Armies of the Volga Bulgars & Khanate of Kazan 9th-16th centuries

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A: BULGARS & SUBJECTS, 9th–10th CENTURIES
A1: Bulgar leader, 10th century
Supervising the building of a fortress in the eastern part of the khanate, this high-ranking individual already shows the influence of the Islamic world in the patterned covering of his
fur-lined, sleeveless coat and split-brim hat, the fabrics being imported from Iraq or Iran. In other respects his clothing and military equipment remain typical of the western Eurasian steppes and of the Khazar Khanate from which the Volga Bulgars emerged. A short, short-sleeved mail hauberk is
worn beneath his coat and over a shirt, and baggy trousers are tucked into soft-leather riding boots. A straight, narrowbladed sword with an angled hilt, and a dagger, are suspended from a belt with gilt bronze attachment points, stiffeners and pendant straps. By this period the arms and armour, and even
to some extent the costume, of the ruling and military elites of the eastern and central Islamic lands were themselves under growing Turkish Central Asian influence.
A2: Bulgar cavalryman, 9th–10th centuries
This warrior again highlights the shared military-technological traditions of the Eurasian steppes, the Byzantine Empire and much of the Islamic world during the early medieval period. This is particularly apparent in the helmet that he holds; of segmented iron construction, it has a large brow-and-eye plate and a nasal bar, and an attached mail aventail covering the face. Over his mail shirt he wears a shorter lamellar iron cuirass; its plates cover only the front and sides, and it is
secured at the rear by a waist strap and crossed shoulder straps. The sword illustrates a growing preference for slightly curved, single-edged swords, which were in the process of evolving into the fully formed sabre. The belt has several pendant straps, some of which were used to carry archery
equipment when required; this style was also spreading from the steppe cultures to the eastern and central provinces of the Islamic world. Other typical weapons would be a long spear with a flattened diamond-section blade, and a short-hafted axe with a hammerhead extension above the socket. The
bridle and the breast and crupper straps securing the leathercovered wooden saddle are decorated with bronze studs and animal-tail tassels; the iron bit has long psalion-bars, a feature that would not become widely used in the Islamic world.
A3: Infantry archer of subject tribe, 10th century
Though the Volga Bulgars were of Turkic steppe origins, and are now believed to have taken over from a pre-existing Turkic elite, much of their new territory was still inhabited by peoples
of Finnish or Ugrian origin. The military traditions of these peoples differed from those of their Turkic rulers, and are here represented by an unarmoured foot-soldier wearing a fur-lined woollen coat over an off-white linen shirt, and trousers tied at the ankle over leather shoes. His primary weapon is a massive recurved bow, bound with birch-bark and with bone plates at the grip – part of a military-technological heritage that the Finns shared with most of their Slav neighbours. Note the
leather quiver with a bronze ornament, holding arrowheads uppermost. His other arms are a substantial axe, which was as much a working tool as a weapon, and a simple dagger which could also serve more peaceful purposes.

B: BULGARS & ALLIES, 11th–12th CENTURIES
B1: Bulgar cavalryman, 11th–12th centuries
This warrior is leading a sortie from the gatehouse and over the moat bridge of a substantial timber fortress. By the 11th century there were increasing similarities between the military equipment used by the Volga Bulgar Khanate and its Russian rivals. This is demonstrated by the scale cuirass worn
over his mail shirt, and by his single-piece iron helmet which has a gilded plume-holder, ornate brow plate, rim-band, and large, curved nasal; note too the extended, leather-edged aventail. Influences flowed in both directions, however; the archery equipment typical of the Turkic Volga Bulgars – here
a bowcase buckled to hang above the sword, and a quiver on the right hip – was also used in Russian armies. To a lesser extent this was similarly true of the slightly curved proto-sabre (which our man has broken, and dropped), the decorated battleaxe that he wields instead, and his horse-harness.
B2: Khanty tribal warrior, 11th–12th centuries
Although the Khanty were a forest-dwelling Finnish tribal people, their military culture was substantially influenced by the Turco-Mongol peoples of the steppes. Nevertheless they retained certain distinctive features (perhaps most notably, barbed spearheads). This archer wears a bulky, possibly fur-lined long-sleeved tunic, with a substantial hood thrown back from the shoulders over his lamellar iron cuirass, which protects both front and back of the torso; the overlapping curved plates to protect the outside of his arms are a reconstruction based on iconographic sources. The quiver is
of a simple, vertically hung type suitable for archery on foot, and his wrist-mounted combination bracer and arrow-guide is of a type that could be seen as far east as China. Note the distinctive ring pommel of his sword, made by bending the iron tang into a circle, and its angled ‘hatchet’ tip, a feature shared with Siberian peoples.
B3: Mari tribal warrior, 11th century
The Mari were another Finnish tribal people who sometimes acknowledged Volga Bulgar suzerainty. They appear to have been under stronger Slavic or Western military influence; this man’s simple domed helmet has an iron frame filled in with hardened leather segments, and his straight sword blade was probably made in the Rhineland, although its bronze hilt may have been added in Russia.

