Assistance required identifying origin & age etc of these Dhas
 

I have a couple of Dha swords one fairly plain with some silver decoration on the wooden hilt and scabbard and one completely plain.

Also I have a couple of Dha knives and would be grateful if a forum member would be good enough to identify the country of origin and approx. age of these items. I suspect that the first sword and the first knife are older than the other two.

I would also be grateful to learn of a good reference book on Dhas, preferably in English or with English translation.

Dha sword No 1:- O/L is 38 ins with a 25 ins blade.

Dha sword No 2;- O/L is 34 ins with a 22 ins blade.

Dha knife No 1:- O/L is 8 ins with a 4.5 ins blade.

Dha knife No 2:- O/L is6.75 ins with a 3.75 blade.

Thanking you in advance.
Miguel

http://dharesearch.bowditch.us/

This may help. :)

Thanks Rick a great help
Miguel

And so we move it :cool:

That's what I call efficiency, thanks Fernando.
Miguel

The second Dha knife (Dha hmyaung) looks to be from Burma to me.

Hi Miguel:

Your dha sword no. 1 has a fairly high hilt:blade length ratio and some nice silver work that is probably Shan in origin. I would put this one as late 19th/early 20th C. Shan or northern Thai.

Dha sword no. 2 again has a fairly high hilt:blade length ratio and is probably northern Thai/Lao in origin. Early 20th C.

Knife no. 1 with lots of silver is typical Shan work. Probably mid-20th C. or a little earlier.

Knife no. 2 with the ivory hilt is Burmese and probably late 19th C.

As far as references for dha, I have not found a good reference in 20+ years of looking. There are bits and pieces in books that deal with a wide range of material culture from mainland SE Asia, but nothing comprehensive on dha that I have come across. There is the article and pictures from the History of Steel Exhibition, and the Dha Index that Mark Bowditch put together, which has a small bibliography

Ian.

Hi Ian,
Thank you for your reply for which I am most grateful. It would seem that there is a need for someone like Robert Elgood to produce a good reference book or books on the dha.
Regards
Miguel

Hi Russel, thanks for your reply. You and Ian are in agreement that dha knife No 2 is of Burmese origin.
Regards
Miguel



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Hi Miguel:

After discussion with another dha collector, I think your dha number 2 is more likely Shan in origin. This appears to be one of their higher quality fighting dha. It should have an excellent and sharp blade made of high quality steel.

Ian.

Hi Ian,

Thank you very much for this information which is much appreciated. Dha No 2 has got a nice very sharp blade, the blade on Dha No 2 is just as sharp but is not as clean.
Regards
Miguel

Thanks for sharing Miguel. Lovely daab and meed. The handle fittings (pommel and small ferrule) in the 2nd one are they wood, horn or metal? Looks almost like copper?

Hi Nathaniel,
Sorry for delay in reply and thank you for your comments. They are copper as you thought.
Regards
Miguel