The pulwar or pulouar is a single-handed curved sword originating in Afghanistan.
Afghan pulwar, 19th century mounts, earlier (17th to 18th century) deeply curved 82 cm blade of damascus watered steel, inlaid on one side with maker's mark and Islamic inscription, other gold inlays throughout the blade, large iron hilt with characteristic down turned quillions and brass rivet caps, inside measurement 104 cm, leather over wood scabbard with iron chape.
Afghan police ca. 1880, a man near the centre of the group holds a scabbarded pulwar upright; to his left another man holds a Persian shamshir across his lap.
The talwar, also spelled talwaar and tulwar, is a type of curved sword or sabre from the Indian subcontinent.
Pulwar
…The pulwar originated alongside other scimitar-type weapons such as the Arab saif, the Persian shamshir, the Turkish kilij sword, and the Indian talwar, all of them ultimately based on earlier Central Asian swords. Originally, the Khyber Knife (a type of short sword) served as the weapon of the common…
Typical 18th-century talwar, with iron disc hilt and knucklebow, and a fullered blade.
Talwar with a wootz blade and silver koftgari decoration to hilt and blade forte. Note the widening of the blade near the tip.
Talwar hilt without knuckle bow, with extensive silver koftgari decoration
Talwar hilt with knuckle bow, 19th century, silver koftgari decoration, damascus steel blade.