Hi Jim,
I have had two of those Berber swords over the years with the clipped blade style and handle with hole in the middle. On one example, the handle was covered in these circle motifs and in the other example, the scabbard had been stamped with these motifs.
As far as Tulwar hilts being found in Africa, I could understand why they may not be popular as we have had countless discussions about how do you grip one, were they made for small hands, etc etc and someone not familiar with the martial style may not have found a tulwar hilt to their liking. After giving more thought, I wonder if there was much of an Indian population in N Africa in the 19th century where perhaps an Indian working/living in N Africa decided to match up a Kaskara blade to a hilt they were more familiar with. I am glad you mentioned one other example of Tulwar hilted, Kaskara blade combo because there probably are not too many examples out there so it leaves us to hypothesize.(which I love to do and think it is part of the fun of our hobby!)
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