C: THE MONGOL CONQUEST, MID-13th CENTURY
C1: Bulgar amir
This aristocratic leader is kicking free from his dying horse to make a last stand in a Muslim cemetery. By the 12th and 13th centuries, Volga Bulgar warriors were characterized by a number of distinctive forms of equipment; most of these reflected traditions originating in the previous Khazar Khanate of the western steppes, while others were shared with Turkic peoples of that region. They included the very finely made one-piece iron helmet with an anthropomorphic face-mask visor, and the war-flail. The flail shown here has a bronze head attached to the haft by rawhide thongs; this peculiar cavalry weapon would enter the mythology of Central and Western Europe as a weapon of demons and other evil aliens. The iron cuirass, three rows shorter at the back than the front, has an embossed dome centred on each scale; just visible at the chest is a larger plate bearing a Turkish tribal tagma. The mail hauberk worn beneath the cuirass reaches to just below the elbows and above the knees; note too the rather rudimentary iron vambraces and gauntlets.
C2: Mordvin nobleman
Archaeological evidence shows that the Mordvin (Mordovian) people, who inhabited territory south-west of the heartland of the Volga Bulgar Khanate, used mixed military equipment of Western and probably Turco-Mongol steppe origin; consequently, straight, double-edged swords of Russian or European origin were wielded by warriors whose lamellar armour was identical to that of the Volga Bulgars. Under his lamellar cuirass the decoration on this fighting man’s tunic is specifically Mordvin, though embroidered rectangles above the elbows might recall the more elaborate tiraz fabrics which were used as marks of elite status and loyalty in the Islamic Caliphate. His iron helmet has a reinforcement band partway around the rim, and ‘eyebrow’ reinforcement associated with the nasal bar.
C3: Mongol warrior
The conquering Mongols would add several new features to the military technology of the Volga Bulgars; much of it already showed Chinese influence, as seen in this figure of a wounded cavalryman. His fallen helmet is of complex segmented and framed construction with a frontal brim (in its absence, note his hairstyle, with shaven scalp and looped side-plaits.) The arm-flaps and body of his long cuirass have iron scales under the yellow fabric covering, each secured by two gilded rivets at its upper left corner. The scales do not extend over the upper chest, where a red ‘cloud’ motif is just visible under the cape-like shoulder defence, which itself seems to be of fabric-covered leather without iron scales. Under his armour he wears a long woollen coat with a deeply overlapping double-breasted front. His shield is of spiral-cane construction, held together and decorated by coloured cotton threads; it has an iron boss and cross-shaped iron reinforcements.

D: VOLGA BULGARIAN KHANATE UNDER THE MONGOLS, 14th CENTURY
D1: Volga Bulgar nobleman
It appears that like many other recently conquered peoples, the surviving aristocracy of the Volga Bulgar Khanate rapidly adopted many aspects of Mongol costume as a means of demonstrating allegiance to their new overlords. This is shown here by the nobleman’s quilted, semi-rigid hat; the looped plaits of his hairstyle; and the Chinese silk coat, flared out in pleats from a line around the hips. The system of leather straps and garters (here in red) which hold up his boots seems to have been very characteristic of the western Mongol khanates and their vassals in what is now south-western Russia. His sword, though straight and double-edged, is in the Chinese rather than the Western European tradition of such weapons.
D2: Ugrian warrior
The Ugrian peoples of north-western Siberia strongly resisted both Mongol and subsequently Russian conquest. Their military equipment was in many respects old-fashioned, while also reflecting the influences of both East and West. The combined eye-piece and nasal on this domed helmet is thought to
have been distinctively Ugrian, though the short-sleeved mail hauberk with a long, slit hem would have been imported or captured from elsewhere. Though not shown here, an interesting feature of such warriors’ gear seems to have been domed iron protectors apparently riveted to soft-leather bands worn
around the elbows and knees. Though they are hidden at this angle, he would have a bowcase and a long, slightly curved, angle-hilted sabre suspended from the left side of his belt.
D3: Mongol warrior of the Golden Horde, early 14th century
In contrast to the fairly primitive equipment of the Ugrian warrior, this elite cavalryman from the Golden Horde illustrates the sophistication of the Volga Bulgar Khanate’s western Mongol overlords. His tall, pointed, one-piece steel helmet, here with a woollen tuft around the plume-holder, is in a style that would remain popular in Russia for centuries. Here the only body protection is a mail hauberk, though in battle he is likely to have added a lamellar or a scale-lined armour. The stiffness of his short-sleeved coat probably reflects the abundant use of silk plus a thick lining rather than any protective function. He wears two belts – one for a bowcase and a box-quiver, and one for his sword – over his mail hauberk, quilted undercoat, and deeply overlapped kaftan-coat of ‘cloud-pattern’ silk; the latter is slit from the hem to the hip at both sides.

