Also are there any pictures for such armors?
There was indeed metal armour used in Southeast Asia. There are records of it being used on mainland Southeast Asia but I am not familiar with those so hopefully someone else can give the details.
In maritime Southeast Asia, the concept of metal armour was known, however its usage was very exclusive. Here are some excellent examples from the southern Philippines:
Mail and plate armour collected in the 1890s:
Helmet and plate armour photographed in 1926:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Krieger_1926_Philippine_ethnic_weapons_Plate_15.png
There’s an example of it being worn here, unfortunately I don’t know the source:
http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.30935.html
The first records of metal armour in Southeast Asia seem to date from around the 15th and 16th centuries. Historians have remarked upon their resemblance to the armour worn by Islamic forces of the Middle East, but also the forces of Europe. Given the diversity of the region and enormous amount of foreign influence it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what the first sets of metal armour were inspired by, outside of a couple of specific cases. The southern Philippines, for example, developed a distinctive helmet based on the design of the Spanish Morion. You can see an example in the second link given above.
Body armour was most commonly of the plated mail or chainmail variety. It covered the upper half of the body and sometimes extended to the thighs and groin. It was either sleeveless or short sleeved. Plated mail was worn like a jacket, with clasps on the front to fasten it shut.
Brass was a favourite metal to use in the construction of these armours. An interesting feature is that the plates in the plated mail were not always made of metal. There are several examples of the “mail” part being made of brass, but the “plate” part being made of more easily available buffalo horn.
Island Southeast Asia’s climate, being hot and humid, meant metal armour was uncomfortable to wear and corroded quickly. It was also extremely expensive. Thus, it was generally worn by only elite soldiers of wealthy polities, or chieftains. It served as much as a status symbol as it did a means of protection, and there are several examples of ornate features being added to the plates (as is the case in the first link).
Javanese warrior elites made frequent use of chainmail, especially the cavalry. During the 1678 Kediri campaign by the Mataram Sultanate and Dutch East India Company against the rebel forces of Prince Trunajaya, for instance, hundreds of Javanese horsemen wore chainmail and most of Trunajaya’s cavalry wore it as well. Taking the army as a whole, however, it really wasn't common.
One particular event in south Sulawesi in 1695 provides a good indication of the proportion of soldiers who would have access to metal armour. A typical fighting force would be composed of 3 groups. There were the slaves (ata tai manuq, literally, bird-droppings slaves), the average citizen recruit (tomaegae) and the elite warriors of the higher classes (pabbarani). Only the pabbarani rode horses and wore chainmail.
After the Bugis king Arung Palakka, together with his Dutch allies, had brought the whole of south Sulawesi under his control, he ordered an oath-giving ceremony from the conquered kings and lords and the troops they commanded. Given the importance and nature of the ceremony, each leader and his soldiers would have turned up in their finest.
The Dutch Governor Isaacq van Thije left a detailed account of the scene. He estimated 25,000 soldiers from various kingdoms present, out of which a mere 252 cavalrymen in Arung Palakka’s army had
… yellow saddles and banju rantai or new chainmail armour and armed with decorated lances.
He also describes Arung Palakka’s 7 and 5-year-old sons
… wearing arms, chainmail armour, golden helmets, and the double weapons…
And, of course, Arung Palakka himself, also decked out in splendid chainmail.
Tellingly, he also mentions some (poor) people not in chainmail:
Those of Wajo and Toraja being the poorest and humblest among the allies, were also nicely dressed. Most of them wore around their heads bunches of black feathers two handspans high and around their necks strands of wild boar’s teeth strung together.
All in all, on this occasion when anyone with metal armour would have worn it, perhaps 1% of the assembled soldiers of south Sulawesi had metal armour.
Metal armour would not have been worn at all times, only during battle itself and on special occasions. It was common for soldiers to ditch even their non-metal uniforms at other times, thanks to the heat. In 1849, for instance, when the Dutch encountered the royal guard of the Raja of Buleleng in battle, they noted that they wore red uniforms. During the same period, a Persian observer noted that the same royal guard
… were content with a scanty loincloth, just large enough to cover up their private parts, and a few of them were wearing a kind of hat made of woven reeds and wood… they also wore belts of woven reed around their waists.
Metal armour persisted far past the point when firearms became common in battle, suggesting either that hand-to-hand combat remained important for the elite, or that its primary function was to denote elite status.
ANDAYA, LEONARD Y. The Heritage of Arung Palakka: A History of South Sulawesi (Celebes) in the Seventeenth Century. Vol. 91, Brill, 1981.
ANDAYA, LEONARD Y. Nature of war and peace among the Bugis–Makassar people. Source: South East Asia Research , MARCH 2004, Vol. 12, No. 1, SPECIAL ISSUE: WARFARE IN EARLY MODERN SOUTH EAST ASIA (MARCH 2004), pp. 53-80
MICHAEL, CHARNEY Southeast Asian Warfare, 1300-1900. Brill, 2004.
