English made Kacchin Dha...

[spiral]

I think your still missing a major point Ian.

The massive Burmah oil, the teak, rubber, opium, sugar, tea, ruby, gold, silver, sapphire & rice industry,imports & exports were all English run & the major employment base in Burma. Many were among some of the largest company's in the world at that time.

Such industry's were I believe highly likely to buy English goods, after all many Naga axe dha are clearly made from imported British hoe blades... so it seems likely that many other such tools would also be imported.

spiral

[Ian]

Ausjulius and Spiral:

I really think we are agreed on the possible place these luxury goods might have had in Burmese society of 1900. As I noted in my original post:

So who would have bought these expensive quality items in the colonies? Perhaps ex-patriots for employees on their plantations. Perhaps wealthy locals who had the money to buy them. But I doubt many would have found their way to the hill country where the largely untamed Kachin lived.

I suppose poorer people in that time could have obtained these tools in much the same way the Naga obtained English-made hoes to create their dao, by appropriating them in the dark of night.

Ian.