Early signs of dhamentia

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

In a very informative but not too scholarly book "The Vanishing Tribes of Burma" Richard K Diran, available from amazon, some nice pictures of Burmese young ladies . The Shan, Yao, and Hmong all have groups in Burma, Loas and Thai borders, the Golden Triangle, so I think trying to be sure of the swords origin is really quite tricky. I must say I rather like the idea of saying "Golden Triangle" Tim

That is but the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of "Kachin" tribes (Kachin is actually a Burmese word), Karen, Chin, Arrakanese, Mon, etc., etc. Burma is a very heterogenous country, ethnically speaking. The nosology of the dha is indeed very tricky.

[Mark]

I forgot the add the icing on the cake -- according to Leach, "Political Systems of Highland Burma," Kachin and Shan tribes inhabit the same regions (Kachin up in the mountains, and Shan down in the upland river valleys), and individuals can become sort of indentured to members of the other tribe and end up adopting the identy of that tribe. So an ethnic Kachin will call himself "Shan" if he/she is indentured to a Shan and living among the Shan, and vice versa! Plus, frequently a sword may be made by one tribe, and used by the other, or the blade made by one tribe and the fittings by another. Bewildering ...

Originally Posted by Mark Bowditch

That is but the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of "Kachin" tribes (Kachin is actually a Burmese word), Karen, Chin, Arrakanese, Mon, etc., etc. Burma is a very heterogenous country, ethnically speaking. The nosology of the dha is indeed very tricky.

[Tim Simmons]

Thank you fellows, not too scholarly in English English means coffee table book I used to think Africa was the forgotten area and still is in some ways but when it comes to Asia, the areas of the dha still seem to be in darkness. I shall follow your updated info. Can you recommend any catalogue type books on the dha? Tim

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Thank you fellows, not too scholarly in English English means coffee table book I used to think Africa was the forgotten area and still is in some ways but when it comes to Asia, the areas of the dha still seem to be in darkness. I shall follow your updated info. Can you recommend any catalogue type books on the dha? Tim

lol. It does have many nice pictures.

What do you mean by "catalogue type books"? There's a bibliography thread around here somewhere that I've been meaning to update and make a "Sticky" for some time. However, the references for dha are sparse, and we tend to get excited about a single photo or passing reference in much larger works.

Incidentally. this dearth of information is exactly what fomented my obsession with dha.

[Mark]

the best single source for dha pictures that I know of in general publication is Punjabhan, Naengnoi, "Silverware in Thailand," ISBN 9748869563. There are some pictures from it on this thread, courtesy of dha investigator extraordinaire Dan Wilke.

And not to beat my own drum, but the largest single collection of dha photos on the web is on my web site The Dha Research Index (I thinK I have more than are in Artzi's archives at Oriental-Arms).

[RhysMichael]

Originally Posted by Mark Bowditch

the best single source for dha pictures that I know of in general publication is Punjabhan, Naengnoi, "Silverware in Thailand," ISBN 9748869563. There are some pictures from it on this thread, courtesy of dha investigator extraordinaire Dan Wilke.

And not to beat my own drum, but the largest single collection of dha photos on the web is on my web site The Dha Research Index (I thinK I have more than are in Artzi's archives at Oriental-Arms).

Mark, there is no doubt in my mind that your dha research index is the definitive source of dha information on the internet. I have literally spent hours doing all types of searches for dha/darb related material. And your site and the posts on this forum are where I refer anyone who asks me about dha/darb info.

That being said I still cannot wait for the promised work from You, Andrew and Ian