Great discussion folks!
On pages 83-86 of "Hindu Arms and Ritual, Arms and Armour from India 1400-1865" (2004) Elgood shows a number of south-western Indian swords of the Vijayanagara period, 7th century CE. Some of these are fairly large, their blades looking like precursors to the yataghan or sossoun-pata. Elgood includes pictures of two reliefs (8.13 Gana holding a [khukri-like] sword...Pellava, mid-seventh century; 8.21 Warrior...[holding a khukri-like sword] from the sixteenth century). Unfortuantely I cannot scan them at the moment, maybe someone else can until I can do so.
My point is that there is material to support the development of the khukri on the Indian subcontinent, where the forward recurve edge has precendece. I don't see any problem with both Mediterranean and Indian cultures developing similar blades. If we take the example fo the celtic, northern Europen sax, that same shape exists in Eastern European Thracian knives, and is found again in the Arabic shafra.
The Alexander and trade routes theories seem plausible to me, but sometimes different peoples come up with similar solutions to similar problems. The top-heavy forward recurve makes a good chopper, so it shows up where a compromise between an axe and a long blade was needed. Once martial strategies and arts changed, the shape lost popularity in favour of something longer and with a straight cutting edge, as in Europe.
Just some thoughts.
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