Moro and narcotics
 

Folks,
I have always been fascinated by the stories of Moro Juramentado, and their ability to withstand several bulllet wounds without stopping their attack. This was always implied to be due to their religious fervor, fighting morale, personal valor etc.
Here is a blurb from a recent book:

The Philippine War 1899-1902, by Brian McAllister Linn. Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of Kansas, 2000.

"In response to problems encountered by American units fighting Moro guerrillas during the Philippine-American War, the then-standard Colt M1892 revolver, in .38 Long Colt, was found to be unsuitable for the rigors of jungle warfare, particularly in terms of stopping power, as the Moros had very high battle morale and frequently used drugs to inhibit the sensation of pain."

Did Moro use any narcotics or pain-killers ( opiates, most likely) in day-to-day life or before the battle?

Betel nut maybe? I thought the use of opium is Haraam?

As far as I know drugs were not used. However, they did get themselves into an altered state of consciousness before battle. You don't feel much with that and lots of adrenaline in the blood.

I would think that a fighter under the influences of an opiate would not be a very effective fighter even if pain levels were decreased. As José suggests i had always been under the impression that their ability to withstand pain was more due to psyching themselves up in religious fervor before battle. :shrug:

A very good point David. Opiates would be troublesome for accuracy and control, especially of a bladed weapon.

The Zulu were given an hallucinogen plus a pain killer type root mixture before going into battle that had little or no effect on motor skills. So it is possible the Moro could have had a similar tonic but it is not likely due there religious beliefs.


Recent scientific studies show that the medicines contained some very potent drugs. For example, warriors were given a cannabis (marijuana)-based snuff to take during battle. Analysis of the snuff has revealed that it contained extremely high levels of THC, a powerful hallucinogen, and yet no detectable levels of the chemicals that cause the sedative effects of marijuana.

Also in the Zulu war medicine chest: the bulb of a flower in the Amaryllis family, called Boophane disticha, or the Bushman Poison Bulb. Studies have shown that the bulb -- which was also used by southern Africans to help mummify bodies -- contains buphanidrine, an alkaloid, like codeine and morphine (although it is not related to them) with hallucinogenic and pain-killing properties. According to botanist Ben-Erik van Wyk of Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg, South Africa, the dosage of buphanidrine necessary to reduce pain is very close to the toxic dose, "but in a very experienced traditional healer's hands it should be safe. They usually assess the strength of a bulb by testing it on themselves."

In addition, warriors sometimes ingested a hallucinogenic mushroom containing a toxin called muscimol. The chemical, present in fly agaric -- a mushroom that can attract and kill flies -- is said to induce a state of expanded perception in those who ingest it. Warriors who consumed those mushrooms, researchers speculate, might have been utterly without fear, believing themselves impervious to British bullets.

OK, so Zulus did use a panoply of drugs.
What about Moro?
Did they have access to marijuana( hashish)? Was it cultivated there? Opiates?
I have no idea what is the result of betel nut consumption; enlighten me, please ( I have yet to try marijuana in my life:o :o )

Ariel

As Moslems they were forbidden to use any type of cannibis or opiates. Betel nuts is a strong stimulant stronger than caffine so I guess is you chew a few of them you can get quite wired up. Ariel we all know you hung out with Cheech Marin back is the 1970s man :D ;) :cool:

Please read page 4.

http://www.morolandhistory.com/Relat...0Colt%2045.pdf

Im glad this topic has been brought up for discussion.
Here is my own personal opinion on this matter regarding Moros and narcotics. I don't believe the Moros were on drugs either...I believe these warriors on drugs were from other groups. Too many historians attribute what ever war or battle that existed after the Phil-Am War(1902) as being with "the Moros". Anything and everything considered "South" of Luzon was always written up as Moro related. As the years past by, all dates and places of these other wars and battles were long forgotten and they all forgot who was who in the Philippines... so anything 1903 and after was just chalked up as Moro related being they were the more famous of all groups. Most don't even realize how large and diverse the Philippines is, let alone how many different groups reside there. You can look around now and there is still very little history written on this time. I can't tell you how many times I have run across stories of Moros taking round after round of 38s and Krag bullets; and the story is centered in "Samar". The Pulajanes(or Pulahan; J is pronounced w/ H like in Spanish) fought against the Americans during the same time as the Moros...but the Pulajanes get very little to no credit for their ability to with stand rounds of gunfire. For those that don't know about the Pulajanes, they were Christians, but of the remote mountain regions of Visayas...it is important to note, as an isolated group their belief in the Christian faith became twisted...believing in God and the bible but were left with no priest or no direction to interpret and guide them...they developed their own spin on the Christian faith all the while mixing in native folklore. In other words, they were a cult. Their leaders weren't Generals or presidents, they were Papas(Popes) and priestesses...some going so far to take on the names of saints, angels, and prophets. They strongly believed in Anting Anting(magical amulets or objects) and the Oryson(protection prayers). US officers would report on the same strategic behavior of each encounter...stating they had no strategy, just run out in the open with their bolos in hand. They did this because they believed their anting anting or oryson would make them bullet proof and protect them. I have researched and spoke with a few individuals that claimed to have anting anting...saying that if you ever doubt the power(ie duck or take cover from gunfire), it will stop working. So you can see how if this story was told much later of a group seen charging out of the jungle with religious fervor, not taking cover in a hail of gunfire, could easily be misrepresented as being Moro related. They're religious fighting styles, although different in beliefs and principles to the Moros, were similar in fashion. It is also worth noting there were several different groups of Pulajanes stemming from Samar/Leyte and covering all major islands to north Mindanao. So I personally believe these drugged out warriors were more then likely coming from these groups like the Pulajanes, Waray, Colorum, or other out of control warrior/religious tribes. And all these other warrior groups were being exterminated at the same time as the Moro groups.

With that said, there is still a small possibility that some Moros could of been on drugs. Not all Moros were strict to their religion, in fact the Moslems rules were very loosely followed during that time. Im sure most living within the major tribes followed their religion closely...but we all know the Chinese and their opium drug trade thrived in the the Moro region...which would mean the Moros were big customers. Just because they are Moslems doesn't mean they can not be drug addicts. Also, look what happened to the Christian tribes that were in remote regions, the same could possibly happen to other Moro groups living on the outskirts of society who were outcasts and criminals...possibly being outcast and criminals for taking drugs and/or not following Moslems laws. Obviously these folks would be the ones to defy and fight against any authority.

Excerpt from a website on a Samar natives ability to take several gun shots.

The name of the prisoner obviously not a Moro. Borongan Samar was infested with Pulajanes during that time, I would say this person was likely associated with them. The other interesting part is this Filipino survived.

Staunch Moslems using drugs!?!? Next you'll be telling me followers of the Prince of Peace rode through the blood of Moslems and Jews they slaughtered. I'm shocked, shocked to find people not living up to the precepts of their religion ...

I've heard more than one first hand account of hashish use by devout Muslims in various countries, including from people from the country in question. Not to say the Moros used drugs, but where did the term "assassin" come from?

As for opium, I can't say I've had any direct experience, but I have been told that in small doses it, like booze, initially can act as a stimulant. In Burma during WWII Kachins would eat a small amount of opium to help them stay awake overnight, and US and British supply drops routinely included opium. Again, this is from first hand accounts from people there at the time. Long term use of course was problematic.

Still, I suspect that the majority of Moros didn't touch the stuff, but there always could be an exception.

Nice topic. I too believe that they were not on drugs.

I still wonder though what's the medical explanation for withstanding so many bullet wounds before being felled.

Panglima Hassan's 33 hits before being stopped is a classic example. And if it was not the historian Robert Fulton who mentioned it, I wouldn't believe such was possible.

