Alex,
Actually as far as I know, European blades were indeed sharpened down to the hilt. The so called 'Indian ricasso' on their blades is believed to have to do with a certain propensity to curl the index finger around the quillon to support the blow of the sword. This is of course highly debated, but it seems enough support has been around to suggest this is quite likely.
Naturally, there are those who insist that the finger would be in danger in that position, but in typical combat the warrior parried with his dhal (shield),
To see a similar blade look to the thread on 'European blades in Indian Weapons' and the post by Estcrh which has linked an article by Robert Elgood which touches on this topic. In the linked article look at figure #7, a piso podang with one of these sabre blades, in this case with the familiar 'sickle marks'. With that, I might rethink my suggestion for German on the blade and suggest Styrian, more commonly with these kinds of fullers. The Indian armourers began copying these blades, and apart from that distinct ricasso they were pretty convincing.
Remember that the term shashka is of course a rather loosely used term and in the Russian military, even the D guard sabres are termed shashka.
It seems this describer either simply used the term as a lead in or perhaps simply assumed any sword without a guard must be a shashka? We can only wonder
While there are always many intriguing possible scenarios, it may simply be an innovative dealer creating a novelty with blade and stag horn grip.