Am I right in thinking that Type{<:T} is equivalent to the set of objects that are either at level T or lower according to <: ?
For instance
julia> DataType isa Type{Any}
false
julia> DataType isa Type{<:Any}
true
Assuming you are right, then you have shown that, the restriction of isa to the image of Type{<: } is isomorphic to <: . In other words, you have succeeded in “embedding” <: in isa. This is nice. What it does not provide is a characterisation of isa.
Great, so this establishes that <: is not a partial order. Further clarification on what you mean by “unique” would be useful:
julia> DataType <: DataType
true
julia> Any <: Any
true
julia> Type <: Type
true
julia> Int <: Int
true
Is isa is characterised by typeof? if so, then we get reflexivity in the sense that, for every object x
julia> x isa typeof(x)
true