CENTRAL ASIAN TURKS

Türük (Old Turkic, “the Strong”)

Kök Türk (Old Turkic), Göktürk (Anatolian Turkish) (“Celestial Turks” or “Sky Turks”)

(Kök Türk and Göktürk both pronounced, kuk terk)

Uyghur (from Old Turkic, uyughur, “united people”)

(Uyghur pronounced, wee-ger)

 

This gallery is devoted to two related but distinct military systems. First are the armies of the Kök Türk Khaganate (552-744 CE), including the First Kök Türk Khaganate (552-581 CE), the period of civil war (581-599 CE) that led to the division of this Turkic empire (xanlïqï) into a western Onuq Khaganate (581-659 CE) and an Eastern Kök Türk Khaganate (599-630 CE), the period of political fragmentation in the west (659-681 CE) and Tang Dynasty Chinese domination in the east under the Jimi System (630-681 CE), and finally the period of partial reunification under the Second Kök Türk Khaganate (681-744 CE). The second is the army of the Uyghur Khaganate (744-848 CE), and it's two primary successor states, Uyghuria Gansu (848-1036 CE) and Uyghuria Idikut/Idiqut (856-1369 CE), the latter sometimes being called the Kingdom of Qocho, Kara-Khoja/Qara-hoja, or Turpan/Turfan. Despite political unification under the Ashǐnà/Ashina/Asina/Açina clan of khagans (Old Turkic, kayan, “emperor”) during the Kök Türk period, and the claim by most later Turkic dynasts of blood relation to this clan (some with greater justice than others), there was a cultural divide between the eastern and western constituent tribes of this vast empire that eventually grew into political and social divisions (the dividing line between the two sub-cultures generally being drawn at Lake Balkhash). While sharing a common language and many cultural features, the eastern Turks had close cultural ties to China, the Tanguts (proto-Tibetan peoples), and the Mongolic tribes, while the western Turks had close cultural ties to Persia, southern Central Asia, and Alania. Although my focus is on the Kök Türk and Uyghur Khaganates, the armies presented here could be used to portray a number of different western and eastern Turkic tribes, kingdoms, and empires in Central Asia between 550 and 1370 CE:

 

Eastern Turks: the Kïrghïz/Khirghiz/Kirghiz/Kyrgyz, including the Yenisei Khaganate (539-758 & 840-1219 CE), the Tiĕlè/Chile/Gaoche, the Tuvans/Tyvalar/Uriankhai, the Siberian Tatars/Tartars, the Seyanto/Xueyantuo/Syr-Tardush, the Basmïls/Basmyls, the Toquz Oghuz/Toquz Oyuz ("Nine Tribes"), and the Chigils/Chihils/Jigils/Djikils/Chiyals, including the Shātuó/Shato/Sha-t'o dynasties of the Ordos region of northern China (ca. 808-951 CE).

 

Western Turks: the Türgesh/Türgish/Türügesh, including the Türgesh Khaganate (699-766 CE), the 

Karluks/Qarluqs/Qarluks/Karluqs, including the Karakhanid/Qarakhanid/Kara-Khanid Khanate (840-1212 CE), the Tölash,

the Kangars, the Oghuz/Guzz/Ouz/Uze, including the Oghuz Yabgu Khaganate (750-1055 CE),

the Hazarlars until the foundation of the Khaganate of Khazaria (i.e., before 650 CE), 

and the Kimeks/Kimaks/Yemeks/Yamaks/Djamuks, including the Kimek Khaganate (743-1050 CE).

 

The armies presented here do not represent the many western steppe Turkic groups whose westward migrations/conquests brought them into prolonged contact with non-Turkic peoples in Europe and the Near East, leading to cultural transformations that make them best dealt with separately. These include the Khazars/Kuzarim (i.e., the later Hazarlars), the Kipchaks/Qipchaqs/Cumans (an offshoot of the Kimeks), the Bashkirs (an offshoot of the Kipchaks), the Pechenegs/Patzinaks (an offshoot of the Oghuz); and the various Muslim Turkmen/Turcoman dynasties that split off from the Oghuz (e.g., Seljuks, Aq Qoyunlu/Kara Koyunlu, Afsharids, Ottomans, Safavids, Qajars, Artuqids). 

 

The variety of names for each tribe, kingdom, and/or empire is an indication of the importance of the Turks in the development of social and cultural identities throughout Central Asia and adjacent lands (e.g., eastern Europe, the Middle East, western China, Mongolia, and southern Siberia). Turkic groups ultimately spread out over a very large area (from eastern Europe to eastern Mongolia), many Turkic groups settled down and assimilated with or were assimiliated by various other peoples (e.g., the Chinese, Mongols, Slavs, Muslim Arabs and Persians, and Byzantines), and their impact was such that the writers of multiple civilizations wrote about them (hence, the multiplicity of names/spellings). Although the Mongols have captured the modern imagination as the preeminent steppe nomads, most historians recognize that the impact of the Turks was far more profound and continues today. For most of the tribal groups represented here, their historical legacy is inextricably intertwined with the history of the development of the great overland trade network known today as the Silk Road. Alternating between raiding the trade caravans, trading with the merchant guilds, and/or extorting tribute from the city-states of Khwarezmia, Sogdiana, and the Tarim Basin, many Turkic tribal groups became immensely wealthy and powerful as a result, some eventually becoming major players in trade (e.g., the Uyghurs and Karakhanids). In addition to material goods, the trade networks were conduits for the flow of religious beliefs, philosophies, technological advances, and information, both enriching the culture of the Turkic peoples and allowing them to export their own ideas. In particular, Turkic military technologies and techniques were widely influential (e.g., improved saddles and stirrups, the invention of the saber, and improved bow construction techniques), eventually affecting the development of mounted troops almost everywhere on the Eurasian landmass. Turkic Tengriism (an animistic monotheism) spread throughout Central Asia, Mongolia, and southern Siberia, while the written language developed by the Uyghurs became so ubiquitous along the Silk Road that the Mongols adopted it when they created their great empire. For the most part, these Turkic tribes and states were heterogenous polyethnic confederacies—membership was fluid, not tied to common ethnicity, and authority was pinned more to an individual leader's perceived strength than to any sense of dynasticism (the imprimatur of the Ashina clan being more totemic than dynastic). This made the states of the Central Asian Turks very flexible and dynamic during times of strong leadership, a leader being able to rely on a wide pool of manpower from multiple sources (e.g., his own tribe and its traditional allies, plus many other tribes whose warriors wanted to reap the glory of serving with a strong khan or khagan, and often a number of subject peoples whose warriors wanted to prove their worth and find a place in the Turkic order). Micro-management was never an issue—the Turkic emphasis on individual liberty encouraged capable leaders at all levels to rise to the fore, providing Turkic armies with sub-commanders who were able and willing to make decisions on their own, as dictated by specific circumstances. However, these same characteristics tended to make Central Asian Turkic states less cohesive as well—when strong leadership was absent, or if an army or state experienced setbacks (even if temporary), rival leaders felt obliged to try to seize power themselves (leading to chronic internecine warfare), and individuals and tribes were always free to shift allegiances to whichever leader they believed to be strongest (most states not remaining together long enough to create and sustain administrative organs). The big exceptions to this are the Karakhanid Khanate that came to dominate the city-states of Khwarezmia and Sogdiana, and the Uyghur successor states that took up residence in the city-states of the Tarim Basin. But all of these were relatively small urban states that adopted commerce rather than conquest as their guiding principle.  

 

