#palace guards

[odinsblog]

bruh

[ozkar-krapo]

V/A

"Florida Punk from the Sixties"

(LP. Eva. 1983 / rec. 1966-69) [US]

[scumsucking]

imagine STILL HAVING TO WORK IN THE MOTHERFUCKING AFTERLIFE??

Like, you die, and you’re still there getting orders from your boss

Um, can I die a second time? Kthx

[floridaboiler]

[city-of-ladies]

Women as place guards 

(Above: The female guards of Chiyoda palace evacuate the place during a fire)

I previously shared an article about the Dahomey Amazons. Those female warriors could have originated as palace guards since men weren’t allowed in the palace precincts during the night. Other instances of women serving as palace guards can similarly be found across history.

One of the oldest examples comes from India. Greek ambassador Megasthenes wrote in his Indica (c. 300 BCE) that king Chandragupta Maurya was protected by a retinue of trained female bodyguards. Kautilya, the king’s military advisor, described this custom in his Arthashastra treatise: “upon arising each morning, the king should be received by troops of women armed with bows and arrows”. These women reportedly hunted with the king, some firing arrows from the royal platform, while others rode chariots or were mounted on horses and elephants. Other ancient Indian sources reveal that royal palaces were protected by female spear-throwers and mention regiments of female soldiers, alluding that some of them could be nomads from the Central Asian deserts. Women were also said to have guarded the kings of Persia during antiquity.

Similar traditions persisted in India during the following centuries. Zhao Rukuo, a Chinese ethnographer writing around the 13th century, tells that the king of Kerala was guarded by 500 “picked foreign women, chosen for their fine physique”. The Islamic geographer Al-Idrisi also mentions a similar corps at the cour of Nahrwara in souther India, the women practicing jousting among each other to hone their skill. The kings of Kandy in Sri Lanka also employed women armed with bows.

Mughal ruler Shah Jahan, was protected by “about two hundred Calmuk and Georgian women, powerful as men”. One of them was stronger than a male warrior and could: “easily catch a large deer by the horns...pulling them appart to render the skull in two”. The women were said to be equal to “a thousand Hindustanis”. An Italian doctor, Nicolao Manucci reported that highly skilled female archers guarded his successor, Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb used Tatar and Uzbek female slaves because they were “warlike and skillful in the use of lance, sword, bow and arrow”. François Bernier, another traveler who met Aurangzeb, noted that a Uzbek warrior woman single-handedly defeated a small contingent of Mughals. Two millennia later, the Nizams of Hyderabad and Deccan were also guarded by women. 

During the Edo Period (1603-1868) in Japan, the Ooku (the women’s quarters of the Edo castle where the shogun’s wives and concubines notably resided) was guarded by women who were highly skilled in the martial arts. The Ooku was an organisation entirely run by women since no male adult could enter without the shogun.

Another striking example of this practice was found in Thailand during the 19th century. The king was protected by a regiment of 400 female guards armed with spears. They were chosen among the most beautiful and robust women, performed drills better than male soldiers and were excellent spear-throwers. They were, however, considered too precious to be sent to war. During the same period, two battalions of spear-women served a king of the Beir people on the White Nile. 

A similar case was also observed in Java. These women were skilled in the use of pikes, lances, blowpipes and musquets. Elite guardswomen bore pikes and sharp daggers. European travelers who observed them were impressed by their rigorous daily training and the skill with which they handled their weapons, especially europeans firearms. 

Bibliography:

Alpern Stanley B., Amazons of black Sparta: the women warriors of Dahomey

Duvall Penrose Walter, Postcolonial amazons, female masculinity and courage in Ancient Greek and sanskrit literature

Mayor Adrienne, The Amazons: lives and legends of warrior women across the ancient world

Tyler Royall, “Tomoe: the woman warrior”, in: Mulhern Chieko Irie (dir.), Heroic with grace, legendary women of Japan

Watson Andaya Barbara, “Women and the performance of power in early modern Southeast Asia”, in: Walthall Anne (ed.), Servants of the dynasty, palace women in world history 

[incorrect-journey-to-the-west]

Monkey King: I’m back bitches!

Palace guards: *collective screaming*

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

The palace guards resent Vetinari's obvious favoritism toward Vimes.

[dragonfoxstar]

Works in progress on a height chart for my narrative, #Kingzvire ! Just have to draw out Kolivan the Bull and Kür the Dragon. May end organize them a bit better, but so far so good! 👍