Ta’rīkh by Bal`ami,
Timurid Herat, 1470.
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Per 144, fol. 236v

Plate 58 in: M. GORELIK, "Oriental Armour of the Near and Middle East from the Eighth to the Fifteenth Centuries as Shown in Works of Art", in: Islamic Arms and Armour, ed. ROBERT ELGOOD, London 1979
58 Ta’rīkh by Ṭabarī, Herat, c.1469. (Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, MS 144, fol. 236v)
p.50:
Armour in Khurāsān in the late fifteenth century
Evidence of the development of Iranian armour of the late fifteenth century is best found in the miniatures of the Herat school, since the contemporary Shiraz miniatures are of a poor quality, and sources from Tabriz for this period are unhelpful. In the middle of the fifteenth century we still find complete sets of laminated armour although it becomes increasingly combined with soft armour. There are instances where only the shoulder guards themselves are laminated, the rest being of soft fabric (58). Such combined armour, styled as a coat, is also found in the 1490s where steel bands are used for waist-length armour, with the bands joined either by mail (fig. 199) or sewn on to the fabric (figs. 197, 198).

---

Object no: Per 144
Title: Bal`ami's History (Ta'rikh-i Bal`ami)
Calligrapher and production place: Unknown, Herat
Artist and production place: Unknown, Herat
Production date: 1470 (874H)
Source: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin