Type of armour
"Splinted mail" redirects here. For armors made from long metal strips, see
Splint armour
.
Mail and plate armour
(
plated mail
,
plated chainmail
,
splinted mail/chainmail
) is a type of
mail
with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the
Middle East
,
North Africa
,
Ottoman Empire
,
Japan
,
China
,
Korea
,
Vietnam
,
Central Asia
,
Greater Iran
,
India
,
Eastern Europe
, and
Nusantara
.
Types
[
edit
]
In Russia, there are three known varieties of mail and plate armour. These were adopted from
Persian
, initially as Persian exports,
[
citation needed
]
and have Persian names.
- Behterets (also spelled
Bekhterets
;
Russian
:
Бехтерец
),
[1]
from Persian
behter
:
[2]
small horizontal plates arranged in vertical rows without gaps, joined by rings, and embedded in mail.
- Yushman (
Russian
:
Юшман
), from Persian
jawshan
:
[2]
long horizontal plates embedded in mail and resembling
laminar armour
(e.g. Roman
lorica segmentata
)
- Kalantar (
Russian
:
Калантарь
): square plates embedded in mail, very similar to the Japanese karuta
tatami-do
. The major difference is that
kalantar
are not sewn to a cloth backing as Karuta tatami-do are.
According to Bobrov
[3]
the first mail and plate armor appeared as
cuisses
in the
Middle East
, and were imported by the
Golden Horde
. Persian miniatures of the first half of 15th century show different combinations of mail and plate armour with
lamellar armor
and
brigandines
sometimes worn with a single
round mirror plate
as breast re-enforcement. The first representation of mail and plate armour as body protection is shown in Persian miniatures, which show mail and plate armour composed of relatively large plates, worn with laminar pauldrons and skirt (formed from long, horizontal plates), re-enforced by a large round mirror plate. The first representation of classic mail and plate armour (without lamellar elements) can be seen in Baghdad's miniature which dates from 1465. From the end of the 15th century mail and plate armour began to fully replace lamellar armours. The main difference between eastern European (Russian and Polish) and Oriental mail and plate armor (according to Bobrov) is that eastern European versions usually do not have sleeves, while Oriental versions have sleeves (the forearms were protected by
vambraces
).
[
citation needed
]
In a heavy version these sleeves have embedded plates, and a light version (more widely used) has sleeves entirely made from
mail
.
In
Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuna
(
The Book of the Hidden Pearl
)
J?bir ibn Hayy?n
describes mail and plate armour for use in
armours
(
jawasin
),
helmets
(
bid
), and
shields
(
daraq
).
[4]
Indian mail was constructed with alternating rows of solid links and round riveted links and it was often integrated with plate protection (mail and plate armour).The use of mail and plate armour in india declined in the 18th century. Mail and plate armour was documented in the
Battle of Plassey
by the
Nawabs of Bengal
.
[
citation needed
]
Mail and plate armor, called
baju lamina
, was also used by some of the people of Southeast Asia, namely the
Bugis
,
Torajans
and
Malay
.
[5]
[6]
An early reference of this armor type was mentioned by the son of Alfonso de Albuquerque in the 16th century.
[7]
[8]
In Japan, mail and plate armour is called "karuta", small square or rectangular rawhide or metal plates with the gaps between them filled with mail.
[9]
The first known use of iron plate mail in Korea was used by the
Gaya Confederacy
between 42 and 562 AD. A large number of iron and steel artifacts, including iron armor, iron horse armor such as helmets and bits, and smaller iron ingots (often used as money), have been found in the Daeseong-dong tombs in Gimhae. Gimhae (金海, 金海) literally means "Sea of Iron", as if the city's name symbolizes the abundance of iron in the area. Surviving examples are currently on display at the Gimhae National Museum in South Korea.
[10]
The later Korean version of this armour is known as
gyeongbeongap
(鏡幡甲/鏡幡甲). The most famous general who used this type of armor was General Chonji.
[
citation needed
]
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Japanese mail and plate armour in the form of a karuta
tatami-do
-
Indian (Mughal) riveted mail and plate coat
zirah bagtar
. Armour of this type was introduced into India under the Mughals.
-
Ottoman (Turkish) mail and plate armor from the Topkapi Palace
-
Mail and plate armour from
Kalhora
Sindh
-
Coat of mail with horn plates, Philippines (Moro people), 1800s. Higgins Armory Museum.
-
Persian (Iran) mail and plate armour dating from 1450, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
-
Ottoman
Sipahi
armour, 1480?1500
-
Ottoman
Mamluk
armour circa 1550
-
Korean
:
朝鮮의 鏡幡甲
(Korean mail and plate armour)
-
Kalantar
Russian
:
Калантарь
-
Georgian
parade armour with golden plates
-
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Nicolle, David; Shpakovsky, Viacheslav (25 May 2002).
Medieval Russian Armies 1250?1500
. Bloomsbury USA. p. 45.
ISBN
978-1-84176-234-0
.
- ^
a
b
Leonid A. Bobrov "Iron hawks from the territory of Maveranahr" (sets of the defensive equipment of the warriors of the Middle Asia and the neighbouring territories in 16th?17th centuries)
- ^
Леонид Бобров "Защитное вооружение среднеазиатского воина эпохи позднего средневековья" (Leonid Bobrov "Panoply of a Late Medieval Central Asian Warrior")
Archived
2007-09-27 at the
Wayback Machine
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110612053139/http://www.kyrgyz.ru/bbr/bobrov_03.html Archived
2011-06-12 at the
Wayback Machine
illustrations of different kind of mail and plate armour
- ^
Ahmad Y Hassan
,
The Colouring of Gemstones, the Purifying and Making of Pearls, and Other Useful Recipes
- ^
Albert G. van Zonneveld:
Traditional weapons of the Indonesian archipelago.
C. Zwartenkot Art Books, Leiden 2001,
ISBN
90-5450-004-2
, p. 28.
- ^
Klinkert, Hillebrandus Cornelius (1926).
Nieuw Nederlandsch-maleisch Woordenboek
. N. v. boekhandel en drukkerij voorheen E. J. Brill. p. 546.
- ^
The son of Afonso de Albuquerque (1774).
Commentarios do Grande Afonso Dalbuquerque parte III
. Lisboa: Na Regia Officina Typografica. p. 144.
- ^
Birch, Walter de Gray (1875).
The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India, translated from the Portuguese edition of 1774 volume III
. London: The Hakluyt society. p. 127.
- ^
Ian Bottomley & A. P. Hopson,
Arms and Armor of the Samurai: The History of Weaponry in Ancient Japan
, pp. 88 & 91.
- ^
Pak, John.
"
'Sea of Iron', Gimhae embraces Gaya history"
.
www.korea.net
. Retrieved
14 April
2015
.
External links
[
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]
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