Tokin
This short note by R. O. Winstedt examines the etymology and distribution of the word tokin, the name of a ceremonial iron rod among the insignia of the rulers of Johore.
Summary
Winstedt notes that the word tokin is unknown elsewhere in Malaya but has been traced by Dr. J. Imbelloni (Vienna, 1928) across Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and parts of South America, where it consistently denotes a stone weapon, a symbol of power, a hereditary chief, or a ritual object used in declarations of war and peace (p. 137). In Chile the form tokin means “to rule, command,” and Imbelloni suggests a possible connection with the Red Indian “tomahawk” and the English phrases “take up the hatchet” and “bury the hatchet.” Winstedt observes that in Johore the word may have an aboriginal origin, though he has not been able to confirm this; in Perak the equivalent term for a sword given to commoner chiefs is the Sakai word baur (‘staff’). He concludes that tokin is a Malayo-Polynesian word whose distribution from Asia to South America constitutes part of the evidence for pre-Columbian Oceanic influence on the Americas (p. 137).