Armies of the Volga Bulgars & Khanate of Kazan: 9th–16th centuries (Men-at-Arms, 491) - Softcover

Shpakovsky, Viacheslav; Nicolle, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782000798 ISBN 13: 9781782000792

Publisher: Osprey Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

Facing off against Byzantines, Arabs, Vikings, Turks, Mongols, and Russians, this steppe culture dominated Black Sea and Caucasus trade during Medieval times.

The Bulgars were a Turkic people who established a state north of the Black Sea, and who showed similarities with the Alans and Sarmatians. In the late 500s and early 600s AD their state fragmented under pressure from the Khazars; one group moved south into what became Bulgaria, but the rest moved north during the 7th and 8th centuries to the basin of the Volga river. There they remained under Khazar domination until the Khazar Khanate was defeated by Kievan (Scandinavian) Russia in 965. Thereafter the Volga Bulgars - controlling an extensive area surrounding an important hub of international trade - became richer and more influential; they embraced Islam, becoming the most northerly of medieval peoples to do so. Given their central position on trade routes, their armies were noted for the splendour of their armour and weapons, which drew upon both Western and Eastern sources and influences (as, eventually, did their fighting tactics).

In the 1220s they managed to maul Genghis Khan's Mongols, who returned to devastate their towns in revenge. By the 1350s they had recovered much of their wealth, but they were caught in the middle between the Tatar Golden Horde and the Christian Russian principalities. They were ravaged by these two armies in turn on several occasions between 1360 and 1431. A new city then rose from the ashes - Kazan, originally called New Bulgar - and the successor Islamic Khanate of Kazan resisted the Russians until falling to Ivan the Terrible in 1552. The costumes, armament, armour and fighting methods of the Volga Bulgars during this momentous period are explored in this fully illustrated study.

About this title

About the Author

Viacheslav Shpakovsky was born in 1954. He teaches in the History Department of Penza University in Penza, Russia, where he holds the position of Assistant Professor and Chief Historical Scientist. He has written a number of articles on various aspects of Russian and military history for both academic journals and popular magazines in Russia.

David Nicolle, born in 1944, worked in the BBC's Arabic service for a number of years before gaining an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and a doctorate from Edinburgh University. He has written numerous books and articles on medieval and Islamic warfare, and has been a prolific author of Osprey titles for many years. The author lives in Penza, Russia.

Edition details

• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1782000798
• ISBN 13: 9781782000792
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Embleton Gerry