[Jim McDougall]

While these shorter swords with cleft pommel and similar hilt profile top the shashka are tempting to include in that classification, I dont believe they actually do. In the many discussions years ago pertaining to the unusual recurved blade swords with horned pommel known as Black Sea yataghans (Laz bichagi), there were examples of these type blades with hilts very similar to these.
The Laz bichagi was determined to be more of a Transcaucasian weapon, from Trebizon regions and in which the use of these arms extended in degree into Caucasian areas.
In a very obscure article written by a Hungarian traveler, "A Magyar Faji Vandor Pa'sa", (J.Vichy, Budapest, 1897) there are a number of swords with these kinds of hilts and varying kinds of blades, all which are of course notably shorter than regularly encountered shashka blades. It seems that some were with quillons and some not. I cannot be certain but that blade form seems somewhat familiar as well.

I hope I can find the article to get some pics, it was a key reference in the 1941 paper by Triikman & Jacobsen in Denmark, "Origins of the Shashka". ..equally obscure.

The quillons on my example are unusual, and the decoration on the blade seems to correspond to similar on Caucasian blades in degree if I recall from images in references.

While Buttin (1933, plate XX, the source of your image) describes this as a short saber of shashka form (the 18th c estimate seems a bit early) he notes that this seems a perfect 'mountaineer' weapon but as it does not respond well to kindjhal designation must move toward the shashka, the hilt form case in point.

Keep in mind that there were apparently shashka made smaller for young boys, as often the case in many sword forms, but this is obviously not the case with these, only to respond to the question, shortest shashka blade.