''Dao'' is the sword of the people of

Northeastern India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, M ...

, mainly in the Indian states of

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

and Kachin,

Sagaing Sagaing (, ) is a town in the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located on the Irrawaddy River, to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing, with its numerous Buddhist monasteries, is an important religious and ...

region of

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. The sword, with its wooden hilt, and unique square form is used for digging as well as used in historical warfare. In modern times, it is generally used for cutting meat and wood.

Form

The ''dao'' broadsword can be found in

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

and

in the northeastern region of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and Kachin, Saigaing region of Myanmar. The dao has a thick and heavy form, which varies in length from to . The unique design of this long backsword is that, instead of a point, the tip of the sword is a bevel which creates the appearance of a squarish shape. This form is also found in the Burmese '' dha'', which is derived from the ''dao''. The form of the ''dao'' was first adopted by the

Kachin people The Kachin peoples (, ; , ) are a collection of diverse ethnolinguistic groups inhabiting the Kachin Hills in northern Myanmar's Kachin State, as well as Yunnan Province in China, and the northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and As ...

. From here the form would evolve to the more elongated dha. The blade of the ''dao'' is almost straight, with a very minimal curve that can only be discerned upon close examination. The blade is heavy and chisel-edged. It has a unique form in that it is narrowest at the hilt and the gradually broaden to the endpoint. The wooden hilt has a very simple shape, without a guard or without a distinguished pommel. Bamboo root is considered to be the best material for the hilt. The grip of the handle is sometimes wrapped with basketry. Sometimes the hilt is decorated with a bronze cap at the bottom. The hilt may also be made of ivory, and occasionally can be well-carved. A ''dao'' is usually carried in an open-sided wooden scabbard which is fastened to a

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), 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 clos ...

belt hoop. The scabbard is centrally hollowed out on one face.

Functions

The ''dao'' is a tool common in all tribes of North East India. It is used for many purposes e.g. for building houses, to clear the forest, to dig the earth, to make the women's weaving tools,for hunting and for creating any kind of wooden objects. The ''dao'' was also used as a weapon in historical warfare.It is also used by the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

Naga Regiment The Naga Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It is among the youngest regiments of the Indian Army - the first battalion was raised in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand in 1970. The regiment recruits mainly from Nagaland, in northeast India. ...

as a military utility knife and was used by Naga troops for beheading Pakistani soldiers during the 1999

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

References

Cited works

* * * * * {{Swords by region Southeast Asian swords Indian swords Edged and bladed weapons

Form

Functions

See also

References

Cited works