Iron Hilt Dha

[Jerseyman]

This dha is not in great condition, but it has been stabilised, leaving a blackened blade and (iron?) hilt. I think someone has polished the brass studs rather than them being a later addition. No pommel cap. Incised bands of decoration on the hilt. Sadly no scabbard. No idea of the age.

Achang maybe, or Kachin?


Dimensions

Length 66cm
Blade length 48.5cm
Blade width 2.8 > 3.1cm
Spine 0.7cm
Hilt length 17.5cm
PoB 10.6cm

[RobT]

Hi Jerseyman,

I have two dha with very similar iron hilts. On mine the non-iron area is ray skin and taken together with the iron segments, the hilts look like sections of bamboo with the ray skin areas as the nodes. As is yours, my blades are hua tat khong. Mine don't have any sheaths either and I don't know whether they are Kachin or Achang but I always assumed Kachin. I have no idea about age but I can find no seam in the iron so I suspect that they may have been made from iron pipe.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Jerseyman]

Thanks RobT - much appreciated. Great to have more cultural context for this weapon. Interesting insight about the possible use of pipe for the hilt.

I've searched the classic threads and we don't seem to have one dedicated to dha/daab. I've searched but not yet found one with the level of detail you're able to bring - disclaimer, I haven't read all of them yet. Are there any threads anyone can recommend specifically? For example, your naming of the blade style is information I didn't previously have. If not, is anyone aware of any publications dedicated entirely to these weapons?

Thanks again.

[RobT]

Jerseyman,

The dhafia should chime in presently and give you a lot of information. Until then, here is what little I know. Hua tat khong refers to the tip of the blade it literally means "head (or tip) cut curved". Other blade tip names I know are hua tat literally head cut (the tip is cut off straight), hua bua or lotus tip, hua luk gai or chicken head tip, and hua pla lod. Pla means fish and lod is the type of fish (mustacembelus sp). The top of this fish's head is a bit flat and slanted and the dha blade has a sort of short clip point. The last tip name I know is hua dha which is the standard Burmese dha tip. I have included pictures of my two iron hilted dha.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Ian]

Hi jerseyman,


I also have a few of these iron-hilted forms, generally in two main sections for the hilt--two pieces of iron tubing over a wooden core. One has a straight blade and the others are curved. Some of these may be HuSa dha, but I think others may be northern Thai or even from neighboring Laos. The straight one had an open-faced scabbard and was sold to me as coming from the Lisu people, who are ethnically linked to the Kachin and live in northern Yunnan Province.


The tips on mine are either squared off (flat) or concave (like your example).

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Jerseyman

Thanks RobT - much appreciated. Great to have more cultural context for this weapon. Interesting insight about the possible use of pipe for the hilt.

I've searched the classic threads and we don't seem to have one dedicated to dha/daab. I've searched but not yet found one with the level of detail you're able to bring - disclaimer, I haven't read all of them yet. Are there any threads anyone can recommend specifically? For example, your naming of the blade style is information I didn't previously have. If not, is anyone aware of any publications dedicated entirely to these weapons?

Thanks again.

Jerseyman, there were some old threads on the previous UBB Forum but, unfortunately, those pages are now corrupted. Mark Bowditch had an old web site, The Dha Index, which is now outdated and contains errors, but the site is loaded with dha pictures. You will find a link to that site here on the Vikingsword static pages. There is also a link here to the SE Asian swords exhibited at the Macao Museum's "History of Steel," but those pages have now been taken down by the museum.


Otherwise, not much to find online for dha/daab and very little published in English.

[werecow]

Unfortunately the dha research index, or at least the page I had bookmarked, seems to be down at the moment.

[Rick]

Here's one I saw on our favorite auction site.
Auction is long over.

[Jerseyman]

Thank you for all the replies folks. Some very interesting information. We can hope that one day someone will write the definitive book on dha. I certainly look forward to it.