palitai
Palitai (or Palite, Parittei, Pattei) is the traditional knife of the Mentawai people, originating from the Mentawai Islands off West Sumatra, Indonesia.
palitai
Tropenmuseum · Collectie Wereldmuseum (v/h Tropenmuseum), part of the National Museum of World Cultures · Wereldmuseum Amsterdam · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Field
- combat knife
- Region
- Indonesia
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wikidata · Q1636230 · wikipedia · Palitai
In this article
Description
The Palitai has a straight and double edged blade. The handle is uniquely long, slim and curiously curved in shape. It is a knife with a smooth blade on both edges of which are sharpened and run parallel. The edges come together at the tip to the end in a sharp point. The blade has in the middle along the entire length an elevated rib. The steel used to produce blades was imported from Sumatra, as forging was unknown on Mentawai islands. The blades were finished in the desired form on the spot. The total length may vary from.3 to 1 m (1 ft 0 in – 3 ft 3 in). The hilt of the Palitai is thin and long, at the blade still rather broad but becoming thinner to run long and elegantly into an almost sharp tip or decorated end. The hilt has a round thicker part just past half way. The Palitai is carried on the right, in the loin-cloth and may be part of the dowry.
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Palitai, revision 1295671132 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Taiwan Sheng Li Bo Wu Guan. Taiwan Sheng Li Bo Wu Guan Ban Nian Kan, Volume 60. The Museum. 2009.
- 2.George Cameron Stone. A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times. Courier Dover Publication. 1999. 0-486-13129-7.
- 3.Albert G Van Zonneveld. Traditional Weapons of the Indonesian Archipelago. Koninklyk Instituut Voor Taal Land. 2002. 90-5450-004-2.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Courier Dover Publications. A Glossary Of The Construction, Decoration And Use Of Arms And Armor: In All Countries And In All Times. 367. January 1999. 978-0-486-40726-5.
- Aurel Bongers. Ethnologica. Neue Folge: Band 1-4. 84. 1968.
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1- combat knifeTerminology
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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