An Indian firangi

A nice Indian firangi backsword. The term firangi is used to refer to Indian swords with khanda-style basket hilts, but with imported European blades or (as is probably the case in this example) Indian copies of European blade styles. Similarly to khandas, they are mounted in a typical Indian style with the blade being riveted between two reinforcing strips. In their heyday they were primarily used as cavalry weapons and strongly associated with the Maratha Empire.
 
This example has a (very long) back sword style blade with a single shallow fuller on each side and a good stiff temper. There is a fair amount of pitting along the blade, but most of it appears to be fairly shallow and the edge is still sharp in places. The reinforcing strips appear to be original to the blade or at least very a very old replacement. The riveting is very well done, being nearly invisible on one side, and the decorative contouring on the reinforcing strips cuts across the blade as well at the base. The entire assembly is still rock solid. 
 
There might be a later repair to the join between the reinforcing strips and the plate of the guard. It's somewhat difficult to say. The basket hilt itself shows punched and cut decoration, and has also suffered a fair amount of corrosion. The grip still retains traces of its original textile wrap. All the components of the hilt are still solid.
 
Blade length: 104 cm
Overall length: 127 cm
18th - 19th century.