,
East Java. The introduction of gunpowder-based weapons in the Nusantara archipelago can be traced back to the
Mongol invasion of Java (1293), where the Chinese-Mongol troops used cannon (
炮—Pào) against the forces of
Kediri in Daha. Between the 14th–15th century, there are local sources mentioned about bedil (gun or gunpowder-based weapon), but since this is a broad term caution must be taken to identify what type of weapon used in a passage. A small hand-gun dated from the year 1340 thought to be Chinese was found in Java, but the dating may have been wrong. It is probable that the Javanese hand cannon is modeled after Chinese ones. A Chinese pole cannon from 1421 A.D. has been found in the island of Java bearing the name of
Emperor Yongle (1403–1425).
Haiguo Guangji (海国广记) and
Shuyu zhouzi lu (殊域周咨錄) recorded that Java is vast and densely populated, and their armored soldiers and hand cannons (火銃—huǒ chòng) dominated the Eastern Seas.
Duarte Barbosa recorded the abundance of gunpowder-based weapons in
Java ca. 1514. The Javanese were deemed as expert gun casters and good artillerymen. The weapon made there include one-pounder cannons, long muskets,
spingarde (arquebus),
schioppi (hand cannon),
Greek fire, guns (cannons), and other fire-works. In the
1511 siege of Malacca, the Malays were using cannons, matchlock guns, and "firing tubes". The gunpowder weapons of Malacca were not made by the Malay people but were imported from Java. Local
babad (historical text) of the post-17th century occasionally mention bedil tombak. In
Lombok example of such
babads were babad Lombok, babad Mengui, and babad Sakra. They are also mentioned in Sundanese and Balinese texts. During the Bali-Lombok war (ca. early 19th century–end of 19th century), a part of Karangasem troops were armed with bedil tombak. == Gallery ==