017). "Custom, Combat, and Ceremony: Java and the Indo-Persian Textile Trade". Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient. 103: 207–235.


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