Nagaland or Assam ?

[colin henshaw]

Thanks to Ian & BANDOOK for their comments.

Another unusual feature of my sword/dao is that wrapped area at the forte, presumably for two-handed use ? A fairly similar feature is to be found on other long swords described as from Assam, see nos. 4 & 5 in the attached image. The concept sort of reminds me of those two-handed medieval swords or "zweihander" ...

[Gavin Nugent]

The blade appears to Kachin, from the most well know Kachin Dao type.
I've seen long handed and also very long bladed swords from the Kachin regions also, I suspect this is a variant but sword like this are typically Arunachal Pradesh as seen here;

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...&postcount=154
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...5&postcount=18

Gavin

[Ian]

Colin:

Of the examples shown in the links from Gavin, I think this dao is closest to your sword. Note the low grip on the hilt, which would correspond to the "sub-hilt" on your example, that offsets the (substantial) weight of the blade. David R. originally posted this pic and said it came from Tibet.

Ian.

------------Attachment: Tibetan with dao---------------

.

[Sajen]

So far I know traded Kachin blacksmith blades in surrounding areas, would agree with Ians statement.

Regards,
Detlef

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by Ian

Colin:

Of the examples shown in the links from Gavin, I think this dao is closest to your sword. Note the low grip on the hilt, which would correspond to the "sub-hilt" on your example, that offsets the (substantial) weight of the blade. David R. originally posted this pic and said it came from Tibet.

Ian.

------------Attachment: Tibetan with dao---------------

.

Specifically the image noted as being from Tibet is of one of the Monpa People from Arunachal Pradesh.

Gavin

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Gavin Nugent

Specifically the image noted as being from Tibet is of one of the Monpa People from Arunachal Pradesh.

Gavin

Gavin,

Thanks for that correction, although I note that information online indicates that the Monpa are a nomadic people, with about 50,000 in Arunachal Pradesh and another 25,000 in Tibet. They are one of the 56 recognized minority groups in China. Their languages fall into the Tibeto-Burman cluster, and they write with the Tibetan alphabet. Most of them are Tibetan buddhists.

Ian.