Vilhelmsson, an incredibly superb example of 'firangi', and very good catching that thread from 2008. It was a great discussion, and Fernando's addition of the markings from one of his many obscure resources was most important, having material not commonly found in most familiar references.
In my opinion, these arrangements of letters and crosses, along with the so called 'anchor' devices are VERY European, and not characteristic of the type usually seen on Indian made blades. They are delicately made, and the use of serifs was not seen in copied markings, again, as far as I have seen.
These 'anchors' were a typical Christian symbol which often had subtle variations used on Iberian blades, then copied on German blades. The crosses were used in marking arrangements, as well as in names, invocations etc.
What is interesting here is the use of these 'maltese' crosses and opposed head arrows in the koftgari motif along with the floral Indian décor on the supports that cover the upper part of the blade.
These European blade mark configurations were pretty much free form, and while following certain conventions of the period, getting an exact match would be difficult, Often letters presumed initials or words were actually acrostics representing popular phrases, invocations or other wording.
I would agree this blade is quite possibly Italian (if Spanish it would have makers detail somewhere, but so much is concealed under the bolsters), and likely 17th c.
These markings seem to me to correspond to European styling rather than Indian or other copying. As Fernando has noted on many occasions, the Portuguese were bringing in many blades, often Italian, into Indian ports.
The Indians were very intrigued by European culture, and not surprising to see the crosses incorporated into the koftgari motif. However, the blade markings seem characteristically European to me.
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