Authentic Talwar?

Looks like a real one to me and it almost looks as if it is a shortened 1796lc blade too.
Tulwars are pretty common swords and tend not to get a high price as the vast majority of them are fairly low quality.

I've seen tons of tulwars like that. The tulwar hilt seldom looks "right" with European blades, but then I've seen wholly-local swords that have just give a bit wonky in their old age. Simple tulwars like this seldom sell for much, but the nicer ones can escalate. I've looked at a few with gold koftgari everywhere and they still only ran around $2.5-3k US.

Oh yeah, I've seen gold hilts by themselves commanding $5k+, absolutely amazing work, but far too gaudy for me, personally.

Here are a few of the most expensive tulwars I can find on just the few sites I frequent:

www.swordsantiqueweapons.com/s434_full.html

armsandantiques.com/fantastic-19 ... word-is683

armsandantiques.com/fine-18th-c- ... lade-is647

shastardhari.com/item29.php

The average tends to run $4-600. I've seen them going for less than $200 in quite a few places.

A tulwar is on my list, too, though I may switch to a pulwar/pulouar/whatever instead. Little more aesthetically interesting to me, personally. Either way, getting one eventually. Won't be fancy, cheap and simple does it.

The 1796 pattern does seem to pop up a lot. Ironically, that's what Cold Steel did with theirs. Slapped a tulwar hilt onto a 1796 blade and called it done. Not the blade style I'm personally find of, but it does the job.

I saw a video recently by Schola Gladiatoria or something, another member mentioned them in another thread and I had to look them up, anyway they briefly went over basic grip and stroke with a tulwar. Thought it was interesting.

The biggest thing keeping me from buying one is the fear that the hilt will be too small. Well maybe "too small" isn't quite right so much as too small for the proper grip with my hand. I keep forgetting my little flyssa with its 3" grip and how I still manage it just fine, but I take a slipped grip there which the tulwar hilt would not allow. The exception is if I'm experimenting with the reverse, "icepick" grip, wherein I press my fingers right into the base of the blade and manage to not cover the pommel. With the flat disc pommel of a tulwar, though...I'm not sure I could hold it correctly.

Also why I don't have a tulwar-hilted kukri yet...

@jussi Ekholm,

What condition is your tulwar? Would you cut tatami omote with it, or at least water bottle? I am looking for a tulwar that I am not afraid to use. It is difficult to judge condition via the internet. If a sword is old, there maybe steel fatigue and micro-stress. It was the Matt Easton's video as well as the one you shown that inspire me to get a tulwar.

randomnobody,

For me, I actually want a small hilt -- just barely enough to fit my hand. This is because I want to replicate the grip that was actually used. That is why I would not get the Cold Steel. The grip is way too big to be accurate. I am actually surprise at the POB (according to KOA) for the Cold Steel. 5.5 inches POB is not bad for the type.

I am seriously thinking about buying a tulwar hilt from India and marry it to a Cold Steel blade. And if it is too heavy or poorly balance, get someone (such as Arm & Armor) to regrind it to spec. This company sell Tulwar hilt:

www.ancientarms.biz/servlet/Detail?no=401

They sell the whole sword too, but I am not too certain whether the blade is decorative only or actually functional with proper heat treatment.

Warning: you'll find that a lot of the modern Indian tulwar hilts are as big as the Cold Steel, or even bigger. The 6" in their specs is for the whole hilt; the grip is (according to Kult of Athena) 4". (The Cold Steel tulwar of about a decade ago had a 6" hilt with 4.5" grip - perhaps the same as the current one?) Which is pretty roomy for a tulwar hilt, but not super-large.

4" is roomy for me. 3.5" is snugly comfortable. IMO, the grip needs to be shorter than the hand, so as to get that snugness. Look around, and can find sub-4" grip hilts, sometimes for about $30 on ebay.

My plan is to put a katana blade in one, and maybe a straight Euro.

How thin is very thin?

There are antique thin-bladed tulwars. The blades without fullers tend to be thin. A gentle taper from hilt to tip is typical, usually a non-uniform taper. On some blades, the thickest part is in the middle, and it tapers in thickness both towards the tip and the hilt (not much, but measurable). Fullered blades are usually thicker at the hilt, and more strongly tapered. Weights can vary a lot. Blades of mediocre or poor quality can be found on cheap antiques.

If the blade is of uniform thickness, then it's likely to be modern and made from sheet steel.

Modern SLO tulwars usually have brass hilts. Shabby cheap-and-nasty antiques usually have iron hilts. (I've seen brass hilts on spectacularly nice antiques, but not on lower-end swords.)

You can see mine here with measurements: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=239&start=3180#p224214 It's in very rough condition, but I liked it. But there are many bit more expensive ones that are in a lot better condition.

I think it would handle cutting very well, but it would need fine honing as there are lots of minor nicks in the cutting part of the cutting edge, and the initial sharpness is lost. Of course I cannot say if there is stress damage, and I wont be cutting with it. But due to the cutting section being very thin 7,5mm at base - 2,2mm at tip, I'd think this would be great against tatami omote.

I totally agree what Timo is saying about grip length in tulwar. Mine has 8 cm (3,15") grip, and like I said I can just barely fit my hand in. But once it's in place it actually creates snug fit, which I think is needed for this type of hilt. If there would be much empty space I think the hilt would be more uncomfortable than a snug fit is.