Turkic armies generally had two primary constituent elements, both mounted, sometimes supplemented with auxiliaries levied from subject peoples and/or allies (please see the "Hordes" button below for more information on the recruitment and deployment of Turkic warriors). Most Turkic cavalry was unarmored, but the wealthier elements of Turkic armies could be heavily armored (man and horse). The Turks did not, however, make a clear distinction between the tactical functions of each group—all were essentially horse archers, using hit-and-fade tactics, although the more heavily armored elites were more eager to follow up archery with a close-combat attack using spear, sword (both long straight swords and sabers), mace, and battleaxe (a type of cavalry generally termed “composite cavalry” by most modern military historians). Usually close combat was not initiated until opposing forces had been drawn into a disadvantageous position (e.g., isolated from their comrades and susceptible to encirclement) or when an opponent's formations lacked sufficient cohesion to resist interpenetration. In such instances, the light cavalry would also close with the enemy, but the heavy cavalry was the spearhead (the light cavalry probably acting like something akin to close-support archers). As might be expected, the most important part of the average warrior's kit (suluk) was his archery gear (collectively known as sandak)—composite recurve bow(s), arrows, quiver, and bowcase. Most Turkic warriors would have had little more than this, perhaps supplemented with a sword and/or spear and a belt knife. However, the panoply of Turkic heavy cavalry could be extensive, including a combination of mail (küpe yarik) and lamellar (say yarik) body armor, substantial helmets with camail to protect the neck and clavicle, splint or plate greaves for the legs, and splint or plate vambraces for the forearms. Relatively large round shields were often carried (strapped to the back or suspended from the saddle-bow when both hands needed to be free, e.g., for archery), although they were not ubiquitous. Horse barding (kedimli), usually including a chamfron, was common among elite warriors, especially the guard units of chiefs, kings (khan), and emperors (khagan). Turkic cavalry was integral to the develpment of the famous ghulam or ghilman units of composite cavalrymen that would become the mainstay of cavalry forces throughout the Muslim world (originally they were Turkic mercenaries and Muslim converts, then Turkic slave-soldiers, and finally slave-soldiers of any ethnic background trained to fight in the Turkic manner). The poorer elements of Turkic society (e.g., small subject tribes of farmers, fishermen, hillmen, and goat and sheep herders) could be counted on to provide some infantry—generally massed levies of spearmen, foot archers, or skirmishers—although these were often mounted on pack camels (of the Bactrian breed) so they would not reduce the mobility of the army on the march. These probably acted as mounted infantry (i.e., dismounting to fight on foot), although there are some images of Turkic bowmen fighting from camel-back. The city-states of Central Asia that had grown up around oases as caravanserai and trade emporiums were often dominated by various Turkic powers, even autonomous city-states needing to ally themselves with the Turks to protect the trade routes that were their life-blood. These city-states provided various types of auxiliaries, such as heavy cavalry lancers (chakars) from Khwarezmia and Sogdiana, heavy infantry spearmen from the cities of the Tarim Basin and western China, massed bowmen from most of the city-states, and more infantry levies. The Persian hill tribes (kumaji) of Khorasan and Sogdiana provided high-quality flexible infantry to the Karakhanids. Mongolic, Tibetan/Tangut, Khitan, and Chinese allies were common in the east, while in the west Arab, Persian, Caucasian (Armenian and Georgian), Slav, Finno-Ugric, East Germanic, and Alanic allies were known.

 

Turkic clothing usually consisted of a mid-length long-sleeved tunic and baggy trousers, with the trousers often tucked into high felt boots. A heavy long-sleeved jacket, folded over in the front (from right to left) and secured with a sash or belt, was worn over the tunic and could reach as low as the knees. For ordinary Turks, clothing was made from undyed felt, linen, and/or wool, although successful Turkic warriors became known for ostentatious display, incorporating brightly dyed fabrics (including silk), with elaborate detailing, into their wardrobe. Brassards of silk were often worn around the upper arm. Hair styles differed between tribes, many warriors preferring long plaited braids of various configurations (sometimes with silk strands and/or beads woven in), although shaved heads with crests or topknots were also common. Mustaches were preferred over beards (a beard being seen as a sign of old age). Scalping was a common practice, the preserved scalps being hung from belt, saddle-bow, or spear. Warriors were identified by their swordbelts, which were used as a kind of badge of honor—they were decorated with plates, placards, fetishes, and talismans that identified its owner's social rank, military honors, etc. Feathers and crests on helmets served much the same purpose—e.g., only a tarkan ("hero") being allowed to affix a pair of white feathers or falcon wings to either side of his helmet. Small clusters of tiny bells were often attached to the ends of braids, the manes of horses, bridles, and/or spears. Banners and pennons were common. Guard units of tribal chiefs, khans, and khagans usually wore common colors to identify themselves as a distinct group, the unit having a tailed banner called a tug that both identified the unit and probably served as a signal for command-and-control. Individual warriors could affix a pennon (badrak) to their spear/lance. Individual tribes usually also had a totem (tös), a graven image of the tribe's anamistic patron spirit, that could be carried into battle for inspiration. Whistling arrows are described by various writers, probably being used as signals (once again, for command-and-control), as were war drums, cymbals, and horns.

 

While there are many manufacturers that provide appropriate figures for the Turkic peoples that migrated west onto the steppes of Russia (Kipchaks, Pechenegs, Cumans, and Turkomans), and for the Islamic Turks of Persia, Mesopotamia, and North Africa, the Outpost Miniatures figures I've used here are the only specifically Central Asian Turk line of which I know. Fortunately, they are of generally high quality, although they are quite large (a detriment to those concerned with scale creep) and some of the horse chamfrons have eye holes in the wrong place for a horse's anatomy. Their different lines also vary in scale—some 15mm figures are near to scale, some not. This made for an interesting challenge, although I am very pleased with the results. This is one of the few armies where the majority of flags and pennons are of my own design, although several shields have transfers from Little Big Men Studios. I particularly enjoy the way Outpost sculpted the subtle differences between the eastern and western Turk heavy cavalry. The horse archers lack this differentiation, so I used Mirliton Miniatures figures for the Uyghur/east Turkic light cavalry elements. The Chinese-Tokharian spearmen and bowmen are from Outpost's "Sui and Tang Chinese" line.