Deccani handles?

[ariel]

Jens,
Yes, the one from the Jaipur book you refer to: it has a very similar " khanda/tulwar" construction of the handle, but the artistic features are South Rajasthan, especially the beaded edges. Elgood specifically mentions khanjars from Deccan with similarly engineered handles and, as you notice, stresses the Deccani attribution of this configuration.

I know full well that I am skating on a dangerously thin ice, but if only we could finf several similar ones firmly attributable to Deccan, we might feel a bit more secure.
BTW, mine #3 from the left, is indian wootz, and has a very short Arabic ( Persian?) inscription, looking like a name, no more.