Mail and plate armour

Russian mail and plate armour (behterets), Hermanni linn Museum, Narva, Estonia.

Polish: Bechter diagramm

Different types of joining plates to mail

Mail and plate armour (plated mail, plated chainmail, splinted mail/chainmail) is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, Ottoman Empire, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Central Asia, Greater Iran, India, Eastern Europe, Philippines and by the Moors.

Types of mail and plate armour

In Russia there are three known varieties of mail and plate armour. These were adopted from Persia, initially as Persian exports, and have Persian names.

• Behterets (Russian: Бехтерец), from Persian behter:^[1] small horizontal plates arranged in vertical rows without gaps, joined by rings, and embedded in mail.
• Yushman (Russian: Юшман), from Persian jawshan:^[1] long horizontal plates embedded in mail and resembling laminar armour (e.g. Roman lorica segmentata)
• Kalantar (Russian: Калантарь): square plates embedded in mail, very similar to the Japanese karuta tatami-do. The major difference is that kalantar are not sewn to a cloth backing as Karuta tatami-do are.

According to Bobrov^[2] the first mail and plate armor appeared as cuisses in the Middle East, and were imported by the Golden Horde. Persian miniatures of the first half of 15th century show different combinations of mail and plate armour with lamellar armor and brigandines sometimes worn with a single round mirror plate as breast re-enforcement. The first representation of mail and plate armour as body protection is shown in Persian miniatures, which show mail and plate armour composed of relatively large plates, worn with laminar pauldrons and skirt (formed from long, horizontal plates), re-enforced by a large round mirror plate. The first representation of classic mail and plate armour (without lamellar elements) can be seen in Baghdad's miniature which dates from 1465. From the end of the 15th century mail and plate armour began to fully replace lamellar armours. The main difference between eastern European (Russian and Polish) and Oriental mail and plate armor (according to Bobrov) is that eastern European versions usually do not have sleeves, while Oriental versions have sleeves (the forearms were protected by vambraces). In a heavy version these sleeves have embedded plates, and a light version (more widely used) has sleeves entirely made from mail.

In Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuna (The Book of the Hidden Pearl) Jābir ibn Hayyān describes mail and plate armour for use in armours (jawasin), helmets (bid), and shields (daraq).^[3]

In Japan mail and plate armour is called "karuta", small square or rectangular rawhide or metal plates with the gaps between them filled with mail.^[4]

The Korean version of this armour is known as gyeongbeongap (경번갑/鏡幡甲). The most famous general who used this type of armor was General Chonji.

Gallery

• 
  Japanese mail and plate armour in the form of a karuta tatami-do
• 
  Indian (Mughal) riveted mail and plate coat zirah bagtar. Armour of this type was introduced into India under the Mughals.
• 
  Ottoman (Turkish) mail and plate armor from the Topkapi Palace.
• 
  Indian Sindh mail and plate armour.
• 
  Coat of mail with horn plates, Philippines (Moro people), 1800s - Higgins Armory Museum
• 
  Persian (Iran) mail and plate armour dating from 1450, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• 
  Ottoman Mamluk armour circa 1550
• 
  Korean: 조선의 경번갑 (Korean mail and plate armour)
• 
  Kalantar Russian: Калантарь

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to mail and plate armour.

• The Silk Road Designs Armoury (Mail and Plates))
• Russian medieval arms and armor
• Nihon Katchû Seisakuben
  • Tatami Dô
  • Kikkô (Japanese brigandine from plates, mail and cloth)
• Indian (Sind) mail and plate armour.
• Samurai's Tatami-do
• Mail and plate armour in Ottoman style owned by Holly Roman Emperor Charles V