Sogdian king

SOGDIAN KING, late 7th – early 8th centuries AD. Reconstruction done with the advice of Nadeem Ahmad, leader of the historical reenacment project Eran ud Turan. I want to thank Nadeem for sharing with me the future updates he’s planning to make on his own Sogdian military kit, which is expected to look somewhat like this illustration in a future. I also want to thank him for letting me use his current lamellar armour and winged diadem. The main reference for this reconstruction is a wall painting of a heroic warrior from Panjikent (Tajikistan), although other murals and archaeological evidence have been used, all provided by Nadeem. The dagger and sword are Nadeem’s own design and interpretation of the swords and daggers carried by kings and heroes on Sogdian wall paintings, which have handles with dragon head pommels. Nadeem is currently searching for a swordsmith who can replicate the dagger and sword featured here as part of his kit.

If you remember my illustration of a Tang dynasty Chinese general, you may have noticed some similarities between the armours worn by “lokapala” tomb guardian figurines from Tang China and this luxurious Sogdian armour, mostly the pauldrons shaped like makaras (a Hindu-Buddhist mythical creature), and the chest plate, which in this case is made of decorated leather. You can see a similar chest plate, but made of scales, in my illustration of the Hephthalite Hunnic warrior. Some influence from Sasanian Persia is also clear.

THE SOGDIANS were an East Iranic-speaking people that lived between modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Their language and polytheistic religion were closely related with those of the Scythians and Sakas, although they also received influence from Persian Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. We first know of the Sogdians as the north-easternmost people of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, being still a semi-nomadic Scythian-like people by the time of Alexander’s conquest. From Late Antiquity onwards, Sogdian merchants dominated trade along the Silk Roads. Sogdian civilization peaked in the Early Medieval period and was finally conquered by the Arabs in the 8th century.