Regarding the Afghan sword which has often been deemed a 'regulation' pattern for their army in the 1890s (these were often present even as late as the '3rd Afghan War' in 1919) this is perhaps a misnomer in the true sense of the term regulation.
I recall when I first acquired one of these in the 1990s, and at that time they were not well known among most collectors. Many of them were somewhat fancifully identified in many cases, however the one I acquired was properly described as 'Afghan'. The deep stamp in the blade was then regarded as from the 'arsenal at Mazir I Sharif' . This was of course incorrect as I found in later years, and while the representation was of the Masjid at Mazir I Sharif, the stamp was used as a dynastic state symbol and applied at Mashin Khana.
I recall research on my sword and the excitement of seeing the photo (attached) by John Burke (in "Northwest Frontier" by Arthur Swinson, 1967)of officials at the signing of the 'Treaty of Gandamak, May 26,1879 .
In this photo, second from the right is General Daoud Shah, Commander in Chief of the Afghan Army . .....and he is indeed wearing a sword whose hilt is remarkably like these later 'regulation' swords.
This set forth a long search to find more on the significance of this apparent forerunner of the 'regulation' form we now know as the Mashin Khana products of the 1890s (mine is dated 1896). The objective of research on this type of hilt was to determine when and where they might have originated.
Much as in the use of the term 'regulation' for the Mashin Khana swords is a misnomer in degree, the terms development or evolution are perhaps in similar category with regard to classifying these weapons in categoric sense. As has been noted, these regions have been the center of geopolitical strife into ancient times, and even more intensely in recent centuries. In this volatile context and with so many influences present, I would say that we are examining a spectrum of variations in these weapons rather than trying to establish a distinct line of evolution or development.
In my opinion the study of these weapons is primarily using key historic data, provenance examples when available, and analysis of associated clues including art and cultural materials to assess examples on their own merits.
With this we can establish a reasonable image of the details pertaining to these, and where consistancies are found, these may be considered in degree a 'development'.
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