Jens, many thanks for your input. I am not a dedicated collector of Indian swords, but could not resist this one ( moreover, when none of you, guys, seemed to jump into the fray :-)): this is the first and only copper-hilted tulwar I've seen ever.
Elgood writes that contact with iron seemed to pollute hands of Brahmins ( spiritually, of course) and heavy silvering and/or gilding was the way around the problem. Also, red copper was spiritually connected with fighting fervor.
Here we had a double whammy: gilded copper. Must have been viewed as totally "kosher" from the religious point of view:-) And a wootz blade must have been a nice cherry on top....
Any thoughts on age?
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