“Dha” (or “dah”) is a generic term for a sword or knife of the various ethnic groups that make up what was formally Burma (now Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Cambodia and Laos. It actually is a Burmese term that simply means "blade." The corresponding term in Thai is "daab," or "darb." We in the West tend to use it to refer to a variety of sword and dagger-length weapons that are used by a variety of people in continental Southeast Asia. Thus, what are referred to here as “dha” are those swords used by the peoples of mainland Southeast Asia, defined as present-day Burma, Thailand (exclusive of the Malay peninsula), Yunnan, Laos and Cambodia, and in places like Assam and Bengal, to the extent the foregoing peoples have settled there.