page_title: Cetbang
section_title: Majapahit decline and the rise of Islam (1478-1600)
hierarchical_section_title: Cetbang / History / Majapahit decline and the rise of Islam (1478-1600)
caption_attribution_description: English: De Bry, Johann Theodor, (1560-1623) and Johann Israel de Bry (1565-1609). Part III, Plate 27, Small Indian Galley and Boat. From the "Little Voyages"GALLEONS AND BOATS IN BANTAM ASIAN VESSELS IN BANTAMThe illustration shows four different types of vessel in the harbor of the trading town of Bantam on the northwestern tip of Java. The vessel on the left, with the high running aft and the two yards is called a iuncos in the journal, which is also called Junk, after the Javanese word Djong. Left we see a Chinese Junk. In the rear, there is a proa with a bowed prow and aft, used by the Javanese for trade along the coast. The foreground shows a proa with double outriggers. The Dutch called them 'kites', because they seemed to skim across the water so fast, it seemed as if they were flying.Small Indian galleons and boatsThey have boats and galleons named Cathurs by them which they used in times of war on which they carry 4 or 6 small canons the slaves are sitting on the lower level of the ship rowing: above on the deck the soldiers are standing on deck in their armor. The people on top of the ship are usually the most important colonels of Bantam. A lot of those ships consist of just one mast and one sail they use boat oars almost as we use them on our galleons, produced in Laffaon by Iaua, under instruction of the Turks who reside in Bantam.
context_page_description: The Cetbang was a type of cannon produced and used by the Majapahit Empire and other kingdoms in the Indonesian archipelago. The cetbang is a breech-loading cannon, it is different from typical European and Middle Eastern cannons, which are usually muzzleloader. In the Sekar inscription it states that the main production foundries of cetbang were in Rajekwesi, Bojonegoro, whereas the black powder was produced in Swatantra Biluluk.
context_section_description: Following the decline of the Majapahit, particularly after the paregreg civil war (1404-1406), the consequent decline in demand for gunpowder weapons caused many weapon makers and bronze-smiths to move to Brunei, Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, or the Philippines. This spread the production and usage of the cetbang, especially for protecting trade ships in the Makassar Strait from pirates. It led to near universal use of the swivel-gun and cannons in the Nusantara archipelago. When the Portuguese first came to Malacca, they found a large colony of Javanese merchants under their own headmen; the Javanese were manufacturing their own cannon, which then, and for long after, were as necessary to merchant ships as sails.
  When Iberian explorer came to Southeast Asia, the local population was unimpressed with the might and power of the heavily armed trading vessels of Portugal and Spain. De Barros mentions that with the fall of Malacca (1511), Albuquerque captured 3,000 out of 8,000 artillery. Among those, 2,000 were made from brass and the rest from iron, in the style of Portuguese Berço. All of the artillery had its proper complement of carriages which could not be rivalled even by Portugal. The cannons found were of various types: esmeril (1/4 to 1/2-pounder swivel gun, probably refers to cetbang or lantaka), falconet (cast bronze swivel gun larger than the esmeril, 1 to 2-pounder, probably refers to lela), medium saker (long cannon or culverin between a six and a ten pounder, probably refers to meriam), and bombard (short, fat, and heavy cannon). The Malays also has 1 beautiful large cannon sent by the king of Calicut. The large number of artillery in Malacca come from various sources in the Nusantara archipelago: Pahang, Java, Brunei, Minangkabau, and Aceh.
  Cetbang cannons were further improved and used in the Demak Sultanate period during the Demak invasion of Portuguese Malacca (1513). During this period, the iron, for manufacturing Javanese cannons was imported from Khorasan in northern Persia. The material was known by Javanese as wesi kurasani (Khorasan iron). When the Portuguese came to the archipelago, they referred to it as Berço, which was also used to refer to any breech-loading swivel gun, while the Spaniards call it Verso.
caption: A galley from Banten, 4 cetbang can be seen.
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