Burmese military dha

[Ian]

I bought this one from Mr Artzi Yarom (Oriental Arms) about eight years ago. What attracted me to it was the unusual shape of the tip for a Burmese sword--I have not seen another one like it on a Burmese dha, although there are Thai examples with similar "sheep's foot" tips.

After talking with other people about this sword, it appears that it was most likely a Burmese military dha from the late 18th C or first half of the 19th C. The sword is blade heavy in the hand and has a hardened edge--in Thai it would be called a daab dang slong hua to ("cleaver head sword") and was used with a dang (shield). Such swords used with shields by the Thai Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin armies were vanguard troops' swords who were up ahead clearing the enemy so that the following army would not be ambushed; they were slaughter swords for killing and the reason for the forward weight was for chopping and doing maximum damage with single handed blows, while parrying with the dang. It is likely that the Burmese had similar front line troops using similar weapons.

The presence of a simple V-grind to the blade and the absence of fullers are consistent with the Shan as possibly the source for the blade, while the hilt is a fairly standard Burmese arrangement that could be Shan or from another Burmese group.

The pics show this is clearly an old sword with a well forged blade that has a hardened edge and peaked spine over the distal 3/4 of the blade (including the tip). Everything is still tight and this 200-year old fighter could probably still go a few rounds.

OAL = 72 cm
Blade = 52 cm
Thickness at forte = 0.8 cm
Maximum width = 3 cm

Ian.

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