9. The Kamplian’s unique double-tipped blade made it a fearsome, deadly weapon – as Portugal’s most famous explorer learned the hard way
In April 1521, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his men were attacked by the ruler of the Mactan people, Datu Lapu-Lapu. The native Filipinos stormed into the historic Battle of Mactan wielding a unique, and truly terrifying weapon, the kamplian. Its tip would have been unlike anything the Portuguese sailors would have ever seen before. That tip helped the tribe to victory that day. Indeed, according to local legend, Magellan himself was cut down by a kamplian.
Around a meter long, the kamplian is a single-edged sword with a sturdy wood handle. But it’s the end that makes it unique. The tip of the weapon is bifurcated; that is, it splits in two, with a main tip and then a protruding spikelet. According to local lore, the end was originally crafted to resemble a fearsome creature’s open mouth. True or not, the unique design does make the kamplian a highly effective stabbing weapon. Any enemy soldier pierced by the double-tipped end would have almost certainly perished, especially back in the 16th century when battlefield medicine was almost non-existent.
