Lela or lila is a type of Malay cannon, used widely in the Nusantara archipelago. They are similar to a lantaka but longer and had larger bore. Lela can be configured as swivel gun, fixed gun, or mounted in a gun carriage. It is the equivalent of European falcon and falconet.
Etymology
The cannon was named after a heroine of the Malay classic romance story called "Laila Majnun". It seems that the adoption of the word stems from the name given to some particular piece. The customs of naming special cannon was not uncommon in Europe in the early days and also in Nusantara to the recent times. On Malay literature the name is usually coupled with rentaka, as "lela rentaka". It is also called as lilla by the Dutch and lelo in several parts of the archipelago.
Description
Usually lela are about 100–180 cm long and made from brass or bronze. They are firing 1.13-1.36 kg round shot with a range of over 360 m. Alternatively they can also be loaded with scattershots. Malay cannon usually fired stone balls made from boulders of riverbanks, and to lesser extent were cast metal balls from iron or brass. They used lead and tin slugs at close quarters, and the case shot were made of stones in a rattan basket. Lela has a bore of between 19 and 76.2 mm. Some big lela are double barreled and sometimes one or more miniature meriam kecil were cast on top of their barrel for use if the enemy charged before the gun could be reloaded. Lela rambang or jala rambang is a type of lela, made from brass, with blunderbuss muzzle which fired slugs or stones. They are also called lela mulut katak. Lela always had a tube cast in the back, in which a wooden handle or tiller would be fitted. This tiller is used for aiming the gun. Lela has forked pivot mount with spike underneath to fit it on a ship's rail or the edge of a stockade. For land use they are commonly placed on corners of a fort or stockade, so they could cover alternately two different walls. Often, they have dolphins but they may be purely ornamental, as they can be picked up without hoisting it with ropes. Compared to European falconet with its history dating back to the 1500s, lela was shorter in range and lighter in weight but excels in ornamentation and design. , Indonesia. Lela also refer to medium to large size Malay cannon. According to Isabella L. Bird, lelah is long and heavy gun made from brass, used for the defense of the stockades behind which the Malays usually fight. They can reach as far as 1000 yards, and fire 4 pound shot.
History
The origin of gunpowder-based weaponry in Nusantara archipelago can be traced from the late 13th century. The Mongol invasion of Java brought gunpowder technology to java in the form of a cannon. This resulted in the development of Javanese breech-loading swivel gun, the cetbang. Following the decline of the Majapahit, particularly after the paregreg civil war, the consequent decline in demand for gunpowder weapons caused many weapon makers and bronze-smiths to move to Brunei, Sumatra, Malaysia and the Philippines led to widespread use, especially in the Makassar Strait. This event led to near universal use of the swivel-gun and cannons in the Nusantara archipelago. Earliest lela, just like lantaka, were breech-loaded weapon. This indicated that the cetbang is the direct predecessor of them. Michael Charney pointed out that early Malay swivel guns were breech-loaded. There is a trend toward muzzle-loading weapons during colonial times. Nevertheless, when Malacca fell to the Portuguese in 1511 A.D., both breech-loading and muzzle-loading swivel guns were found and captured by the Portuguese. 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, 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, falconet, medium saker, and bombard. 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. . Apilan and sunting apilan can be seen. In 1600 A.D., lela cannons are becoming more common in the archipelago. Several renowned foundries of the region are Terengganu in Malay peninsula, Gresik in Java, and Minangkabau lands of interior Sumatra, at Brunei and Banjarmasin in Borneo, Sulu in Southern Philippines, Makassar in Sulawesi, and Aceh. Lela is also used in Banjarese fortified raft called kotta mara. The kotta mara can be used as floating battery or as water castle. Rectangular kotta mara can be equipped with 12 lela, while the kotta mara with corner bastions could mount 16 lela. Lela is mounted on the apilan of Malay war and piratical prahu. Sunting apilan is the name given to two lelas or light guns standing on the gun-shield of a heavy gun. Lieutnant T.J. Newbold recorded about the malay pirate prahu: Brunei was known for its foundries in the 19th century. Brass, has always been the preferred metal as it is cheaper and easier to work, compared to iron or the other harder alloy, the bronze. However, bronze is much stronger and is therefore more popular for use in making weapons. The process used is cire perdue using terracotta and wax mould. Bangsamoro of Philippines were still using rentaka and lela during the Philippine–American War of 1899–1902. Rentaka and lela was brought by Malay from Peninsular and Borneo Malay to Southern Philippine. Bangsamoro adopted Malay culture.
