[Jim McDougall]

Hi Kino,
This is a handsomely made example of the type of tulwar with open hilt which seems to have been favored by Mughals which were in my opinion court or ceremonial weapons. These seem to be typically attributed to various regions in Rajasthan which were probably the largest areas of tulwar hilt production.
It is always difficult to accurately assess a weapon from photos, and this seems to have been either well cleaned or without significant age coloration. It must be remembered that these weapons were produced well into the 20th century, and indeed production of weapons is still a well established industry in Rajasthan. The hilt seems of 19th century form and the weapon overall very nice quality.

The bifurcated point is of course the well known interpretation of Dhu al Faqar, the Sword of the Prophet Muhammed, and which has typically been interpreted as having two points or somehow cloven. It is now I understand generally held that the more accurate interpretation had to do with being 'possessor of spines', referring to apparantly two fullers or ridges in the blade cross section. In any case, the two point application is believed to be represented in these and numerous Islamic edged weapons with this blade feature.

The three dot feature in this case are actually part of the so called 'sickle marks' which are the two dentated arcs on the blade, and these three dots are actually components of this grouping. These marks are well known among familiar European blade markings as associated with early North Italian guild marks, particularly from Genoa, and later widely adopted in Styrian, Solingen and Caucasian sword blade centers. As European trade blades entered the Indian subcontinent, the marking became adopted later by native swordsmiths as an indicator of quality with perhaps some various concepts either talismanic or of imbued power.
The marks on this blade seem significantly interpretive and somewhat stylized.

The three dot feature is also seen in various applications on weapon blades, sometimes in punched dots, or sometimes as gold metal filled holes, with the exact purpose somewhat unclear though presumed talismanic or possibly to ward away evil in folk religion parlance. Obviously in broader sense, it is well known theologically regarding the trimurti or in Christian religion, the Holy Trinity, with the number three having key significance in many interpretations. This is indeed discussed in many threads over the years here, but in the case of this sword, the triple dots are components of the dentated arc markings.

The serrated blade on this tulwar is also typical of these type swords with bifircated tip as Dhu'l Fiqar also has been interpreted as with wavy edges.

Interesting example, and a bold move into expanding collecting fields Kino!
It is always interesting how the fields of study with these many weapons forms become more closely related as we learn more on thier diffusion among these cultures. The tulwar for example became the forerunner of the Southeast Asian piso podang, and many Indian weapons became established in Ceylon and Indonesia whose influences carried further into other archipelagos.

All the best,
Jim