E: THE USHKUYNIKI MENACE, 14th–15th CENTURIES
E1: High-status Bulgar warrior, 14th–15th centuries
In this period there were considerable similarities between the armed forces of the Volga Bulgars and of the Russian frontier principalities which were steadily encroaching upon their territory; both peoples were initially under Mongol suzerainty, though this was steadily weakening within Russia. The segmented helmet, with its very deep rim-band and nasal and extensive mail aventail, is nevertheless more typical of the Turco-Mongol peoples of the steppes and Middle East. Perhaps because his unit is operating in dense forest to watch the activities of Russian river-pirates, this warrior otherwise relies only upon an iron lamellar cuirass over a thickly quilted ‘soft armour’ coat; note the leather extension below the lames at the front, and the coloured sash. The wearing of shoes and short ‘puttees’, rather than leather boots, would also suggest that he does not expect to ride very far. The elaborately-painted shield is of Mongol type, of spiral-cane construction covered with leather or parchment.
E2: Archer, 14th–15th centuries
This Volga Bulgar foot-soldier wears gear practically identical to his Russian ushkuyniki foes. The spired steel helmet has an aventail divided at both sides, covering his neck back and front but not the shoulders. The mail hauberk is short-hemmed but has sleeves to below the elbow. Note that the long-sleeved, quilted coat-armour is much shorter at the back than at the front, where it is divided from hem to belly. The slung shield and the archery equipment also resemble Russian styles, though the signalling whistle attached below his arrowhead may have been confined to the Mongols and their Volga Bulgar vassals.
E3: Siberian tribal mercenary, 14th century
Whether many western Siberian warriors fought as mercenaries outside their own homelands east of the Ural Mountains is unclear, but the evidence suggests that their military technology not only remained quite primitive but made use of pieces of equipment originating far from Siberia. In this case the warrior has been given a rather old and battered double-domed, segmented helmet of ultimately Inner Asian, Chinese, or even Tibetan origin, while his axe may have originated far to the west. Three metal discs, perhaps bearing totemic designs, are fixed to the front of the mail hauberk that he wears over a bulky coat of reversed bearskin. The birch-bark shoulder-quiver and bark-wrapped composite bow are ndigenous Siberian items, and would seem to be suited to fighting or hunting in forests rather than on the open steppes. Note his hair worn in two plaits from behind the ears.

F: KHANATE OF KAZAN, 15th–EARLY 16th CENTURIES
F1: Khan, early 16th century
The Khanate of Kazan, which inherited the territory and to a large extent the armies of the preceding Khanate of Volga Bulgaria, could field some of the most advanced forces in the post-Mongol world. Its rulers also based their forms of government and their authority upon the Mongol heritage, as was shown in their ceremonial attire (note the hairstyle with two looped plaits on each side). The gold crown worn by the ruling khan in this reconstruction is a hypothetical, simplified version of a surviving Kazan crown of a century or so later. Equally a sign of status is the richly embroidered Chinese silk fabric that covers his typically Mongol double-breasted coat, which flares out in pleats below the hips; it is worn over a loose, very long-sleeved silk robe. His sword-belt, from which the sabre scabbard is suspended on the left and an elaborate purse on the right, would be as richly decorated as his horse-harness. This has lavish gilded ornaments, and the pommel and cantle boards of the saddle are covered with decorated silver plates.
F2: Palace guardsman, late 15th century
Again, this elite cavalryman’s military equipment shows continuing strong Mongol influence, especially in his somewhat old-fashioned, long-skirted lamellar cuirass with additional flap-like lamellar upper arm defences. In contrast, the steel vambraces protecting his forearms and the backs of his hands, and greaves protecting his lower legs, are more up to date. The segmented iron helmet, with a frontal brim, has an animal tail or strip of fur tied to the top spike. Very heavy and all-encompassing mail horse-armour would be more common in Iran and Turkey than in the steppe states further north; its presence here, being used by a ruler’s guard, might be more symbolic than genuinely military.
F3: Siberian tribal ally, 15th–16th centuries
The establishment of Mongol khanates in western Siberia from the late 13th century onwards had a significant impact upon the military technologies of these and neighbouring regions. As they were increasingly drawn into the mainstream of Central and Inner Asian affairs their warriors had ever greater access to more sophisticated arms, armour and perhaps even horse-harness. Despite rivalries, there was an obvious community of interest between Islamic khanates immediately east of the Ural Mountains and that of Muslim Kazan lying just west of the Urals. The sophistication of this warrior’s mail-and-plate cuirass might indicate that it was imported from further afield: from Kazan, Transoxiana, the Middle East, or perhaps even from Russia, where such armours would become very popular. The horizontal rows of lames are linked by mail rings, and plate shoulder defences are riveted to the

