The Khirghiz (8th-9th Century)
(1) Khirghiz warrior, 8th century
Though isolated, the Kirghiz had advanced weaponry. This warrior's one-piece helmet is particularly fine. Apart from a thickly quilted coat his only other armor is a chest protection of overlapping iron lames. His highly decorated sword is, however, still of the straight double-edged type. (Main sources: helmet from Tomsk area, 7th-10th C., ex-Medvedyev; sword and scabbard from Altai Mts., Kirghiz, 7th-8th C., Hermitage Mus.; Buddhist wall-painting from Koço, 9th C., Staat. Mus., West Berlin; stucco horse from Ming-oi, 8th C., Brit. Mus.; Kirghiz armor, 6th-8th C., ex-Medvedyev.)
(2) Kimak tribal warrior, 9th century
The abundant weaponry found in pagan Kimak graves include types of armor mid-way between lamellar and scale. Some Kimak armor may have been imported from settled civilizations but this warrior's segmented helmet is typical of the medieval steppes and Russia. His bowcase again has tooled decoration portraying a horse-archer while his straight sword has the non-symmetrical quillons more commonly associated with sabers. (Main sources: Kimak sword, 9th-10th C., exKhudyakov; helmet from Legerevskie, 9th—10th C., ex-Mazhitov; Kimak armor, 9th-10th C., exKhudyakov.)
(3) Khirghiz tribesman, 9th century
Later Kirghiz military equipment showed greater Chinese influence. It also had much in common with that of the later Mongols. This heavily armored cavalryman has armor almost entirely of iron lamellae, plus an iron helmet reinforced with iron bands. The beginnings of plate armor can be seen in his shoulder pieces and the disc over his chest which may have covered a lacing system. The laminated vambraces on his lower arms are in a long-established Transoxanian tradition while his shins would be protected by mail strips which appear, though not very clearly, in some Buddhist wall-paintings. The horse's armor is of leather lamellar with a flexible disc over the animal's shoulder to prevent chafing. (Main sources: Kirghiz sword, 9th 10th C., ex-Khudyakov; Kirghiz armor, 9th 12th C., ex-Khudyakov; Buddhist wall-paintings from Bezeklik, 9th-10th C., Berlin, probably lost in WW2; Buddhist wall-painting from Kumtura, 8th C., Staat. Mus., West Berlin; painted paper fragment from Yar, Uighur, 9th C., Staat. Mus., West Berlin.)
(illustration and text from Nicolle & McBride (1990) Attila and the Nomad Hordes; pp. 93-94)
