Yup: THIS is wootz.
There is a big difference between crystalline damascus (wootz) the beauty of which depends on a narrow range of impurities (wolfram, most likely) and heating/cooling temperatures and mechanical damascus that is constructed by combining different steels into a single blade and then polishing/etching the surface.
Wootz is a native Indian product. As such it was used by Indo-Persian bladesmiths as well as by the Persia proper masters who obtained raw materials from India.
Wootz ingots were rarely bought by the Caucasian and Ottoman bladesmiths and this is the reason why wootz is practically confined to India/Persia. I have never seen real wootz outside of that area.
Which kind of Damascus was superior? Mechanically it made very little difference for the average warrior; esthetically it depended on the personal taste; urban legends attributed incredible properties to either variety (such as " sliced through a nail" which is exactly what the Ginsu people are telling us about their kitchen knives) but the proof is lacking in most of the cases.
Ultimately, it is the swordsman that makes the difference, not the sword.
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