I came across 3 swords today stashed in a corner in an antique store. They had a very strange pommel and crossguard. After doing some research on the net this eve I found out they are Indian, Tulwars? from what I can tell. Anyone have any insight as to the value or things I should look for on the swords?

Thanks,
Wes

Thats a tall order. ;) I have a very old Tulwar that is very light and flexible. Others are heavier and stiffer. The worth is determined by many factors, which include whether the blade is wootz steel, condition, koftgari, hilt style and age.
Many go for a good deal less than they should be worth, as Indian weapons just arent as popular and there are still a good many floating around out there. You can still get a good deal on tulwars at times. Auction prices can range from less than a $100 on Ebay to thousands for much finer examples at the larger auction houses.
Here are a few links showing tulwars and their prices.
http://www.butterfields.com/areas/arms/7350A/...eapons.htm
http://www.antiqueswords.com/it9.htm
http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=1459

As you can see the prices can vary wildly at times. I pick up a 250-300 year old Rajputs tulwar for $56 on Ebay. Very light, very sharp and still solid as a rock. Only a few small nicks in the edge. Best $56 I ever spent! :D
Your mileage my vary! :lol:

Hello Wes,
Tom is right; Tulwar prices are all over the board. I think that the best piece of advice I can give is to tell you to really examine the blade closely. Many times an old wootz blade that hasn't been well taken care of will look like nothing special at first glance. If however, you see any traces of what looks like woodgrain swirling around in the surface rust, then you could have a very nice example of a watered blade in your hand.

I've had this happen to me twice. Once with a plain steel hilted Tulwar of small (even for Indian) proportions. Thought I saw some pattern in the rust. Cleaned it, ran over it with Ferric Chloride, and it turned out to be a blade with the desirable Kirk Nardaban (Ladder of the Prophet) pattern. Then again with an Afghan Pulouwar (their version of the Tulwar) the same thing happened; a very nice watered blade was under the surface rust.

--ElJay

Thanks for the info guys, guess I need to go back and take another look. I do have one other question though, what is wootz?

hi Wes,

wootz is a sort of steel coming from India. Damascus blades can be made of it, as far as I know.

Tom, this looks very simliar to the swords I found
http://www.butterfields.com/lib/images/7350/7350a-1023.jpg

One thing I do remember was one of the blades had black patterns on the blade, I will go back today if I have time and maybe get a picture or 2.

Thanks for your reply also Jessica, from what I was reading wootz is the original Damascus??

I believe, {and I could be wrong about this} that hilt style is of the North Central Punjab. It could be anywhere from 250-100 years old. This style was quite popular till the end of the 1900 cen. when more european style hilts were issued in the Indian regiments.
Pics would be a great help in indentifying these tulwars. Also make a note of any stamps or markings on the blades. It could have regimental armoury numbers or a makers mark.