OT: Need info on Naga Dao sword/axe things

J

Jebadiah_Smith

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Jul 28, 2004
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I'm embarrassed to admit my search for these things started because I saw the end of "Apocalypse Now". I figured anything that could take down Marlon Brando during his hefty days had to be a pretty serious tool :rolleyes: :D . I'm not sure that a Dao was used in that scene, and I don't really care anymore. They fascinate me, and I plan on making one.

From what I gather, they were/are used as tools, as well as for combat. They seem to be a combination of axe/sword, and look like a cleaver on a long handle.

I need some info on them. I know alot of guys here are well learned on ethnographic edged weaponry and such. What was the purpose of the hair on the haft? Were they always carried in the tai-goo style belts on the small of the back? Were rivets used to attatch the blade, or just the rattan wrapping? Were they a stick tang, or a full, partial length tang? Were they always chisel ground? And, were they really used for headhunting, or is that false? Any info at all would be great. Thanks alot.

Here's some links to what I'm talking about:

http://www.vikingsword.com/ethsword/nagadao/nagadao.html
http://www.himalayan-mercantile.com/nagaland/hmn55.html
http://www.eriksedge.com/AS115.html
http://www.himalayan-mercantile.com/nagaland/hmn16.html
http://www.bcgalleries.com.au/t3976.html
http://www.oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=1615
 
holy Crap! :eek:





Hey Jeb, there's been a bunch of discussion here on the "Ram Dao" - I think I remember somebody bringing up the subject of the Naga Dao at that time. Have you searched here and in the archives? (I'm too lazy.....:o)
 
John Powell and Ruel had posted pictures, but they're down now. Its confusing because "Dao" is also the name of a chinese sword.
 
Jeb, it must be something common to the east asian languages, cuz "dha" is the sword/chopper from vietnam/laos/cambodia and "dharb" is the sword from thailand; "dao" seems linguisticly very close.

stevo
 
BruiseLeee said:
Here's a Cold Steel one without the fur.

http://www.coldsteel.com/97thm.html

Cleaver on a stick.
Click to expand...

You know, that got me thinking, Bruise...it looks pretty much like a CS Heavy Machete mounted on a longer handle. I have a Heavy Machete. Worth the money if you're not afraid to do some grinding to make the edge bevels line up but too short for bramble work. A longer handle would've solved that. Oh, well.

It also got me thinking...how about if they just stuck their other machetes on a handle as well? (I'm specifically thinking of the Latin and Khuk machetes.) Khuk on a stick? How cool is that?

Let it be known now...it was a CS Khuk Machete that got me interested in khuks in the first place; that interest eventually got me here. Interesting how these things work out...
 
John Powell and Ruel had posted pictures, but they're down now. Its confusing because "Dao" is also the name of a chinese sword.
Click to expand...

Here's another look at my Ram Dao:

jdl18_111.jpg



On the term dao, we do know that (1) the Naga ethnolinguistically are part of the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, so they are distantly related to the Chinese. As Steve pointed out, Chinese terms have been filtering through southeast Asia for a long time, and there are variants of dao in non-related language groups now as well, eg. Tai, Austroasiatic.

It seems like most people commenting on the subject follow Philip Rawson's proposal, put forward in his Indian Sword, that all incurving blades found in South Asia (including khukuris and ram daos) are derived from the kopis brought there during the Alexandrian campaigns and its successor Indo-Greek kingdoms. But if you look at this terminology as well as the fact that ram daos are localized in the Bengal area and are hilted in a manner more consistent with Naga daos, I kind of feel that it might have gone the other way -- that the ram dao was adapted from aboriginal Tibeto-Burmans and subsequently modified toward Indo-Aryan aesthetics.

Even today, we see that the ram dao is distributed in areas of current or former Tibeto-Burman habitats, from Assam up to Tibet. They aren't, on the other hand, native to anywhere else in India. Combined with the fact that it, like the various Naga daos, is specifically tied to ritual decapitation, I can't help but feel that these "daos" form a tradition largely independent from the rest of South Asia.

At the same time, it also seems incorrect to group Naga daos with the Indochinese tradition which includes Burma. Through ultimately related to the Burmese, the latter have long since acculturated to a SEAsian subsistence and material culture that ties them more closely to the Tai and Austroasiatic people in the area.

I guess the whole point of this rambling is that Naga daos should be considered on their own merits, and not necessarily by how they fit into larger historical/cultural weapons schemas. They're certainly interesting enough on their own to deserve this attention, IMHO. :)
 
Is this where Naga-hide comes from? Uhhhhh, nevermind.

My brother has something similar. Kinda.

It's a thick, wide machete like blade on a shovel length handle. Except the handle is cut thick, like an axe handle. A real monster. It was gathering dust at his job and noone knew where it came from.

I've never found another like it.


Brian
 
Chinese swords with a single edge are called Dao.

Ruel described the Indian dao eloquently. He sure can write!
 
Jebadiah,

The Nagas are a tribal people who live in Northeast India, mainly in state of Nagaland (with other major populations being in the Northeast states of Manipur and Assam). They actually speak about 20 or more mutually unintelligible (though related) dialects/languages, and mainly communicate through Nagamese (a corrupt version of Assamese) and/or English.

There are lots of Nagas living here in Shillong (in Meghalaya state, where I currently live).

But in this area dao is also a general word for any large knife. I have a 'kitchen' dao which I bought for about 80 Rs/- (roughly US$2) which we use for chopping kindling and chickens. It looks vaguely like the dao's on this page: http://www.accucom.net/medsword/ethsword/nagadao/index.html but is rather plainer.
 
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