Dha (; also spelled ''dah'') is the Burmese word for "knife" and "sword" similar term to daab or darb ( th, ดาบ) in Thai language for a single edge sword. The term dha is conventionally used to refer to a wide variety of knives and swords used by many people across

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, especially present-day Myanmar (

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Origins

Angkor_-_Bayon_-_036_Battle_Scenes_(8580764047)

The broad use and diffusion of the dha across Southeast Asia makes it difficult to attribute a definitive origin. The dha may have its origins with the

Tai people Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thais, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, an ...

who migrated to the area from present-day

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

in southern China. The Khmer and

Mon people The Mon ( mnw, ဂကူမည်; my, မွန်လူမျိုး‌, ; th, มอญ, ) are an ethnic group who inhabit Lower Myanmar's Mon State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, the Irrawaddy Delta, and s ...

s were well established before the arrival the Tai or the Burmese people; perhaps they invented the dha as 13th-century reliefs at

Angkor Angkor ( km, អង្គរ , 'Capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura ( km, យសោធរបុរៈ; sa, यशोधरपुर),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-Engl ...

depict the weapon. The history of the region includes many periods where one or the other of these groups dominated, bringing along their culture and weapons to conquered areas. Similar terms exist in the surrounding area with slightly different meanings. The

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

word ''

dao Dao, Dão or DAO may refer to: * Tao (Chinese: "The Way" 道), a philosophical concept * Dao (Chinese sword) (刀), a type of Chinese sword * Dao (Naga sword), a weapon and a tool of Naga people People and language * Yao people, a minority ethnic ...

'' (''dou'' in

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

) means knife but can refer to any bladed weapon with only one edge. From the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, the dao spread to

where it came into its present shape. While it is pronounced dha in Burmese, among Khmer-speakers it is known as ''dav'' (Khmer:ដាវ) and it may be related to the

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

words ''pedang'' and ''sundang'', meaning sword. A related term, ''dap'', means a long-handled sword in

. In Thailand, the dha corresponds to the ''

krabi Krabi ( th, กระบี่, ) is the main town in the province of Krabi (''thesaban mueang'') on the west coast of southern Thailand at the mouth of the Krabi River where it empties in Phang Nga Bay. As of 2020, the town had a population of 3 ...

'' ( th, กระบี่) but the equivalent

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

term is ''daab'' which is usually a single-edge sword. The Kachin dha used by the

Kachin people The Kachin peoples ( Jingpo: ''Ga Hkyeng'', ; , ), more precisely the Kachin Wunpong (Jingpo: ''Jinghpaw Wunpawng'', "The Kachin Confederation") or simply Wunpong ("The Confederation"), are a confederation of ethnic groups who inhabit the Kachin ...

has a long blade which is around 18 inches.

Anatomy

Dha vary considerably according to locality but they share a few features that define them apart from other weapons and tools of the area. These features are a round cross-section grip, a long, gently curving blade (sometimes upward, other times downward in the direction of use) with a single edge, and no guard. Knives and swords with these characteristics are viewed by ethnic groups of the region as being of a single type, albeit with variations arising from local style and tradition. 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 covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...

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 that of the Japanese

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

. The montagnard 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, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

or covered in ray skin, to elaborately worked

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

. 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

Collection of swords at Bangkok National Museum

*Burmese ''dha (ဓား);'' : The spine is straight (or mostly straight). *Thai ''daab''/''darb (ดาบ)'': The spine curves slightly. *Laos ''daab''/''darb (ດາບ)'': The spine curves significantly, and has more detailed carving and other tooling.

Burmese Dha

*Nghat kyee taung dha (ငှက်ကြီးတောင်ဓား): A single edge sword with a sharp point *Dha-hmyaung (ဓားမြှောင်): A dagger *Dha-shay (ဓားရှည်): A long curved sword *Dha-lwe (ဓားလွေ): A dha-shay worn over the shoulder in a scabbard *Dha-ma (ဓားမ): A chopper or cleaver *Dha-mauk (ဓားမောက်): A paring or utility knife

Thai Daab

Ayutthaya shape (Central) * Daab na luk kai (ดาบหน้าลูกไก่): A blade shaped like a chicken's face. * Daab na bua (ดาบหน้าบัว): A blade shaped like a lotus. * Daab na pla lot (ดาบหน้าปลาหลด) or Daab na tat khong (ดาบหน้าตัดโค้ง): A blade similar in shape to the Daab na bua. * Daab hua tat (ดาบหัวตัด): A blade without a pointy tip. * Daab hua tat chiang (ดาบหัวตัดเฉียง): A blade similar to the Daab hua tat, however, it has a more slanted shape. * Daab na hua laem (ดาบหน้าหัวแหลม): Also known as the Lao sword, this sword has a pointy tip Lanna shape (Northern) * Daab ngao (ดาบง้าว): A blade with a ridged surface. * Daab bai khaw (ดาบใบข้าว): A blade shaped like a rice leaves. * Daab bai kha (ดาบใบคา): A blade shaped like a Daab bai khaw but more slender.

References

External links

David J. Atkinson's private collection - Dha SwordThe Dha Research Archive
{{Swords by region Southeast Asian swords Blade weapons