PERSIAN CAVALRYMAN c.1495

An extract from Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 2
by Ian Heath

32. PERSIAN CAVALRYMAN c.1495

There is very little that can be said about the armour worn here that has not already been said under figures 9 and 17, this figure (from an Aq-Qoyunlu ‘Zafar-Nama’ ms.) merely serving to confirm the similarity of such armour throughout the Middle and Near East, already noted under figure 9. Indeed, it has been observed by a number of modern-day authorities that it is often impossible to distinguish between Persian, Mamluk and Turkish armours unless they happen to carry inscriptions naming known individuals. This type of splint-reinforced armour was even to be found in use in Eastern Europe, as for instance in Serbia, Poland and Russia, its Polish name of bekhtez and Russian name of bakhteretz both probably deriving from the Persian bakhta. That depicted here differs subtly from those already illustrated by the addition of plate shoulder-pieces, presumably similarly attached to the mail.

[Based on a Timurid Battle Scene from a 1485-86 Zafarnama (Book of Victories) of Sharaf al-din 'Ali Yazdi (1424-54). Metropolitan Museum of Art. With shield, helmet and aventail from other folios.]

Next: 33. PERSIAN MUSICIAN in Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 2 by Ian Heath
See also Late 15th Century Timurid & Turkmen Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers