Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Mark · 23rd December 2008, 02:56 PM

The only side-by-side descriptions I have found in the literature are those in Egerton, "An Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms" (1880) (republished in 1986), and specifically the expanded edition that covers also Burma. However, Egerton is a bit confusing, as I believe he had a tendency to conflate or confuse different peoples, and to generalize too widely based on a few narrow examples. For example, those he describes as "Hkampti" Shan sound more like Jingpaw Kachin - for example he notes that the "Hkampti" wear their swords slightly in front, in a "sling made of split rattan," which sounds rather like the rig of a Kachin dao. But he quotes another writer, whose original work I have not been able to find, describing the two kinds of Kachin dao:

"With reference to the arms in use generally among these wild tribes [of the Assam Hills], Mr. Lewin ["Wild Races of South-Eastern India"] remarks: 'the "dao" is the hill knife used universally throughout the country. It is a blade about 18 inches long, narrow at the haft, square and broad at the top, pointless and sharpened on one side only. The blade is set in a handle of wood, a bamboo root being considered the best.'" P. 88. Though the scabbard is not described, this clearly refers to what we are calling here the "Kachin dao:"

According to Mr. Lewin (per Egerton), "[t]he fighting dao is differently shaped. This is a long pointless sword, set in a wooden or ebony handle;it is very heavy, and a blow of almost incredible power can be given by one of these weapons." P. 88. Here he seems to be referring to what I call the "sword dao:"

Regarding scabbards, Egerton states that "[t]he ordinary hill 'dao' is generally stuck naked into the waist band on the right hip, but the fighting 'dao' is provided with a scabbard and worn at the waist." P. 88. I don't quite know what to make of this comment, as the Kachin dao is of course routinely worn with a scabbard, slung across the shoulder, as is the sword dao. I fact, assuming that by "worn at the waist" Egerton means hanging from a belt or stuck in a sash, I have not seen another such configuration describedption in the literature or in a photograph (always hung over the shoulder or across the chest):

All-in-all, the literature evidence is very scant on these two weapons, and it could well be that they were habitually used by different peoples for the same purposes, rather than by the same peoples for different purposes. Unfortunately the Western literature suffers greatly from the distorting lens of the "noblesse oblige" condescension rampant among colonial-era writers. Not a lot of fine distinctions were made among the "wild tribes."

23rd December 2008, 02:56 PM	#5
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	The only side-by-side descriptions I have found in the literature are those in Egerton, "An Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms" (1880) (republished in 1986), and specifically the expanded edition that covers also Burma. However, Egerton is a bit confusing, as I believe he had a tendency to conflate or confuse different peoples, and to generalize too widely based on a few narrow examples. For example, those he describes as "Hkampti" Shan sound more like Jingpaw Kachin - for example he notes that the "Hkampti" wear their swords slightly in front, in a "sling made of split rattan," which sounds rather like the rig of a Kachin dao. But he quotes another writer, whose original work I have not been able to find, describing the two kinds of Kachin dao: "With reference to the arms in use generally among these wild tribes [of the Assam Hills], Mr. Lewin ["Wild Races of South-Eastern India"] remarks: 'the "dao" is the hill knife used universally throughout the country. It is a blade about 18 inches long, narrow at the haft, square and broad at the top, pointless and sharpened on one side only. The blade is set in a handle of wood, a bamboo root being considered the best.'" P. 88. Though the scabbard is not described, this clearly refers to what we are calling here the "Kachin dao:" According to Mr. Lewin (per Egerton), "[t]he fighting dao is differently shaped. This is a long pointless sword, set in a wooden or ebony handle;it is very heavy, and a blow of almost incredible power can be given by one of these weapons." P. 88. Here he seems to be referring to what I call the "sword dao:" Regarding scabbards, Egerton states that "[t]he ordinary hill 'dao' is generally stuck naked into the waist band on the right hip, but the fighting 'dao' is provided with a scabbard and worn at the waist." P. 88. I don't quite know what to make of this comment, as the Kachin dao is of course routinely worn with a scabbard, slung across the shoulder, as is the sword dao. I fact, assuming that by "worn at the waist" Egerton means hanging from a belt or stuck in a sash, I have not seen another such configuration describedption in the literature or in a photograph (always hung over the shoulder or across the chest): All-in-all, the literature evidence is very scant on these two weapons, and it could well be that they were habitually used by different peoples for the same purposes, rather than by the same peoples for different purposes. Unfortunately the Western literature suffers greatly from the distorting lens of the "noblesse oblige" condescension rampant among colonial-era writers. Not a lot of fine distinctions were made among the "wild tribes."