Hi,
I can see why collecting dha can be addictive . I might start one day ,finances permitting .
Yes I am Bama ( culturally - ethnically a hotch potch ) and named after U Aung Zeya hence the username. I've grown up abroad so my ability to read even comtemporary Burmese is poor but my ability to read Pali is non existent . I'll try to help if I can with any translations.
Myanmar has always been the written name with Bama being the spoken form . ( except these days I hear lots of young people who grew up after the "change" of name who refer to themselves as Myanmar )
I can see the reasons for wanting a non-ethnocentric umbrella term like British but as the junta has no legitamacy people resent anything that they do .
That aside ...
Back to topic - The fighting dha lwe is often called Hnget Kyi Taung Dha ( meaning
lit. Bird Large Feather Dha ) and one is owned by practically every family in rural areas and by many in the cities .
Many came out from under beds and floor boards during the 1988 uprisings.
Here's another drawing from
Journal of a residence in the Burmham empire, and more particularly at the court of Amarapoorah 1821 showing a trooper - its that a horn or a dha ? Seems highly disproportioned if it's meant to be the latter .