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== Etymology ==
The term "Java arquebus" is a translation of [[Chinese language|Chinese]] word 爪哇銃 (Zua Wa Chong).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Tiaoyuan|first=Li|title=South Vietnamese Notes|publisher=Guangju Book Office|year=1969}}</ref> In local language the weapon was known by various names, bedil or bedhil is more commonly used. However, this term is broad term - it may refer to any firearms, from small [[matchlock]] pistol to large [[siege guns]]. The term ''bedil'' comes from ''wedil'' or ''wediyal'' in [[Tamil language|Tamil]] language.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kern|first=H.|date=January 1902|title=Oorsprong van het Maleisch Woord Bedil|url=|journal=Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia|volume=54|pages=311-312|via=}}</ref>
== History ==
=== Java ===
The kingdom of [[Majapahit]] pioneered the use of firearm in the Nusantara archipelago. One account mentions the use of firearm in a battle against Giri forces in 1470s:<blockquote>"... ''wadya Majapahit ambedili, dene wadya Giri pada pating jengkelang ora kelar nadhahi tibaning mimis'' ..."
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- Serat Darmagandhul</blockquote>This type of arquebus have similarity to the Vietnamese arquebus of the 17th century. The weapon is very long, may reach 2.2 m in length, and had its own folding bipod.<ref name=":0" /> Tome Pires' 1515 account tells the army of Gusti Pati, viceroy of Batara Brawijaya, numbered 200,000 men, 2,000 of which are horsemen and 4,000 musketeers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Pires|first=Tome|title=Suma Oriental|publisher=The Hakluyt Society|isbn=9784000085052}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> Duarte Barbosa ca. 1510 said that the inhabitants of Java are great masters in casting artillery and very good artillerymen. They make many one-pounder cannons (cetbang or [[Lantaka|rentaka]]), long muskets, and other fire-works. Every place are considered excellent in casting artillery, and in the knowledge of using it.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barosa|first=Duarte|title=A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century|publisher=The Hakluyt Society|year=1866}}</ref>
=== Malay peninsula ===
The Portuguese found various gunpowder weapons after the 1511 conquest of Malacca.
Historian Fernão Lopes de Castanheda mentions matchlocks (espingardao), he says that they threw balls, some of stone, and some of iron covered with lead.
== See also ==
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