It seems that there are a number of examples of tulwar from Afghan regions which are sans pommel disc, and in discussions it was sometimes suggested that Afghans were inclined to have much larger hands than the Indian warriors to the south. Perhaps such replacement or adjustment might have been warranted in accord with these circumstances. It does seem that in those instances that the pommel area was left open, though some of these seem to actually have never had the pommel disc.
In the case of the dagger noted, I would likely be more suspicious, but the coincidence seems interesting.
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