Turban helmet

File:Turban Helmet MET DP219400.jpg

Late 15th-century turban helmet in the style of Turkmen armor.

Turban helmets are a kind of large Turkish helmet known for its large bulbous shape and the flutings. The name turban helmet is derived from the fact that they were worn over the turban. Turban helmets are found in the region where the Ottoman Turkey reigned.

Form and evolution

The earliest of the Turkish helmets were conical with plate, mail or padded neck guards. From the mid-14th to at least the early 16th century the helmets grew in size, becoming very large and were often elaborately fluted and decorated. These large Ottoman helmets were worn by warriors over a cloth turbans, and so they were called "turban helmets". Turban helmets are known for its large bulbous shape. Some examples of turban helmets were shaped with spiraling flutings, supposedly imitating the folds of a turban. This distinctive shape was forged from a single plate of iron or steel that tapers to a separately applied finial. The rim of the helmet is shaped over the eyes, and then fitted around the edge with pierced lugs or vervelles where the aventail or mail defense is secured by a cord. The aventail, a flexible metal mail, extends downward to protect the face and the neck. The aventail is usually fixed with a lead seal which is stamped with the mark used in the Ottoman arsenals. An adjustable nasal bar is fastened with a bracket to the front side of the helmet, between the eyes-openings. The design is used to protect the warrior's nose.

Decoration

File:Turban Helmet MET DP147136.jpg

Late 15th-century turban helmet inlaid with silver and gold.

In Ottoman Turkey, certain dervish groups wore turbans wound with a prescribed number of folds to represent an important mystical number. It is likely that turban helmets were regarded not only as an armor but also as a kind of religious insignia. Religious symbolism of the turban helmets indicates that the wearer is a fighter in a Holy War. Large-sized turban helmets, together with the mail and plate armour of matching decoration, were intended to be worn by heavy cavalries.

Because of the religious nature of the turban helmets, they are often inscribed with Arabic calligraphy to symbolizes the words of God as taken from the Quran. More often is that the inscription glorifies the ruler whom the warrior is loyal to. Inscribed words of God from the Quran supposedly invoke the protective power of the God to the wearer. The inscriptions were sometimes inlaid with gold and silver, and decorated with arabesque motifs around the edges. Most inlaid of precious metals were done in later period when the helmet was no longer in use and was traded. Other turban helmets contain advises on how to attain virtue.