I tend to agree with Gavin these swords always had some type of padded guard to protect the users hand as seen on many Scotish basket cup swords. I have seen these perforations in the same area of the hilt. The long back spike was used as a two handed grip when wielding the sword in battle. Here is an example of a Khanda hilt from my collection for comparison notice the small holes on both sides of the D-guard where the padding would have been attached.
Last edited by Lew; 3rd February 2013 at 07:34 AM.
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