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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
It seems I was once told these 'choora' are typically without wootz blades. Possibly those which are actually have remounted karud blades which of course have the same basic profile?
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Jim, I suspect the same.
Both "Choora" and " Karud" are essentially the same pattern. Their blades are identical in form and dimensions. In contrast, their handles vary enormously. The only explanation of the difference is likely to be a place of manufacture ( or, if one wishes, ethnicity of the manufacturers)
We know of the so-called "Karuds" that they were made and used in Afghanistan, Central Asia and India, In contrast, "Choora" was always ascribed to the Khyber Pass area, and there are no known examples from other parts of Afghanistan or Central Asian Khanates.
IMXO, most likely explanation is the tribal belonging of the owner/ maker.
Trade blades traveled far and wide, but were mounted according to the ethnic/tribal identity of the end owner.
The same Persian saber blade could become an Indian Tulwar, Afghani Pulwar, Syrian or South Arabian Saif, Georgian Khmali, Moroccan or Omani Nimcha, Sumatran Piso Podang or just Persian Shamshir. Trade yataghan blades were fitted with small silver Cretan handles or with massive ivory ones from the Balkans. Yemeni jambiyas can be attributed to a particular tribe/ social stratum only by the form and decoration of their hilts and scabbards. Egerton specifically mentioned that "Choora" blades were made in Kandahar ( likely plain) and Khorasan ( likely wootz).In Afghanistan, rich people could afford ivory handles and wootz blades.
I suspect that wootz blades were remounted time and again when the organic parts of the hilt broke down, because of their value and mystique.