Quite sometime ago I posted here a Tulwar hilt of an unusual design: deep cup with a massive baluster arising from the bottom. It was very reminiscent of the classic Sumatran Piso Podang handle. A similar one was published by Elgood in his "indian" book as an example of an "important" sword ( and there even was a lively discussion on what is "important":-) )
Jens was kind enough to tell us that this was a type of a handle encountered before 17th ( or even earlier) century, and even provided an illustration from Hamzanameh.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13600
Just for the reference I post here pics of that hilt next to the Piso Podang one.