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Mirror armour

Mirror armour (Russian: зерцало, zertsalo, meaning "mirror"; Chinese: 护心镜, hùxīnjìng, meaning "protect-heart mirror"), sometimes referred to as disc armour or as chahār-āyneh or char-aina (Persian: چهاﺮآﻳنه meaning "four mirrors"; whence Kazakh: шар-айна, şar-ayna), was a type of cuirass used mainly in Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe; including India, Persia, Tibet, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. It literally translates to "four mirrors" which is a reflection of how these pieces looked, which resembles four (sometimes more) metal discs or rectangular armour plates. Mirror armor was used in some cultures up to the 20th century.

Classic Indian char-aina, also chahar-aina or chahar-ai-ne (the four mirrors), Persian (چهارآينه ), shown with kulah khud helmet and madu shield, Mumtaz Mahal Museum, Red Fort, Delhi India.
Early 16th century Ottoman mirror armour (krug), a distinctively Ottoman protection consisting of large round steel plates in the front and back connected by mail.

Description and history Edit

"Mirror armour" is a type of partial plate armour which was developed initially from round metal mirrors (a kind of rondel) worn over other armour (usually over mail) as reinforcement. Metal mirrors in this armour were considered as protection from not only cold steel and arrows, but also supernatural influence. It was believed that mirrors could reflect the evil eye, so they were polished and worn over other armour.

Early mirror armour consisted of a round mirror attached to the body with a few leather laces (similar to the Roman phaelerae). In Europe, they were known as kardiophylax (Greek) or apezak (Armenian) and were popular with various Bronze Age civilizations, as well as the Central Asian tribes such as the Saka and Yuezhi, and also among the Sasanians. The Kardiophylax was used by the Samnites before they developed the triple-disc cuirass. Although, it continued to be used as a Status symbol after it was discontinued from popular use. This armor would go on to be used by Salian priests as a form of ritual dress.

Late mirror armour took the form of a mirror cuirass, helmet, greaves, and bracers worn with mail. There were two alternative constructions of mirror cuirass:

  • with discs – two large round mirrors surrounded by smaller mirror plates, such as the Klivanion.
  • without discs – typically having four mirror plates – frontplate, backplate, and two sideplates joined by hinges or laces.

Early types of this armour were known among the Celtiberians,[1] by the Romans, in the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Russia, Siberia (where it was worn by Siberian natives before the Russian conquest), Mongolia, Indochina and China (including Tibet too).

Later types of this armour were known in the Middle East, Central Asia, India, and Russia. The mirror cuirass with discs was popular in Turkey and Russia, while that without discs was popular in Persia, Central Asia and India.

In India, there was a popular form of brigandine with a few mirror plates riveted to it.

According to Bobrov,[2] round metal mirrors worn by Mongolian warriors as armour reinforcement are shown in Persian miniatures of 13c. This is verified by archaeological finds in Central Asia and the Far East. This kind of armour prevailed in Central Asia during 15–17c, and could be worn over any armour including brigandines, lamellar armour, chainmail and even plated mail. In 16c in Persia, mirror plates became much larger and changed their shape to rectangular in order to improve body protection. This improved mirror armour gradually spread during 16–17c to Central Asia and North India. Further improvements were made during the 1640s when mirror plates evolved into mirror cuirass, which sometimes had additional mirror plates used as pauldrons for protection of the shoulder laces. Besides separate mirror plates laced as reinforcement to other armours there were small mirrors that were sewn or riveted to brigandine. Brigandines with such integral reinforcements were very popular at the end of the 15th century, but their use had practically been abandoned by the end of the 17th century.

Many modern army ballistic vests resemble the "Chahar-Aine" layout with basic soft anti-fragmentation armour (analogue of chain mail) covering a large area, and two, four or even more bulletproof plates ("mirrors") worn above it, thus combining weight saving and freedom of movement with high level of protection of vital areas.

