Gav,
Thank you for correcting me. You are right. There are a few different ways of applying gold or silver inlay. I got a little mixed up in trying to convey a point that inlay was probably done by a different "smith" from the one who made hilts. Even now in India coftgari artists are are a kind of specialized jewelers. They don't make swords but they decorate them working with precious metals rather than forging steel. Then again, this craft was also done on other metal items, such as high quality tablewear, etc., which stands as additional evidence of whoever applied coftgari/bidiri in teh past centuries did not work on weapons exclusively.
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