Thank you Norman!!!!
The interesting 'kora' you have there (I remember it from some great discussions on it and items with similar motif years back) is I believe from Bengal, and close to the border regions with Nepal, hence the odd pairing of kora blade and tulwar hilt.
These, as I have understood, have religious ritual significance of sorts, and may have sacrificial associations like the ram dao.
My example has similar symbolic designs and remnants of red paint inside the pommel disc...the markings on the hilt are I think Bengali.
Cathey, a wonderful example of these impressive blades, which I think were more aligned with court or diplomatic presentation use than actual hunting weapons. With the Mughals, the royal hunt (shikar) derives from the Mongol 'qamargah' (=ring hunt) which is more of a 'battle plan' where men making noise and disturbance drive the animal into a surrounded setting, there it is killed by the royal figure who presides over the hunt.
The Mughals of course, are descended from the Mongols, so these traditions prevail. As Rajputs were also a warrior race, the hunt was similarly important symbolically to represent the strength of the ruler.
The hunt was an event shared by Mughals and Rajputs as they worked out their alliances.
The Mughal attraction to depictions of flora and fauna in their art extended to their weapons and their Sh'ia religious metaphors. The representations of these animals and settings are found, as Norman pointed out, not just on swords but other weapon forms which provided panels for this symbolic art.
A good source for more on these might be a catalog of the exhibition "Decorous and Deadly Weapons of the Royal Hunt" at the Met in New York, Sept. 10, 2015.
While these highly decorated tulwars and shamshirs were unlikely of course to have been used in actuality, they are most important items of Mughal and in degree Rajput figures of high station.
As of course, usual, as noted, the 1851 exhibition heightened collector interest in Indian arms and these immediately were dubbed 'hunting swords'.