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Ilkay Kathun of Ural Khaganligi (Turko-Altaic)

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Description

A Concept Drawing of Central Asian Turkic (Historical Göturks and Uyghur) Woman Warrior in the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited, which is roughly based on the Middle ages covering 800 AD to 1400 AD. She represents the Central Asian Turkic Dominion that ruled much of the Great Steppe, like that of the Uyghur Khaganate, Göturks, Kara-Khitan as well as other central Asian power that played important role for the the Silk Road during the Middle Ages

Inspired by the Music: Boerte - Gobi (Mongolian Steppe Music)


INTRODUCTION

The History of Eurasian Steppe in the middle ages and older is often described as the source of Barbaric Nomads to many western eyes, the notable ones being the Huns and the Mongols who unleashed untold destruction and laid waste to anything they touched. While there's some truth in that statement, people often forget that the interaction between settled civilizations and nomadic tribes were often peaceful and mutually supprotive. Though in the case of middle ages, many of the steppe nomads formed into empires which were short-lived, but many of the aspects of the their civilizations were surprisingly equal, or in some cases, more advance as compared to the Europeans of the same era which remains overlooked to this day.

DRAWING COMMENTARIES

The story of how this drawing came to be is actually rather funny for me. For long, I have always been fascinated by the Turkic people as well as civilizations that lived in the Eurasian Steppe, from their art, religion, customs to their style of Warfare. Initially, when I started the Medieval Revisited Series, I thought that representing the Cumans-Kypchak and the Turkish people was enough, but after much digging and reading, I felt like there's something missing in the series. Alas, in one fortunate day, while reading through some old books about the Göturks, I met a lady from China whom, to my surprise, an Uighur Chinese. She found it rather strange for an Indonesian to study about the Turkic people, until I explained her about the Historically Wrong Sketch Series I've been doing. After much discussions and plenty cups of tea, she was wondering if I could make a drawing for her, which is rather fortunate for me since I've got myself a real model :D

So, the Woman Warrior depicted here is Ilkay Kathun, the second most powerful person in the Khaganate (after her Husband), whose face is based on the Lady I've told earlier. She is depicted in Thick Kaftan, hiding the expensive and intricately designed silk clothing underneath. I decided not to portray her in Heavy Armor, since I want to emphasize on her beauty. Her headdress is somewhat a speculative drawing, but I've added the fur as well as decoration to indicate her High-status. As for the armaments, she is holding an expensive Sabre (which could have been obtained from trade). Coming to her bow, the quiver is used to store unstrung composite bow which is probably going to be traded for a more expensive bow. If you are wondering how much she is worth in this drawing, as in, by what she wears and her armaments, let's just say, an equivalent price of a new BMW Z4.

As a Khatun, she's enjoying herself trading in one of the Trade post along the silk road, short of like "Going Shopping" but accompanied by her heavily armed bodyguard in lamellar armor in the background. Given her position, She has access to the most beautiful and expensive silk from China, Weapons from Persia, Furs from the Taiga, as well as Jewelries from the Oriental world, that too, with the freedom of riding freely across the great Steppe. Though she is rich, beautiful and powerful, she is as deadly as her bodyguard! =P


REFERENCES AND OTHER RELATED MEDIA


Maybe Related to:

The Cumans  Sevindik Khanum of Desht-i Yurtubi (Cuman-Kypchak) by Gambargin, The Turkish Beylerbayan Apek of Orhanli Beylerbeylik (Turkish) by Gambargin, The Mongols Batuyisu Gonji Mangedei of Nodai-in Ulus (Mongol) by Gambargin, The Magyars Haraszt-Hazi Orsolya of Karpati Kiralysag (Magyar) by Gambargin,
The Chinese Wu Xuan Gongzhu of Yang Chao (Han Chinese) by Gambargin


A Part of the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited - You can find more on the various faction on the map here:

HWS Medieval Revisited - Faction Map v.1.30 by Gambargin



HISTORICAL COMMENTARIES

The Steppe, which stretched from eastern Romania to the Pacific ocean, have been home to numerous civilizations as diverse as the climate which populates the region. Climate varied from region to region; along the northern border, lies the Hostile Russian Taiga and Siberian forest, while the southward is filled with wastes, mountain ranges as well as warmer region for intensive agriculture. Life was harsh in the steppe, and the Steppe Tribes learn it the hard way ever since their forefathers sat foot on the soil.

But what makes these Nomadic Steppe People, the Steppe Nomads we often associated them with? first of all, most of the steppe land were barren and are not suitable for farming, but the abundance of grassland for pastoral activity, as well as numerous horses, gave them the advantages to master the harsh climate of the Steppe. However, their nomadic life means that the movement of tribes or people from one place to another could give way for military conflict, especially against their settle neighbors (Like China for example). The constant tribal warfare also means that less successful tribes could and indeed, were dispersed by the victorious ones. A Good example would be the Huns, the Avars and the Magyars, who had to migrate westwards, only to find themselves having to adapt and gave away their nomadic life, since the forested region of Europe, as well as the Hungarians plains, were both difficult to support the pastoral activities needed to support horses needed for a full "nomadic army".

One more thing that people often misunderstood, or overlooked, was the fact that the people of Steppe Nomads have greatly contributed in the development of trade as well as both Tactics and Military Technology, to place as far as Western Europe, Iran, China, Russia and even Byzantium. Most Historical Chronicles were written by the settled civilization, and to their eyes, the Nomadic people were given short of barbaric images, or even, racist remarks for an alien people that's ready to invade at any given time, laying waste to anything their touch. However, what they failed to realize, for the most part of our history, the relationship between Nomadic Tribes and Settled community had been mostly peaceful and equally supportive in trade, even at times of War. The Settled people often sought service from these Nomadic Warriors, employing them into their armies for war or to defend their frontiers, while the Nomads reflected the way of life of their settled neighbors, stimulating trades and contacts, which resulted in exchange of culture, technology and stimulating trades. Though, conflicts between the two did occur, more often than not, this was caused by settled communities expansion into the nomads lands, to which they retaliated and kept them checked. There were various large military invasions launched by the Nomads, like that of Seljuk Turks, the Huns as well as Mongols, but these only lasted for a brief period of time and they too, were later assimilated into the people they conquered.

Speaking of the Middle Ages, one of the famous Steppe Nomads were the Turkic people, which is part of the Altaic Language family. Their origin is somewhat speculative and is still under extensive studies, but one theory postulated that they were of mixed tribes who settled amid Altai mountain. The name Turk itself originated from the name Türük, referring to the Göktürks of the 6th century. The conflict between the Turkic Tribes and the Rouran Khaganate in this time, led to the formation of several Turkic Tribes, known as the Blue Turks or "Göktürks". They succeeded in defeating the Rourans and established themselves into one powerful empire called the Turkic Khaganate, which lasted from mid 6th century to late 8th century. They remained a powerful state whose power lies in controlling as well as stimulating the Silk Trade, until their disintegration into several Khanates and Khagantes of the East and West who are generally hostile to each other. The disintegration also caused the Turkic Migration into Eastern Europe and Transoxiana, which lead to the rise several Turkic Powers for the next centuries, like that of the Avars, Khazars, and Seljuk Turks. Thought most of what's left are all but historical pieces, since many of them were assimilated, their history still remains an interesting point of view that greatly affected the world that we know today.
Image size
1670x2468px 1.03 MB
Shutter Speed
1/17 second
Aperture
F/2.2
Focal Length
5 mm
Date Taken
Dec 7, 2014, 7:53:10 AM
Comments32
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Burksaurus's avatar

Ilkay looks like a beautiful but skilled warrior. She looks really interesting.