lantaka

Lantaka refers to a family of bronze cannons produced and used in maritime Southeast Asia, particularly by polities in the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines. They were a common form of naval and coastal artillery from the late medieval period into the early modern era and were mounted on ships or on shore fortifications. The term is used in Malay, Filipino, and related languages to denote cannons generally.

Most lantaka were cast in bronze, with long, slender barrels and integral trunnions. They were typically muzzle-loaded and fired using a slow match or linstock through a touch hole. They were mounted on wheeled or fixed carriages, often swiveling on a pivot to adjust aim from a ship's deck or on a coastal emplacement.

They were used by various sultanates such as Brunei, the Sulu and Maguindanao in the Philippines, and other polities across Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula. They played roles in naval battles, coastal defense, piracy, and tribute warfare. Europeans encountered lantaka during early exploration and colonization; some were captured or copied in colonial arsenals.

Today, surviving examples are valued as artifacts of metallurgical skill and maritime history; notable collections exist in national museums and private holdings in the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Europe.