I remember watching a show on the history of drugs in America. Opium at the turn of the 20th century was legal in America. Sears & Roebuck also offered Heroin along with a syringe from their catalog of 1900. On the show they mentioned many soldiers who came back from the Philippine American War were addicts from the Opium dens in Manila. The entry dock from Manila to the US for these soldiers was San Francisco, where the largest Chinese community was located(China town)...and the soldiers would continue their addiction at the opium dens there.

If America at one point thought opium was harmless and didn't ban the substance, then to me there is a small possibility opium was not a illegal drug by the Moros either.


From the Sears & Roebuck catalog
http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vinta...f_heroin_2.jpg

Well don't forget that the warrior didn't live long at all before blood loss and heart problems set in. Today there are those who are shot many times and are still able to pull off rounds at the police here in the US. Much easier to survive .38 caliber than a .45 caliber. Although I will not be shocked that perhaps some may have had some tubo or opium, as far as US accounts are concerned, drugs for this type of usage were not mentioned (as far as I know) and that would be something noteworthy like the Zulu plant concoction, or, at the very least, to use as a reason to denigrate the Moros even further in US Army eyes.

Agree with you Jose .
I wonder if, for Juramentados at least, the secret was in the funeral bindings .
I think they would minimize exit wounds and help keep blood loss down .

Dimasalang, that's a very valid point.

Also, we know that the Moros practice folk Islam, in the same manner that (Filipino) Christians practice folk Catholicism.

Thus what was actually practiced by those people did not strictly follow the hard-and-fast tenets of those religions.

Very recently, millions of Filipinos saw on TV a bolo rush of Mindanao cultists against a group of police and govt. militiamen. Please see attached news clips.

I myself saw the video footages. The first to rush was a cult member who attacked from a stationary position about 10 meters away from the govt. troops. As soon as he sprung from where he stood, he immediately met a hail of M16 and pistol rounds. And yet he almost hacked a frontline trooper after being able to cover the 10 meters, before he finally fell, literally at the feet of the troopers.

And then the others cult members, waving their bolos and also no firearms, started rushing to the troopers (three of the cultists can be seen in the clip below, with the rightmost cultist seen as hit already).

Surely a religiously-inspired and determined attacker will be able to withstand a lot of gunshot wounds before he is stopped.

The news articles are here and here.

THE TIME INVOLVED IN AN ATTACK WAS VERY SHORT AND IF RUNNING AT FULL SPEED A SHORT DISTANCE BLOOD LOSS WOULD PROBABLY NOT BE A MAJOR FACTOR.
THE PROBLEM WITH THE SMALL CALIBERS WAS NOT THAT THEY WOULD NOT KILL IT WAS THAT THEY WOULD NOT STOP OR KNOCK DOWN THE WARRIORS FAST ENOUGH. I USED TO RUN THE 100 YARD DASH IN 10 SECONDS FLAT SO IF A WARRIOR WAS COMING AT YOU AT THAT SPEED TIME WAS VERY SHORT. AT SHORTER DISTANCES TIME WOULD BE NEGLIBLE MOST OF US CAN HOLD OUR BREATH MORE THAN 10 SECONDS SO HOLES IN THE LUNGS WOULD NOT STOP YOU.
ROPE WAS MADE IN MANILA SO SOME TYPE OF HEMP WOULD HAVE BEEN GROWN AND AS MENTIONED OPIUM WAS PRESENT. THERE ARE PROBABLY LOTS OF OTHER PLANTS WITH DRUG AND HALLUCIGENIC PROPERTIES IN THE JUNGLES.
IN MOST SOCIETIES WHO USED DRUGS ON WARRIORS BEFORE AN ATTACK USUALLY ALL WERE ADMINISTERED BY THE SHAMAN OR MEDICINE MAN. SO THE DANGER OF THE DRUG WOULD BE CONTROLLED AND THE USE OF THE DRUGS TRADITIONAL AND ACCEPTED BY THE SOCIETY.
POLICE HAVE HAD SOME FRIGHTENING ENCOUNTERS WITH PEOPLE ON PCP (ANIMAL TRANQLIZER), COCANE, HEROIN AND SPEED. WITH ALL OF THESE THE BODY CAN PREFORM HIGH ABOVE ITS USUAL OPERATING RANGES.
PSYCOREACTIVE DRUGS SUCH AS MAGIC AND SILICYBEN MUSHROOMS DO HIGHTEN VISION, SPEED AND STAMINA BUT UNLESS A VIOLENT STATE IS INDUCED BEFORE ADMINISTRATION USERS ARE NON VOLENT.
ITS POSSIBLE MAGIC MEDICINES WERE USED BY MORO WARRIORS AS THEY DID USE CHARMS AND DID HAVE BELIEFS IN EVIL EYES AND BEING BULLETPROOF AND SUCH. ALL THE STORIES I HEARD NEVER MENTIONED DRUGS AND THE LEGEND HAS BEEN BUILT UP ABOUT THE TIMES AND MORRO WARRIORS THAT PROBABLY ARE NOT ENTIRELY ACCURATE. THE SAME IS TRUE OF MANY WARRIORS IN MANY PLACES AND TIMES THRUOUT HISTORY. :shrug:

