Hi Tom,
Thank you so much for the very kind comments!
which are very much appreciated. I also really appreciate your posting this great example of Indian weaponry for discussion. Weapons such as this are great incentive to really hit the books, and present great opportunity for learning more on the weapons of India.
Concerning the serrated edges on the blade, although this feature affords the weapon a rather fearsome appearance, it has often been debated that it actually can prove counterproductive in various instances of use. This is likely the reason for more blades not being produced with this feature, and those with it are typically parade or court weapons, and the nagan theme often associated with many of them. In the case of the 'cobra' type blades, the presumed 'hood' is congruent with the hilt which would be considered the head. In your example the widened disc is further down the blade from the hilt, which is why it seems to disqualify the 'cobra' symbolism, yet the wavy serrations may still carry the nagan theme.
In viewing the interesting scene on the disc which includes a tiger, it would be quite worthwhile to consider the Tipu Sultan weapons, in which he used the tiger often allegorically in many themes and forms of symbolism. If this proved to be pre 1799, which seems quite plausible, the potential for this weapon may be extremely important.
Rand has offered some outstanding observations in trying to establish the proper date presumed in these weapons, which can truly be difficult as the traditional forms remained in use for centuries.
Very good suggestion on the pierced holes for attachment of chain link armour by David .I honestly had not thought of this for an Indian piece, but could well be valid. The protection for the hand was of considerable concern as evidenced by the elaborate hand guards often seen on Tanjore items, and of course the development of the gauntlet sword (pata). While I cannot recall ever seeing such attachment of mail on a weapon, it of course was the manner of attachment for the aventail on the helmet (kulah khud).
All very best regards,
Jim