The Silk Road Designs Armoury

The purpose of this table is to provide a rough guideline of the types of armour being used in a given location at a given period in time. It must be remembered, however, that when it comes to this subject, to compartmentalize is invariably to misidentify. The time periods and locations must be interpreted as rough approximations of popularity of use rather than the definitive begining and end periods and limiting locales of a particular armour.
The numbers and letters within the grid indicate time periods.
The numbers are centuries CE.
The letter "E" stands for early -- indicating the migration and early invasion periods until approximately the 10th century CE.
The letter "M" stands for modern -- indicating the 18th century CE until the end of armour in the 20th century CE.

The Table is divided into Sub-Tables which discuss different sections of a full harness.
These are "Body Armour", "Helmets", "Arm Defenses", and "Leg Defenses".
To jump to different Sub-Tables select the relevant link within the Armour Type heading of the Sub-Table which you are viewing.

This table may also be used as a very comprehensive "Table of Contents".
Select an armour-name link within the table to jump to the article on that armour.

Armour Type [Helmets][Arm Defenses] [Leg Defenses]			Nation -- Tribe
			Eurasian Steppes	Russian	Turkish	Persian	Indian	Mongol	Chinese	Japanese
Body Armour	Maile		E - M	E - M	E - M	E - M	12 - M	E - M	12 - 17	14 - M
	Mirrors		E - M	E - M	E - M	E - 17	E - 17	E - M	E - M
	Chahar-Ai-Ne					15 - M	16 - M
	Disc Armour		15 - M	15 - M	15 - M		17 - M
	Scale		E - 16	E - 15	E - 15	E - 15	E - M	E - M	E - M
	Lamellar		E - M	E - 12	E - 14	E - 15		E - M	E - 17	E - M
	Armour of Bands		E - 17		E - 17	E - 15		E - 15		14 - M
	Brigandine		13 - 15	13 - 15	13 - 16	13 - 16	14 - 16	E - M	E - M	12 - M
	Maile-and-Plates	* Kolontar	** E - 16	** E - 16	** E - 16	** E - 16	** E - M	** E - 16		14 - M
		Bakhteretz	14 - M	14 - M	14 - M	14 - M	14 - 16	14 - M
		Yushman	15 - M	15 - M	15 - M	15 - M	17 - M	15 - M

Armour Type [Body Armour][Arm Defenses] [Leg Defenses]			Nation -- Tribe
			Eurasian Steppes	Russian	Turkish	Persian	Indian	Mongol	Chinese	Japanese
Helmets	Rigid Helmets	Round	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Conical	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Kolpak	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Shishak	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
	Flexible Helmets	Maile	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Scale	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Lamellar	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Maile-and-Plates	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

Armour Type [Body Armour][Helmets] [Leg Defenses]			Nation -- Tribe
			Eurasian Steppes	Russian	Turkish	Persian	Indian	Mongol	Chinese	Japanese
Arm Defenses	Bazuband / Dustana		.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
	Splint	Leathers or Fabric Backing	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Maile Attachments	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
	Bands	Leathers or Fabric Backing	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Maile Attachments	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
	Lamellar		.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

Armour Type [Body Armour][Helmets] [Arm Defenses]			Nation -- Tribe
			Eurasian Steppes	Russian	Turkish	Persian	Indian	Mongol	Chinese	Japanese
Leg Defenses	*** Knee Coups		.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
	Cuises	Scale	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Lamellar	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Maile-and-Plates	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Brigandine	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
	Greaves	Lamellar	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Splint	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Brigandine	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Three Section (Solid Plate or Bakhteretz type)	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		Multi-section Bakhteretz type	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
	Maile or Maile-and-Plates Pants		.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

NOTES:
*	For purposes of this Table, the Kolontar listing includes the similar armour from Sind and Japan (these are distinguished in the article).
**	The conjectural early date is given based on the interpretations of the Dura Europos Grafitto and the Arabic descriptions of Khazar heavy cavalry as refering to Maile-and-Plates armour (see the article for further detail).
***	For some time prior to the development of full-fledged "cuises", separate knee coups were worn, attached to the belt by strapping. Later, the knee coups were integral with cuises.

Contact The Silk Road Designs Armoury at normlaw@yahoo.com.
Return to Introduction Page.

Introduction Page	Navigation	Visit the Armoury	Book Recomendations
Cloth Armour	Maile	Mirror and Brassier Armour	Chahar-Ai-Ne
Disc Armour	Scale and Lamellar	Armour of Bands	Brigandine
Maile and Plates	European style Armour	Arm Defenses	Leg Defenses
Helmets [Introduction] [Rigid Helmet Domes] [Soft Helmets] [Face Protection] [Back'n'Side of the head]
Photograph of a Full Armour	Photographs of a Leg Armour	Archery	Measuring for Armour
Table of Armour Types	Web Rings	Jewish Warriors	Warrior Women

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