Difficult to see exactly the way this hilt developed but I tend to think it was closed originally but in some the top fell off thus the open examples available. Were these strange pommels not used as fillers for seeds or small pebbles? in fact below is a turbaned or ball pommel and it indeed is filled with small pebbles or seeds ...
Pulouar is a Hindu word meaning flower from its more accurate spelling PHULA. Tulvar probably came from the same word. I wondered if it was from the Poppy? I show the poppy seed box below>>> is this perhaps the origin of the pommel in this case?
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...7&page=4&pp=30 illustrates a number of similarities and on the Blade at Ariels example it has peculiar parallel lines. Are these representative of the tears of the afflicted grooves and in the copper/brass inlaid dots are these pearls or tears in solid form?