Naga axe for comment

[Tim Simmons]

Naga weapons they are just great are they not? I had a long bladed version as well but being at times a very silly man I lost it in a swap One of you out there has that Naga weapon with a small blade on the knuckle bow, we saw it once, to see it again would be rather nice. I have never seen any of the decorated ones with a scabbard, only the more plain ones. Has anyone got one with a scabbard Tim

[Lew]

Hi Tim

Nice Naga axe! Here are two from my humble collection. Funny most of the stuff I have read about these things is that they are more tool than weapon?

Cheers

Lew

[Tim Simmons]

This is the weapon, I know you are out there, if i remember correctly yours does not have the hair though the glimpse of it was some years ago. Tim

[Rick]

Stefan recently sold one IIRC , the same animal no ? :
http://www.ashokaarts.com/edgedweapons/ew-20.htm

[dennee]

Those are nice daos.

Many of the Naga daos did not have a scabbard or sheath-type holder, but rather a wooden "block" suspended from the small of the back with a slot cut through one way for suspension from a belt and another cut perpendicular for the blade to go through (with the wider handle preventing the whole dao from slipping downward through the hole). There are plenty of historic photos depicting them.

The brass-hilted dao with the unusually shaped blade is from the Shendu people, as is the Ashoka Arts example (an item that I was considering purchasing, incidentally).

And Lew's upper dao is more characteristic of the Kachins and nearby peoples. I have yet to see a photo of a Naga carrying such a weapon. I would be very appreciative if someone could uncover such photo documentation. Sometimes the Naga dao blades approach the proportions of the Kachin daos (and so, in some photos, only the blade being exposed, one might jump to such a conclusion), but the handles are different in proportion, shape and decoration if not materials.

[dennee]

Oh, and they were both tools and weapons. The Nagas were headhunters as well as agriculturalists and "gatherers."

I rather like and agree with Tim referring to these as "axes," because in form and function they are closer to an axe, in my opinion, than to a sword, which is implied by the term "dao."

[Tim Simmons]

Thanks for the replies gentlemen, I should have made it more clear about the block type holder though a type of scabbard was also used, I shall post pictures to illustrate latter. If I could of robbed a bank that weapon from 'Ashoka' would have been a very nice thing to have. They Know who they are, stop holding out and show us the weapon. The weapon seen briefly on the forum some years ago was of the first picture I post not the version of 'Ashoka' very kindly brought to our attention. Tim

[Tim Simmons]

This pictur is from- Land Of Jade , Bertil Lintner 1990.

[Ian]

Well, Tim, I guess I better fess up and admit to owning a couple of these. There is an old thread where I posted pictures of a "Kuki dao" -- Rawson attributes these dao to the Kuki people. They coexist with the Naga but are on unfriendly terms with the Naga, historically and even relatively recently.

This is the brief thread from a few years ago: http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000507.html

These are the pictures from that thread:

Ian.

[Tim Simmons]

Thank you sir, how wonderful! you lucky antipodean

[Tim Simmons]

This fellow is a head man and has taken six heads prior to converting to christianity. The picture is from the afore mentioned, Land of jade, here we see the Kachin type of weapon. This chap is also pictured in a must have book, The Nagas, hill peoples of northeast India, Julian Jacobs, Thames and Hudson 1990. In this publication there are black and white photos of him as a young man in the 1930s and a colour version of this picture. He is probably dead now. Tim

[dennee]

Tim,

Thanks for the photo. I confess that I couldn't make out the details of the weapon very well, so I went to the color photo in Jacobs. In that picture, it is also impossible to see the blade, but the hilt is more visible. While it may be shorter than the average Naga axe hilt, it otherwise seems fairly typical. It is round in section, without the swelling, elliptical pommel of the Kachin (or Khamti) dao. There are two plaited cane rings, presumably for grip, which is less common on Naga weapons, but certainly not unheard of (on your first post, there is colored plaited cane on the lower part of the haft, for instance). The Kachin type dao usually has some sort of cane along the entire grip, frequently lacquered. The Kachin dao also often had a brass ferule at the lower part of the hilt and a contrasting material, often ivory, as a pommel cap. Of course, there are many examples that have simple wood pommels, also "swollen"--probably more common, representing wealth differences, and possibly more common in the early twentieth century?

[Tim Simmons]

As collectors we often want everything to fit into neat boxes and have all our pieces match accredited pictures. There are definite tribal styles but real life is more varied than the collectors imagination. Jacobs book has some really fantastic pictures in it. Tim