Whilst looking for clues, I came across this short OLD thread and wanted to add that in some of my research, as Ian has noted, it is not always the author's direct input that was at fault, but data from others.
As can be appreciated, these pioneering works were in the days when mail could take weeks or months to be received, and they had no information superhighway to rely upon for checks and links to library archives or other published works within, often well across the world or country.
The most recent example I came across was a Tulwar attributed to the Sudan, specifically to a major British occupied town.
I suspect the item was gifted or traded for in the Sudan region by officers or soldiers who had been previously stationed in India, and eventually landed in England, but may also have made its way there via the 35th Sikhs regiment or any other any amount of avenues.
On the ground in the day, one may expect them to think it was a Sudanese sword and such history travelled with it.
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