Hello Alan,
A friend's father identified the script as indeed being Kannada. The translation is attached.
First picture (top)
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				 I think this is in Kannada. It says: “Choo Ra Sam. 47” (Here abbreviated ‘Sam’ stands for ‘Samvatsar’ or year. ‘Choo Ra’ could be name ‘Shoora’ ( or valiant person) 
			
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 Second picture (bottom) writing is oriented upside down
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				See this picture through a mirror. Now it looks as below. (I rotated the picture clockwise 360 degree) 
  
In Kannada it reads as follows: 
“Shri Krishna Sam. 1163” (Shri Krishna Samvatsar 1163) (or Sri Krishna. Year 1163)  
 
PS: I am not 100% sure whether my interpretation is correct.  
			
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 The "choo ra" mention is interesting. We use this name for the smaller variant of these pesh-kabz/karud type daggers, but we've heard that this word is not used locally used. Perhaps the name was derived by some early collector from a similar inscription.
Regards,
Emanuel