G: KHANATE OF KAZAN INFANTRY, 15th–EARLY 16th CENTURIES
G1: Hand-gunner, early 16th century
Firearms were used in the khanate at a remarkably early date, apparently before they appeared in neighbouring Russia. The limited evidence suggests that they were very similar to those used in Central Europe, but it remains unknown whether this new technology reached Kazan from Europe, from the Islamic Middle East, or even from China. In keeping with this uncertainty, we have chosen to reconstruct the weapon whose effects this gunner is showing off after the type used in 15th-century Italy, while his powder horn and bullet pouch are based upon several found in late 15th-century Syria. Meanwhile his costume demonstrates the cultural similarity between the Khanate of Kazan and eastern Russia during this period.
G2: Infantry archer, late 15th century
Despite the new gunpowder technology, composite bows remained the most important and widely used distance weapon in the khanate. Apart from this man’s somewhat Russian-looking fur-lined hat, his costume and military equipment bring to mind those used in the fellow-Muslim and fellow-Turkish Ottoman Empire. It is unknown whether such military influence was direct, or arrived via the Principality of Moscow, where Ottoman fashions would soon have a profound impact upon the organization of elite infantry formations.
G3: Fully armoured soldier, late 15th century
While his arms, armour and costume look very different from those of the infantry archer, he nevertheless reflects the influences of Islamic states to the south of the Khanate of Kazan. The mail-and-plate technology used in his helmet as well as his armour may have been developed in eastern Anatolia and western Iran. It was certainly adopted with enthusiasm by the Ottoman Turks, from whose territory this cuirass may actually have been imported. The fringed shoulder plates are directly attached to the mail along their inner edges. The multiple chest plates are linked together by rows of mail; their weight is supported by shoulder straps, and the central disc is edged with fringing. Long vambraces are strapped to the lower arms, over the three-quarter mail sleeves and the coat worn beneath the cuirass. The broad, heavy-bladed sabre also recalls Ottoman weapons.

H: THE FALL OF KAZAN, 1552
H1: Dismounted officer
By the time of the fall of Kazan to Muscovy, Ottoman military influence had increased still further within the forces of the Khanate; the Ottoman Turks already seemed about to take control of the neighbouring steppe regions north of the Black Sea, although in the event Muscovy would triumph in both areas. This officer has dismounted to examine the shocking evidence of Ivan the Terrible’s use of heavy bombards firing massive stone balls, and has temporarily handed his gilded mace of command to H3. His distinctive helmet consists of mail and a single ‘crown-plate’ worn over a substantial arming cap or small turban. His mail cuirass, fastened at the upper chest by buckled straps, incorporates only a limited number of plate lames at the front and sides; these, like the mail-linked plate vambraces, are richly decorated with floral motifs and Arabic script. Under the padded coat covered with embroidered silk can be seen leg defences, with plate lames above and mail flaps below the plate poleyns at the knee. All these elements, like his decorated boots and heavy sabre, are now fully within the Turco-Ottoman military tradition.
H2: Noghay warrior
Other Islamic peoples of the western steppes, who would themselves soon be under Muscovite pressure, remained technologically more distinctive – largely because they were still nomadic societies, among whom Mongol military traditions remained strong. Nevertheless, under his distinctive, thickly-quilted coat with hand-protecting sleeve extensions this warrior from the Noghay Khanate north of the Caspian Sea is protected by a mail hauberk, which might incorporate unseen chest and abdomen plates. His tall, thickly-padded hat may also have a rudimentary protective function. He has laid aside his long composite bow, which might typically be painted and have bone plates beneath a leather-bound grip; its scale would resemble that carried by Plate A3. Noticeably long arrows are carried in a decorated leather quiver suspended from his belt at the back; his only other weapon is a simple straight dagger, but a plain leather shield of hardened leather is slung from a guige.
H3: Allied officer, Khanate of Sibir
This cavalryman from Kazan’s neighbour immediately east of the Ural Mountains wears an engraved and partially gilded helmet with a very up-to-date sliding nasal bar, mirroring those of the contemporary Islamic Middle East and Balkans. However, his scale-lined, textile-covered cuirass, with its separate shoulder pieces and almost separate sleeves, is within a venerable Sino-Mongol tradition – compare with Plate C3. The exposed steel lamellae of his armoured skirt are remarkably old-fashioned, being structurally similar to armours used in the early medieval Islamic and Byzantine regions. The tip of his sabre and scabbard would be ‘hatchet-pointed’ in the Siberian style, as on Plate B2. He might carry a spiral-cane shield, with an iron boss and about a dozen coloured tassels spaced around the rim.