Welcome to the forum, and thank you for sharing this tulwar!
While the tulwar is of course a quite commonly seen sword, it is because there were countless of them produced, and they were swords actually used in combat, and even into the 1930s.
This is of course a very 'plain' example, and with knuckle guard etc. seems most probably northwest regions, with these being the 'fighting swords' of Rajputs and Sikh commonly known. The 'eyelash' (or sickle) marks were often copied by Indian blade makers from the Italian markings of this type usually regarded as Genoan (though far more broadly used).
These blades are of course in imitation of 18th century European blades with these multiple fullers. It seems the sickle marks occur most commonly on blades of the northwest frontiers, particularly on the type of tulwar known as the Afghan paluoar.
Clearly this is a 19th century tulwar, but most likely latter. The idea of 'military' is misperceived as in India the princely states maintained organized forces privately, not necessarily militarily. The British maintained 'native' regiments using varied local forces, and these often used their favored local weapons while some used British made arms.
The 'wootz' notion is typically a bit overplayed, and seldom seen on the typical fighting swords of regular ranks. It is expensive, usually on weapons of those in high station, and often known to be less than durable in combat situations.
|