Ottoman 15th to 16th century mirror armour is commonly referred to as "Krug", while the name for the same type of armour in Russia is зерцало (zertsalo), and the modern technical term is зерцальный доспех (zertsal'niy dospekh), from the Russian зерцальный (zertsal'niy) – "mirror"; and Russian: доспех (dospekh) – "armour".

Zertsalo consisted of a number plates that formed the two halves: front and rear. Each sides consists of: a middle plate called the "krug" (rondel), side plates, upper plates (above the "krug") called "ozherelie" (gorget) and "obruch" (ring) enveloping the neck; the front side additionally had "naramki" – shoulder strappings, and the back side had – "naplechniki" (pauldrons)
Зерцало состояло из ряда досок, образовавших две половины — переднюю и заднюю. Каждую половину составляли: средняя доска, или круг, боковые дощечки, верхние (над кругом), или ожерелье, и обруч — часть, обхватывающая шею; у передней половины были еще нарамки — плечевые скрепления, а у задней — наплечки

Gallery Edit

Mirror armours:

Brigandines reinforced by mirror plates:

Compare analogues which are not mirror armours, but have the same construction:

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ War & Society in the Celtiberian World, M. Almagro-Gorbea & A. Lorrio (2008)
  2. ^ Леонид Бобров "Защитное вооружение среднеазиатского воина эпохи позднего средневековья" (Leonid Bobrov "Panoply of a Late Medieval Central Asian Warrior") 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine illustrations of some kinds of mirror armour

External links Edit

  • The Silk Road Designs Armoury ()
  • Russian medieval arms and armour
  • Simple Mirror Armour (Tibetan)
  • Transitional (from round to rectangular) Mirror Armour (Persian)

