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Miniatures Adventure => Adventures in the Far East => Topic started by: Lagartija Mike on 17 October 2015, 08:17:26 AM

Title: Earliest Use of Chahar Aina Query
Post by: Lagartija Mike on 17 October 2015, 08:17:26 AM

I'm looking for information on the earliest known use of the complimentary style of armor known as chahar aina, or a reasonable progenitor.

Title: Re: Earliest Use of Chahar Aina Query
Post by: sukhe_bator on 09 December 2015, 03:23:29 PM

You see the beginnings of metal breast and back plates sewn onto leather and fabric armours depicted in MSS like the 'Shah Nama' around the 1540's. The current thinking is that the separate entities known as chahar aina 'four mirrors' start to appear in Turkey as part of a sort of American footballer style upper torso harness worn over a mail coat in the late 16th century. The earliest dated 'char aina' is 1702 in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.
They may have been a response to the development of early firearms, or nastier 'tin opener' style anti-armour weapons like pollaxes, tabarzins and war hammers which had spikes capable of piercing mail if used with some force.