Great point everyone. Really good discussion of an interesting item. Noone has mentioned something I find really interesting. The snake's head is on the inside (medial) aspect of the handle as it is carried. I guess that would make it more comfortable in the hand and could still be seen carried as a saber at an angle, but, still, it's an interesting design aspect to me.
The northern Indian/Afghan ideas seems a good one. The Afghans liked their swords in the 20th century to my understanding. The pommel shape looks familiar, is it a Deccan, Vijayanagar reference?
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