Yes, the sword is quite bendable and bending is in the lower half. There is rust but I think is mostly on the surface, additional photos on a better light show that.
Before posting I already lightly cleaned the sword with a toothbrush, synthetic sewing machine oil and Pelikan rubber eraser (the blue part of the eraser).
The sword is for sure a trade steel, as there is no such steel in Sumatra.
Think I saw years ago in Jakarta History Museum similar sword with description "18-century Indian sword".
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