Osprey Men-at-Arms №491. Shpakovsky V., Nicolle D. Armies of the Volga Bulgars & Khanate of Kazan 9th-16th Centuries

Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 2013. - 48 p.From the 7th to the 8th centuries AD, a newly arrived nomadic people appeared in the Middle Volga region of what is now Russia from the south. The name of these Bulgar tribes was first recorded in Byzantine Greek sources. They came from the steppes immediately north of, and around, the Sea of Azov, and their material culture was closely linked to that of the Alans and Sarmatians who also inhabited this territory. However, the Bulgars, unlike those predecessors, belonged to the Turkic linguistic family, suggesting a powerful Turkic influence upon the peoples who had inhabited this region since the time of the Hunnic migrations during the 2nd to 5th centuries AD.Chronology
Wars of the Volga Bulgars
The pre-lslamic period.
10th-13th centuries: Islam and its rewards.
13th century: the coming of the Mongols.
14th century: the scourge of the Novgorod «ushkuyniki».
15th century: the Khanate of Kazan.
16th century: resistance to Muscovy, and fall.
Organization & tactics
Arms & armour
Swords and sabres, spears and javelins, battleaxes, maces and bludgeons, bows and arrows.
Helmets, armour, shields.
Fortifications & siege warfare
Timber and moat fortifications, siege machinery, firearms
Conclusions