Plunder - Plunder

Japanese: 分捕 - ぶんどり

In the Middle Ages, it meant taking weapons, armor, or heads of enemies on the battlefield. The Tale of the Heike also states, "Some took the loot and returned home, while others took a heavy blow, cut their stomachs open, and jumped into the river," and examples of this usage are widely found in military chronicles. Incidentally, in later battles when bandits played an active role, the term "bunsori katte" came to mean simply the act of plundering spoils, but originally it meant the act of presenting armor and other items, along with the heads of captured enemies, as evidence of one's military achievements. For this reason, "bunsori" was also expressed as "bunsori kaname" and so on.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中世，戦場で敵の武器，武具または首などを取ることをいう。《平家物語》にも〈或は分捕してかへるものもあり，或は痛手おうて腹かききり，河へ飛入ものもあり〉とあり，その用例は広く軍記物に散見する。ちなみに野伏（のぶし）などが活躍した後世の合戦では分捕勝手といって，単なる戦利品の略奪行為を意味するようになったが，元来は自己の戦功を示す証拠品として分捕した敵の首級とともに具足などを差し出す行為を意味した。それゆえに分捕は分捕高名などとも表現された。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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