Interesting article. I notice they called them "Tad-Tad"(Chop Chop). This was originally a Pulajane name from the early part of the century. I know many Pulajane groups migrated south in the Mindanao after their battles with PC, PS, and soldiers. Is this cult descended from the Pulajane group?

Am not sure whether the cult traces its roots to the Pulahanes.

But the first attacker I mentioned above (I think he's the leader), was dressed in bright red blouse. That must mean something.

Below is a pic of the local reenactors' interpretation of how a Pulahan dressed.

Back to the Moros, when I was going over the Tausug (Jolo Moro)-English dictionary, I also noticed that there are more terms about talismans, charms, and amulets, as compared to orthodox Islam terms. At least that was my impression.

Thus aside from their Islamic faith, the folk Islam practiced by the Moros involved a lot of trusting in these amulets. Again, just my impression.

And we know how a firm belief or state of mind can superhumanly sustain a person, up to a point.

I ascribe to this methodology of researching the dictionary, especially those created during the relevant period (years). If these was such a drug, then surely the name by which it is called by the locals would be found in those dictionaries. These dictionaries would include Bagobo, Tausug, Maguindanao, Sama, Mandaya, Tboli, etc. (all the linguistic groups).

Excellent point.

As ethnographers say, if something is part and parcel of a culture, then for sure there will be a term for it.

The absence of the term for a warrior's drug or hallucinogen thus seems to support the idea that by and large, none was used.

Maybe somebody ought to check out also the Maranaw terms (aside from the Magindanaw terms) ...

PS - The Tausug-English Dictionary I used (by Hassan, et al.), cites as references older Tausug dictionaries and manuscripts, i.e., late-1800s to early-1900s as I recall.

On the issue of the color red, if I understand right, red was the color of blood and thus the color worn by warriors who killed a certain number in battle. I forgot which tribe used this (I want to say early Tagalogs and others).

Well, two things of note. One, as was mentioned, a .38 caliber blackpowder or primitive smokeless cartridge like .38 Long Colt is far and away from a certain killer. It barely delivers 270J of energy at the muzzle. The idea of a sidearm is generally to be a backup for a primary weapon like a rifle, and a bolt-action rifle with a high-velocity jacketed bullet is much more likely to punch clean through than cause tremendous harm. This was a huge reason for the reissue of the Single Action Army in .45 Colt, which created about 650J of muzzle energy, and troops favoring the single shot Trapdoor Springfield in .45-70 over the .30-40 Krag magazine-fed smokeless rifle.

So you've got psychologically hyped up, adrenalized, possibly drugged opponents swarming people with bolt-action rifles and backup revolvers in relatively mixed cover. Chances of clean misses increase, fleshwounds are not severe because of slow velocity ball projectiles, nothing but a CNS hit really can be relied upon to put an opponent down regardless...

