NAGA TRIBAL WEAPONS

[DaveA]

Great thread! This will be a good resource.

I am interested in the Naga and other tribes of Assam and nearby regions. Here are some notes i've picked up during my studies. This information comes from a variety of sources, not all of which can I remember. The website forensicfashion.com has notes regarding a number of ethnographic peoples of possible interest to this group.

Here are the notes:

• Heath ill. Perry 1999 p22
  "Regarded by some Victorian commentators as constituting 'the wildest and most turbulent tribes adjacent to any part of our Indian dominions,' the Nagas inhabited the hills that separated Assam from North-West Burma.* The most important of their 40 or so tribes were the Angamis (Ang), Aos, Kachas, Lhotas, Rengmas, Semas (also called Sumi), and numerous small tribes referred to collectively as the Eastern or Naked Nagas, or Konyaks."
  
• Secret museum of mankind v3
  "The generic term of Naga is given to a series of hill tribes in north-east India, distinguished as using no weapons but the javelin and dao, or billhook.* Little is known of them save that they were early worshippers of the serpent, whence they derive their name, 'Naga.'* Formerly inveterate marauders, their attitude towards the dwellers in the plains is less hostile now."
  
• ASSAM-UPPER BURMA 19THC TRIBES:

  Kachin
  Singpho
  Konyak - eastern Naga
  Ang - belong to ruling clan of the Konyak.

• Arya & Joshi 2004 p43
  "The Angs belong to the ruling clan of the Konyak, who are distributed in Arunachal Pradesh, the Mon district of Nagaland and in Myanmar.* Each Ang exercises influence over a group of villages.* The Angs themselves come under a Great Ang."
  
• Stirn & van Ham 2003 p37
  "The*angs, the Konyak chiefs, still hold a king-like position in society and are entitled to numerous wives ... as well as to levy taxes in kind from allied villages."

… to be continued.

Dave A.

[DaveA]

I also recommend perusing the book, "The Sema Nagas" by Hutton, J.H (1921) available for download in a variety of formats at https://archive.org/details/semanagas00hutthttps://archive.org/details/semanagas00hutt

( See https://archive.org/search.php?query...n+people%29%22 for several other Naga related resources )

Here is a quote from the book (p.20) that compares the different types of daos used by the various Naga tribes (emphasis and formatting is mine). It may be useful for identifying some of the weapons in the pictures shown elsewhere in this thread:

"The Sema dao, like the Chekrama and Kezami dao, has a longish handle and is carried slung in a wooden carrier on the right buttock or at the small of the back, with the edge inwards. It is drawn with the right hand from the right side,not over the shoulder like a Chang dao.

Several varieties of the dao may be found in the Sema country, but the prevailing type has a straight back and straight top at right angles to it about 3 1/2 inches wide, from which the blade gradually narrows to the handle, usually of male bamboo, into which it is fastened by a tang, the end of the handle being bound with cane, iron, or wire to keep it from splitting. The whole weapon is over 2 feet long and is often ornamented, the blade being roughly etched round the edge of the back and top and the handle being made bright with brass wire, or red and yellow cane, and with a few tufts of long red hair let into the haft at the top.

The Lhota type of dao, which has a curved back, and the Ao type, with a very broad blade, are common enough, and the iron-handled daos made by Changs and Tukhemmi are popular when obtainable. These daos are of quite a different make, the handle in both cases being made of iron to lap round a wooden peg and merging into the blade, which in the case of the Chang variety is very long and narrow, the metal being sloped off towards the back edge, and with a more or less curved end, while the Tukhemmi dao is hatchet-shaped with a deep indenture at the top. The Semas who acquire these daos let the inevitable tuft of red hair into the wooden peg which forms the end of the haft. Double-bladed daos are also occasionally to be seen in the Sema country. They seem to be copies of a Tangkhul type, which may have been inspired by the shape of the imported iron hoes from which daos are made, and which usually have a pronounced mid-rib.

Attached is an illustration from the book with the following caption and information:

"Sema and Other Naga Daos Used By Them"
1. Sema dao (Azhta)
2. Double-bladed Sema dao, Tangkhul type.
3. Konyak Blades. These two are not used by Semas as a rule.
4. Lhota type (akyekeh)
5. Chakrima Angami blade
6 and 7. Iron-handles dais (ailaghi), (1) Chang, (2) Tukhemmi or Kalyo-Kengyu.
8. Ao-Konyak blade

[DaveA]

This map is from "The Lhota Nagas", page 233. It is available for download at:
https://archive.org/details/cu31924024053534

Shown: Lhotas, Aos, Konyaks, Phoms, Changs, Sangtams, Yachungrr, Semas, Sangtams, Rengmas, Angamis, Naked Rengmas, Southern Sangtams, Tangkhuls

[spiral]

Top quality thread Guys! Interesting & educational! Thank you!

spiral