Another Dha?
 

Thoughts on this dha recently closed on ebay?

Cool scabbard. What is the handle made of, and how is it finished at the end.

I can only speculate Tim; my bid didn't win. :(
The handle appears to be uniformly rusted, so probably steel? The seller did not supply any pictures of the handle end.
What struck me was the length which seems longer than usual and the scabbard construction with the many tarred (?) rings and the bare scabbard top with projecting bamboo (?) branch stubs; something I haven't seen before.

It's from Burma or Yunnan, more likely Burma - Yunnan and it is traditionally lacquer not tar, the scabbard is covered in rawhide at the top and this says its from Burma on the border of Tibet too, Burmo-Tibetan, but I'd say Burma Yunnan border because of the style, definitely from around that area and also 19thc too.

Interesting weapon.

Hi Rick.

Sorry to come to this one late. We've been under extreme heat and bushfire alerts here, with not much time to read the forum.

As Wayne has said, this one is from the general area of northern Burma/NE Indian frontier/neighboring Yunnan. The main distinguishing features are: (a) the tri-partite Burmese style hilt that is commonly seen on Kachin dha of similar form, and (b) the long blade with a square end. The blade is longer than Kachin dha, and similar to those seen in parts of Assam and nearby areas, although those are usually carried in open-faced scabbards. The scabbard on this one is closed, in the Burmese style, and as Wayne suggests is probably from northern Burma or neighboring Yunnan.

A nice old example.

Ian.