I suppose it all devolves into Tueller Drill (the theory that within forty feet a knife beats a gun for first-critical-wound-delivered) versus fire discipline.

It's also why the Thompson-LaGarde Tests were demanded in 1904, and subsequently the adoption of the .45 ACP.

The British, however, ended up with the Mark III cartridge after facing definitely drugged Zulus with Martinis, Beaumont-Adams, Webley-Green, and Webley-Pryse revolvers, and the 220-grain .455 hollowpoint derived from their experiences definitely earned the title of The Manstopper largely because of use on chemically enhanced opponents.

Another interesting thing to consider is the psychological effects of being shot.
I saw on TV a home movie some teenagers made of shooting people with their paintball gun (drive-by style). One person got shot about 4 times, which I'm sure hurt, but fell down screaming bloody murder thinking that the weapon had been a real firearm. It's all in the mind.

The FBI got in depth on all this - here's some excerpts below. I recommend reading the full section "The Human Target". I don't think that the Moro's really needed drugs. I think their fighting spirit alone could have been enough to keep them going after taking a few rounds.

FBI Report: HANDGUN WOUNDING FACTORS AND EFFECTIVENESS

Velocity
 

I have heard that even a 45 round taken in the hand is enough to spin a man around and knock him down .

I still have to believe that in the case of the Juramentados the pre-applied funeral wrappings helped reduce the damage from exit wounds .
Maybe in some cases the wrappings were of silk .

We are all aware of the strength of silk .

That might reduce the fatal target area to the head or spinal chord .

Vaarok, I'd like to know your source where the troops favored the single shot Trapdoor Springfields over the Krags. I have read several reports by the Philippine Constabulary officers whom hated the Springfield 45 rifles and made several long standing attempts and requests for Krag rifles. At the time the Krags were being phased out of the Military for the new Springfield M1903s, and they wanted any type of "repeating" or magazine type rifle. The problems stated with the Springfield obviously being the capability to fire only one shot and extremely long time to reload. Particularly during a bolo rush, that one shot was all they were good for and every encounter turned in to hand to hand combat rendering the rifle useless...all the while being blackpowder(lots of smoke to give away your cover and being inaccurate). The Springfield 45s rifles were old military stock from the Indian Wars prior to the issue of the Krag. And at the beginning of the Philippine American War Springfield 45 rifles were issued to native scouts. They were later reissued to Philippine Constabulary and Philippine Scout units.

But still...even a 30-40 Krag cartridge was not so deadly either.
Another account of a Moro:
...he was finally felled by a .45 slug through both ears... He had "thirty-two" Krag balls through him and was only stopped by the Colt .45 - the thirty-third bullet.

The Tueller Drill is another interesting theory that can be backed up by the results of the Philippines. The Visayas and Mindanao terrain is very different then the open fields of Luzon. Note that the Lodge Committee investigated the lopsided death toll ratio of the Phil-Am war believing a realistic war would be around 5:1(insurgent to American death). Anything more they felt was a massacre and/or atrocities taking place. If I remember right, the committee figured out a 10:1 ratio during the war. I recall one general being asked of one battle where 2 US troops were killed versus the 75 insurgents killed. His answer was the toll was higher then 75 for insurgents because most of their dead and wounded were carried off the battlefield. It is of my own opinion because of the terrain of Luzon and the lack of Filipinos with firearms that led to such a high death toll ratio. These Filipinos armed with nothing more then a bolo ran out in "open" field and were killed in a hail of gun fire. This makes sense as they would be in plain sight for a hundred yards or so. Where as, in Visayas region and parts of Mindanao, the Filipinos and Moros had better coverage. Samar/Leyte for instance is dense underbrush...it is one huge jungle. The enemy could be at arms length before they could hear and react to them.

A very good point Dimasalang. More coverage for the mid and southern Philippines. Warriors can get closer to their targets than in the north when attacking. Less reaction time and thus more casualties on the Spanish or US side.