Important and HUGE! Lanna Darb Sri Gun Chai Dha sword from Northern Thailand

 A magnificent Northern Thai Dha sword ‘Darb Sri Gun Chai’. This sword is from the Northern Kingdom of Lanna, now part of Northern Thailand. The size of this sword is truely impressive,.. it was designed to be used double-handed and because of its size would have been used almost like a halberd standard or pole-arm. Its purpose was to be used for leading in front of the old Lanna Army in order to inspire and motivate the troops. This sword is additionally important as its blade is inscribed "Pra tu Chang Moi na korn Chaing Mai" in the old Lanna language which tranlates as ‘belonging to Chang Moi gate of Chaing Mai’. This directly relates this sword to the important city gate Chang Moi of the Ancient Lanna capital Chiang Mai, presumably as a weapon to be kept by the authorities at that garrison or station. The image below shows the Chang Moi gate in the 19th century, today it is surrounded by the bustling city of modern Chiang Mai. In earlier times the six gates of Chiang Mai were the only entrances to the city and the whole was surrounded by large and impenetrable fortifications. The very long hilt on this sword is silver and chiselled throughout, in excellent condition. The huge steel blade is thick and robust, and most unusually is completely covered with thick silver. The inscription is deeply chiselled into one side of the blade, and shows that the smith was fluent in Lanna, a language almost lost today. Overall dimensions, just under 57 inches long overall, the hilt 27 inches, the blade itself approximately 30 inches.