Names, History and Attribution

 May 3, 2025    Asian Arms

This sword is an interesting exercise in how attributions for dha/daab can be so difficult to pin down. I was lucky enough to acquire the piece through someone who is quite knowledgeable in the field, however I struggled for a time to reconcile the information he was able to give for the correct attribution to what I could research. One of the main reasons for this is that a source both of us had significant trust in described similar swords some decades ago but used a tribal name that does not match with the areas I assumed the sword could be from.

This highlights one of the main frustrations of researching period arms and armour from Southeast Asia. Much of what was written in the past relied on questionable transliterations and second hand accounts of quite remote areas and peoples and matching this is often difficult with the material culture that has survived and the knowledge of the current occupants of these regions.

One of the main characteristics of this particular sword is the rattan bands used to wrap the handle. Alternating between a dark, almost black rattan, and a reddish brown rattan. This is sometimes known as a tiger stripe pattern and is not a common feature of rattan wrapped dha/daab but seems to be isolated to particular regions and ethnic groups. However this is not a feature mentioned in period accounts and we have to rely on verbal accounts from more modern sources.

Luckily enough such a source was available that I considered reliable, however the term used for the ethnic group where this pattern was common was not one, when transliterated into Latin characters, that corresponded with known groups in the described region. This is an instance where our Western bias of relying on guides and gazetteers from the colonial period is shown to be particularly weak. While many explorers and administrators made great efforts to accurately map and describe the regions they visited, they were always at a great disadvantage in terms of language barriers and lacking understanding in the subtleties of the localities they travelled to, or of the areas they received second hand accounts of.

In this case, it can be useful to apply a more analytical approach based on what we can observe of the entire piece and examine each element in detail.

This is a large sword by the standards of the region, measuring 98 cm overall with a blade length of 65 cm and a very thick spine of 12 mm. In addition to the distinctive rattan handle, other notable features include the thick, solid silver fittings both at the ferrule, handle rings and pommel and the 'cut' tip style blade. 

There have been attempts by some western collectors to tie this blade style to particular ethnic groups like the Kachin but the reality is that it can be found in a wide variety of blade patterns across many ethnic groups and in particular seems to have been popular within the region bordering Yunnan and ranging into Northern Burma and Northern Thailand and Laos. However it is not itself an identifier for tribal attribution.

The size and shape of the blade points towards groups originating in Yunnan and in the wider Tibetan plateau, in particular the Husa are often referenced by western collectors as a group responsible for many of the blades in this region and make similar long, straight blades. While this is true, it ignores the more complex nature of the migratory patterns of hill groups in the 17th-19th centuries in the region, where many groups were displaced and moved south into modern day Laos, Burma and Thailand. 

I decided to revisit what the local knowledge we received actually stated. In brief this amounted to the fact that this handle style was known to our source as he was from this ethnic group and his name for this people was the "Kang". It was described as a hill tribe and a 'black tribe' (note: this is not a racial term but rather denotes the common colour of clothing worn by the group).

I had in fact stumbled across references to a 'Khang' ethnic group in Vietnam but had largely discounted it as it did not fit into the source we had, as the Viet group are originally a Mon-Khmer speaking group (although most apparently speak Tai languages as well now).

Confusingly there is also a group within Laos known as the Tay (Tai) Khang who are not Mon-Khmer speakers but a sub group of the Tai/Dai who are found across Laos and Yunnan.

The true, quite amusingly turned out to be much closer to 'home'. In a previous trip to Thailand and the north I had actually visited a somewhat remote area north of Chiang Mai in the hills north of Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest peak. I had stayed in a Karen village and done some exploring by foot in the area, including another village with a large temple that was in fact just south of a remote settlement called Huay E-Khang. This appears to be the origin of the Khang name our source gave as he was in fact from this area as well as the fact that the Karen have been at times known by terms such as 'Kariang' and 'ka-kuang' which can be easily pronounced as "Khang".

The Karen in this region are generally from the Sgaw Karen sub-group but have many further tribes and sub-groupings with their own unique traditions and while the exactly reason for the village name is not clear, it may well be the case that the Karen here are of a different grouping that others around Chiang Mai.

The Karen are well known for silver jewellery as a traditional decoration as well as a way to preserve wealth and are famous for their use of rattan, weaving complex baskets. As with other hill groups they employ a variety of natural dyes and also produce silk and weave textiles.

A period Karen thesaurus records a type of sword with a squared tip as a 'na xu hko' however it seems clear for period images and extant examples that the Karen themselves did not typically forge swords, but rather bought and adapted blades from neighbouring groups. From the small sample of swords with this distinctive 'tiger stripe' rattan handles I have seen, this is clearly evident with a mixture of blade styles, including obviously Thai made blades, being used. 

A group of Karen men from the border regions of Siam, the dha/daab pictured is a rattan handle example

The source who pinpointed the Khang as the originators of this handle style, also alluded to the fact that his ethnic group often worked as bodyguards due to their martial prowess. This is not surprising in a broader context of martial arts as the famous Lethwei (the Burmese equivalent to Muay Thai) is in fact of Karen origin and most fighters are ethnic Karen. Lethwei has a reputation for brutality and is often under represented on the internal stage but has a firm historical reputation and respect in the broader region. As with the equivalent Thai sport which sees many fighters from an ethnic Lao background in Isaan competing, Lethwei is a way out of poverty for many Karen fighters. As such it makes perfect sense that the same ethnic group would in times past be a ready source of skilled warriors.

In this context it seems to make sense that they would personalise swords local to their employers and perhaps be able to choose weapons that fit their fighting style and stature. In this context these swords are not 'Karen' in the collector's sense of attribution, but a reflection of how ethnic groups interacted in the region, a user of a sword not necessarily being of the same group who forged the blade. Acquiring and trading blades, hilt components and other elements of a sword and then adding personal touches like the rattan grips seems to have been likely a common practice.

A young Karen carrying a 'cut tip' style dha/daab

This example shows a great deal of age on the blade and the silver fittings are particularly heavy, usually an indicator of an older piece. The blade also has excellent distal taper and is of a size and weight that was obviously made for combat and a degree of wear on the edge seems to confirm this. The sword was likely made for someone of more than average stature for the region, it is designed to be one handed as with the vast majority of dha/daab and the handle is in fact quite thick, meaning it is suited for a larger hand than average.

This is a sword that while simple in many ways is an excellent illustration of what I find fascinating about these weapons, with a real story to tell from history about people, places and cultures.