page_title: Lantaka
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Lantaka / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Engraving of a karakoa ("caracoa") from The Discovery and Conquest of the Molucco and Philippine Islands (1711) by Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola, translated into English by John Stevens
context_page_description: Lantaka or rentaka was a type of bronze portable cannon or swivel gun, sometimes mounted on merchant vessels and warships in Maritime Southeast Asia. It was commonly equipped by native seafaring vessels from the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia. Rentaka and lela is known by the Malays as meriam kecil, the difference is that rentaka is smaller in length and bore than a lela.
  The lantaka was cited by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines as an intangible cultural heritage of the country under the 'Traditional Craftsmanship' category that the government may nominate in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. The documentation of the craft was aided by ICHCAP of UNESCO.
context_section_description: Lantaka is the "younger sibling" of lela, they are smaller, with length of less than 100 cm. Typically, bore diameters of these cannons were in the range of about 10-50 mm. Many of these guns were mounted on swivels (called cagak in Malay) and were known as swivel guns. The smaller ones could be mounted almost anywhere including in the rigging. Medium-sized cannons were frequently used in reinforced sockets on the vessel's rails and were sometimes referred to as rail guns. The heaviest swivel guns were mounted on modified gun carriages to make them more portable.
  Typically the earliest cannon with beautiful ornaments from this region are from foundries in Melaka and Pahang, with later models from foundries in the Netherlands and Portugal, next from their respective settlements, and finally from Brunei and other local craftsmen. However, there were also double-barreled variants that were used extensively in the Philippines. In Malaysia, these double-barreled variants are called Meriam Lela (Malay for 'Lela Cannon') and appears to be longer than a typical lantaka.
caption: 18th-century engraving of a Philippine karakoa, a lantaka can be seen mounted on the raised platform. A wheeled cannon is placed on the deck, facing forward.
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