mirror, armour, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, august, 201. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Mirror armour news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Mirror armour Russian zercalo zertsalo meaning mirror Chinese 护心镜 huxinjing meaning protect heart mirror sometimes referred to as disc armour or as chahar ayneh or char aina Persian چهاﺮآﻳنه meaning four mirrors whence Kazakh shar ajna sar ayna was a type of cuirass used mainly in Asia the Middle East and Eastern Europe including India Persia Tibet Russia and the Ottoman Empire It literally translates to four mirrors which is a reflection of how these pieces looked which resembles four sometimes more metal discs or rectangular armour plates Mirror armor was used in some cultures up to the 20th century Classic Indian char aina also chahar aina or chahar ai ne the four mirrors Persian چهارآينه shown with kulah khud helmet and madu shield Mumtaz Mahal Museum Red Fort Delhi India Early 16th century Ottoman mirror armour krug a distinctively Ottoman protection consisting of large round steel plates in the front and back connected by mail Contents 1 Description and history 2 Gallery 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksDescription and history Edit Mirror armour is a type of partial plate armour which was developed initially from round metal mirrors a kind of rondel worn over other armour usually over mail as reinforcement Metal mirrors in this armour were considered as protection from not only cold steel and arrows but also supernatural influence It was believed that mirrors could reflect the evil eye so they were polished and worn over other armour Early mirror armour consisted of a round mirror attached to the body with a few leather laces similar to the Roman phaelerae In Europe they were known as kardiophylax Greek or apezak Armenian and were popular with various Bronze Age civilizations as well as the Central Asian tribes such as the Saka and Yuezhi and also among the Sasanians The Kardiophylax was used by the Samnites before they developed the triple disc cuirass Although it continued to be used as a Status symbol after it was discontinued from popular use This armor would go on to be used by Salian priests as a form of ritual dress Late mirror armour took the form of a mirror cuirass helmet greaves and bracers worn with mail There were two alternative constructions of mirror cuirass with discs two large round mirrors surrounded by smaller mirror plates such as the Klivanion without discs typically having four mirror plates frontplate backplate and two sideplates joined by hinges or laces Early types of this armour were known among the Celtiberians 1 by the Romans in the Middle East Central Asia India Russia Siberia where it was worn by Siberian natives before the Russian conquest Mongolia Indochina and China including Tibet too Later types of this armour were known in the Middle East Central Asia India and Russia The mirror cuirass with discs was popular in Turkey and Russia while that without discs was popular in Persia Central Asia and India In India there was a popular form of brigandine with a few mirror plates riveted to it According to Bobrov 2 round metal mirrors worn by Mongolian warriors as armour reinforcement are shown in Persian miniatures of 13c This is verified by archaeological finds in Central Asia and the Far East This kind of armour prevailed in Central Asia during 15 17c and could be worn over any armour including brigandines lamellar armour chainmail and even plated mail In 16c in Persia mirror plates became much larger and changed their shape to rectangular in order to improve body protection This improved mirror armour gradually spread during 16 17c to Central Asia and North India Further improvements were made during the 1640s when mirror plates evolved into mirror cuirass which sometimes had additional mirror plates used as pauldrons for protection of the shoulder laces Besides separate mirror plates laced as reinforcement to other armours there were small mirrors that were sewn or riveted to brigandine Brigandines with such integral reinforcements were very popular at the end of the 15th century but their use had practically been abandoned by the end of the 17th century Many modern army ballistic vests resemble the Chahar Aine layout with basic soft anti fragmentation armour analogue of chain mail covering a large area and two four or even more bulletproof plates mirrors worn above it thus combining weight saving and freedom of movement with high level of protection of vital areas Ottoman 15th to 16th century mirror armour is commonly referred to as Krug while the name for the same type of armour in Russia is zercalo zertsalo and the modern technical term is zercalnyj dospeh zertsal niy dospekh from the Russian zercalnyj zertsal niy mirror and Russian dospeh dospekh armour Zertsalo consisted of a number plates that formed the two halves front and rear Each sides consists of a middle plate called the krug rondel side plates upper plates above the krug called ozherelie gorget and obruch ring enveloping the neck the front side additionally had naramki shoulder strappings and the back side had naplechniki pauldrons Zercalo sostoyalo iz ryada dosok obrazovavshih dve poloviny perednyuyu i zadnyuyu Kazhduyu polovinu sostavlyali srednyaya doska ili krug bokovye doshechki verhnie nad krugom ili ozherele i obruch chast obhvatyvayushaya sheyu u perednej poloviny byli eshe naramki plechevye skrepleniya a u zadnej naplechki Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic DictionaryGallery EditMirror armours nbsp Tibetan round mirror plate shown worn over mail on the chest circa 1938 nbsp Tibetan mirror armour four mirrors me long bzhi with the front and one side plate visible and worn over a mail hauberk nbsp Char aina with octagonal front plate nbsp Classic 4 mirror Chahar Ayneh nbsp Alternative mirror armour with discs nbsp Late Chahar Ai Ne consisting of five plates instead of four nbsp Four Indian warriors wearing char aina circa 1873 Brigandines reinforced by mirror plates nbsp Chinese dingjia brigandine reinforced by classic round mirror nbsp Indian brigandine reinforced by mirror plates Compare analogues which are not mirror armours but have the same construction nbsp Roman phalerae nbsp Byzantine klivanium Klibanion nbsp Japanese yukinoshita dō armourSee also EditMail and plate armour Mail armour References Edit War amp Society in the Celtiberian World M Almagro Gorbea amp A Lorrio 2008 Leonid Bobrov Zashitnoe vooruzhenie sredneaziatskogo voina epohi pozdnego srednevekovya Leonid Bobrov Panoply of a Late Medieval Central Asian Warrior Archived 2007 09 27 at the Wayback Machine illustrations of some kinds of mirror armourExternal links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mirror armour The Silk Road Designs Armoury same site at the internet archive The Silk Road Designs Armoury Mirrors and Brassier Plates The Silk Road Designs Armoury Chahar Ai Ne The Silk Road Designs Armoury Disc Armour Russian medieval arms and armour Simple Mirror Armour Tibetan Transitional from round to rectangular Mirror Armour Persian Indian Brigandine with Mirror Plates Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mirror armour amp oldid 1152789124, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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