Now I recall these swords Stefan, from discussions last January...you have got an incredible grouping of very important Indian swords there!!! These two interesting examples with the so called 'cobra' blades, one with Hindu basket hilt and the other with Deccani hilt with Afghan paluoar type pommel, are truly anomalies, as discussed in both Elgood and Pant.
Actually the discs at the blade root are not nagan representations, but symbolize the chakra or mandala. As Elgood discusses (p.240) the association with Vishnu in the Sangam age established this symbolism as that of the right to rule, and as an element of these weapons, most likely as you note, ceremonial or court weapons. It is noted further that the Sanskrit word for swords incorporating the chakra is 'ardhachakrakrpana' and as such these are symbols of the chakravartia, or universal king.
The term 'pahaari' is actually a linguistic term, in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, referring to the language of the 'mountain people' covering regions from Nepal in the east, to Himachal Pradesh in the west, and one of the regions suggested as possibly that of provenance of these distinct swords. I believe this may be the source for the pahari term referring to these (which is certainly much easier to use in description than that other one!!
Elgood ("Hindu Arms & Ritual", 2004, p.121) notes that in the Vijayanagara state, at its zenith in the 16th century, the Adil Shahi kings saw themselves as Chakravartins, which may of course signify the tradition behind these very symbolic weapons. It is noted also that Pathan nawabs established a subordinate state to Hyderabad in Kurnool (situated in Andhra Pradesh).
The two chakra bladed examples in your collection seem to be of 19th century, though Elgood discusses 17th century example from Bijapur, and notes these are typically catalogued as 19th century in museum references. The blades are both similar in the Vijayanagaran style , with the hilts of course different, one with what appears an 18th century khanda example, the Deccani hilt one (strikingly similar to the one in Elgood, 11.17, p.121) of latter 18th century? The use of wootz in Indian blades in the 19th century virtually ended, especially with Indian government forbidding production of wootz in 1866 in the Western Ghats. It is unclear whether certain centers may have continued, such as Sirohi (in Rajasthan) where heavy watered steel blades of Persian form were made.
As far as the blades in India, the Oriental style watered steel blades though heavy, were often disfavored as they were susceptible to fracture in combat, while the layer weld form was much stronger. Many of the finer old blades, particularly Mughal examples, were of course of beautiful watered steel, while there were certainly regularly forged blades later. The Indian sword blade was highly favored, especially in Arabia, where in Hadhramaut and Yemen a good sword was termed 'muhanned' referring to 'Indian sword'. The Indian blade was regarded next to the Persian, and termed al Hindi ( used in Arabian poetry as a simile for brightness, Elgood, "Arms and Armour of Arabia", p.14).
It would seem unlikely that watered steel blades would be considered 'bright', suggesting high polish. I am aware of many tulwars and some Arabian sa'if with Indian blades of extremely high polish, and dating from 18th and into 19th c. which are of course forged, not of watered steel.
I hope this information will be of some help, and though redundant somewhat to research you have already done, I wanted to add it here for future reference.
Thank you again for sharing these beautiful examples here!
All very best regards,
Jim