Is This A Pala With An Indian Blade?

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by Aslan Paladin

I want to remove the velvet covering but I am discouraged by the thought of seeing what horror it is concealing underneath.(

Please don't remove this velvet, it's very are to have a hilt with the original wrapping!
To me it gives some value to your sword.
Here you have a wrapping around an Ottoman kilij...

[Kubur]

To me the joint and the guard are very similar.
It's a very cool sword, maybe a tegha blade or an Afghan blade is it possible?
Look at the wrapping here...

[Kubur]

and a final word, remember that Persians did also this kind of blade.
Here an Ottoman pala with a Persian blade.
To me your sword is Ottoman because of the hilt but with an Indo Persian blade.

[Aslan Paladin]

I have tracked down the tulwar with the similar blade profile (its blade looks wider, although mine could have had several sharpening thus accounting for the slimmer look). The contour of the spine is identical, both have gorda/eye lash marks as well as maker/armoury (?) marks at the base of the blade (although not the same katar stamps). Here is the link http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=tulwar

[Aslan Paladin]

Thanks Kubur, for a moment there I was at a loss with regards to what I should call this sword given the suggestions to its origin. Anyway regardless of the right terminology I love this sword. For me it's Ottoman pala with Indo-Persian blade then as you have opined. And with regards to the velvet wrapping of the hilt, it actually lends a significant amount of comfort when I grip the handle. So I'll keep it as is (and you persuaded me with the very valid reasons you presented earlier).

[ariel]

What you see is not a Genoese “ jaws” or “eyelashes” and not a Caucasian “ gurda”. Besides their very specific form, they are always oriented along the blade.
Yours is a mirrored image of two groupings oriented across the blade. Each grouping has 7 dots. The Big Dipper?

[ariel]

The velvet looks far too new to be of any historical value. To me, it is an eyesore, a clumsy attempt of the seller to hide the damage to the handle.
I would not hesitate to remove it.

[Victrix]

Hi Asian Paladin,

I don’t know if this is of any significance, but I noticed that none of your Turkish hilted swords have any holes in the pommel for a wrist cord.

You may consider the possibility of carefully unravelling the velvet covering (at least partly) on the grip with the intention of putting it back again?

Regards,

[Aslan Paladin]

Originally Posted by ariel

The velvet looks far too new to be of any historical value. To me, it is an eyesore, a clumsy attempt of the seller to hide the damage to the handle.
I would not hesitate to remove it.

It may have been the seller or a previous owner who put on the velvet covering. I don't think it was originally meant as part of the hilt. If the grip underneath was intact then I might think it was added for additional comfort when handling it rather than just to hide damage. As I have said earlier I don't have the time and means to have the hilt restored if I decide to remove the velvet cover. And anyway this sword is not a presentation or prestige piece that would greatly benefit from a restoration IMHO but a battle and probable provincial example that has seen extensive use (as suggested by the worn edge of the blade due to multiple sharpening and the damaged hilt). And if that is the case, I wouldn't want to alter the swords history in anyway. But I agree with you that it is not aesthetically pleasing.

[Aslan Paladin]

Originally Posted by ariel

What you see is not a Genoese “ jaws” or “eyelashes” and not a Caucasian “ gurda”. Besides their very specific form, they are always oriented along the blade.
Yours is a mirrored image of two groupings oriented across the blade. Each grouping has 7 dots. The Big Dipper?

Thanks for the comment Ariel. Actually I wasn't really sure if it is an eyelash mark or not but I could see some faint arcs facing each other along the length of the blade and whose ends the dots emanate from. It is not as well defined as the sickle marks of the other blade and mine has an extra pair of dots. Probably it got defaced over time. I just used the term gorda or gurda to call it for convenience (improper it may be) as I don't know what else to refer to it. I'm also curious if there is a significance to the mark on my sword having the extra two dots.