another tidbit of info. the sword (mine) was found in france, which we tend to forget had 'posessions' in south east india and further influence in nearby areas for quite a while. could have been brought back by a frenchman in that era of the french east india co. - 18/19c.
or maybe a french collector like us acquired it from only god knows where.
i love a good mystery. especially if it has swords in it.