Hi Jim,
To be able to start qualified guessing, we would need a lot of pictures of tulwars with these markings on the blades and detailed pictures of the marks, or alternatively know someone who has seen a lot of these blades. When these pictures are compared, we may have learned enough to start pointing in a direction. The marks Alex has shown are both very deep, and I would like to know if marks this deep were made while the blade was made, or if they could have been made afterwards. If a mark that deep could have been made afterwards, and if we believe them to be armoury marks, these marks could be from two different armouries, or maybe like you suggests a quality mark and an armoury mark, or maybe they are talismanic marks - but so far we are guessing. These marks are seen now and again, but not very often, so to gather a lot of pictures would at the best be difficult, and could only be done with the help of a lot of collectors.
I have a correction to you comment about the known armoury marks. It is true that we know the Bikaner mark, but we also know the one from Kishanghar, and the one from Alwar/Ulwar. Perhaps someone on the forum knows some more.
Jens
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