Dha (sword)
Encyclopedia
Burmese language
The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
word for "knife." The term dha is conventionally used refer to a wide variety of knives and swords used by many people across Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, especially present-day Myanmar (Burma), Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
Origins
The Burmese moved into Southeast Asia from the northwest (present day India), passing thought Assam, including a region dominated by the Naga people
Naga people
The term Naga people refers to a conglomeration of several tribes inhabiting the North Eastern part of India and north-western Burma. The tribes have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority ethnic group in the Indian state of Nagaland...
called Nagaland
Nagaland
Nagaland is a state in the far north-eastern part of India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east and Manipur to the south. The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur...
. The dha and its variants were possibly derived from the Naga dao, a broadsword used by the Naga people
Naga people
The term Naga people refers to a conglomeration of several tribes inhabiting the North Eastern part of India and north-western Burma. The tribes have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority ethnic group in the Indian state of Nagaland...
of northeast India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
for digging as well as killing. The Naga weapon was a thick, heavy, eighteen-inch long backsword with a bevel instead of a point, and this form of blade is found on some dha. Alternatively, the dha may have its origins with the Tai people who migrated to the area from what we know today as Yunnan Province in southern China. The Khmer
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
and Mon peoples were well established before the arrival the Tai or the Burmese people; perhaps they invented the dha (13th C. reliefs discovered at Angkor
Angkor
Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara , meaning "city"...
depict dha). The history of the region includes many periods where one or the other of these groups dominated, bringing along their culture, including their weapons, to conquered areas.
Similar terms exist in the surrounding area with slightly different meanings. The Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
word dao
Dao (sword)
Daois a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping , often called a broadsword in English translation because some varieties have wide blades. In China, the dao is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the gun , qiang , and the jian , and referred...
means knife but can refer to any bladed weapon with only one edge. In Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, a dao is a six inch long knife. From the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, the dao spread to Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
where it came into its present shape. While it is pronounced dha in Burmese
Burmese language
The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
, among Khmer
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
-speakers it is known as dao and some believe it is related to the Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
words for sword pedang
Pedang
Pedang is a village development committee in the Himalayas of Taplejung District in the Mechi Zone of north-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 1843.-External links:*...
and sundang. The dha itself is called krabi
Krabi (sword)
The krabi is a type of single-edged curved sword used in Thailand. Though used throughout many parts of Southeast Asian culture, this weapon was mainly adapted for the Thai martial art of Krabi Krabong, in which the Krabi can be used either by itself, or dual wielded....
in Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
, but the equivalent Thai term is daab
Krabi Krabong
Krabi krabong is a weapon-based martial art from Thailand. It is closely related to other Southeast Asian fighting styles such as Indonesian-Malay silat, Burmese banshay and the armed component of Cambodian bokator...
(ดาบ) which usually refers to a straight double-edge sword. The Thai term for knife is "meed
MEED
MEED is a 54-year-old business intelligence tool for the Middle East and North Africa , providing analysis and commentary on Middle Eastern markets, companies, people and data on the regional projects market.-MEED Magazine:...
." A related term, dap
DAP
Dap or DAP may refer to:*Dap greeting, a form of greeting in which two people slap and grasp hands briefly; also called a 'fist bump'*Delivered at Place, one of the rules defined by Incoterms 2010 for general modes of transportation...
, means a long-handled sword in Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
.
Anatomy
There are a large number of possible shapes for the tip, with upswept, downswept, squared-off and spear-like varieties all being found. The blades are often inscribed, which can range from a simple maker's mark to quite intricate designs that may also feature inlay
Inlay
Inlay is a decorative technique of inserting pieces of contrasting, often coloured materials into depressions in a base object to form patterns or pictures that normally are flush with the matrix. In a wood matrix, inlays commonly use wood veneers, but other materials like shells, mother-of-pearl,...
s.
Hilts range from hand-width to quite long. A blade/hilt length ratio of 2:1 is not uncommon. Despite these long handles, most dha are meant for single-handed use, although some two-handed weapons exist. Guards are small, if present at all. Thai daab may have a guard similar to the tsuba of the Japanese katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
. The montagnard
Montagnard
The French term Montagnard, meaning "People from the mountain" refers to an indigenous people group generally from the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It includes individuals from multiple tribal groups, including the Bahnar, Jarai, Koho, Mnong and E De peoples...
dha may have a guard that barely exceeds the diameter of the handle and they can be regarded more as a spacer. The construction of the hilt varies widely by type and region or origin. Hilts range from simple wood, possibly wrapped in rattan
Rattan
Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...
or covered in ray skin, to elaborately worked silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
. Pommels may or may not be present. Scabbards are made from two strips of wood, often bamboo, secured by metal bands, rattan (e.g., "village" dha), or completely wrapped in metal
Sub-Types
- Dha-hmyaung: A dagger.
- Dha-shay: A long curved sword.
- Dha-lwe: A dha-shay worn over the shoulder in a scabbard.
- Dha-ma: A chopper or cleaver.
- Dha-mauk: A paring or utility knife.
- Meed-maw: A doctor knife.
- Meed-Phra: A priest knife, distinguished from other small dha by a blessing from a Buddhist priest.