"Using Gripping Beast Timurids as Mameluke Cavalry" Topic

Was wondering if I could use GB's Timurids for Mameluke cavalry of the same vintage? Thanks for any assistance.

You can get away with using heavy cavalry for Mameluks. They have some similarities with western Asian styles, though many helmets and some parts of armor are distinctively Central Asian/Chinese. Mamelukes had some troops with turbans wrapped around their helmets. If you can sculpt some of that around helmets those Timurids will look passable.

Their light cavalry and infantry are distictly Central Asian. You can't use those for Mameluks.

I'd suggest GB and other manufacturers' Ghulam cavalry instead of Timurids. Use North African types for lighter cavalry and infantry.

Thanks IGWARG1 for your comments. I was thinking specifically the Timurid Heavy/Medium Cavalry and not the Light Cavalry. I get the drift from your comments that the GB heavy/medium Timurids aren't ideal for representing the Mameluk equivalent troops.

I have painted a Timurid army, mainly of Essex minis from their various ranges link
Wearing turbans in battle was fashionable in Turkey and Egypt, but not always. I have one Turkish light cavalryman in my Timurid army for variety and as a renegade/mercenary.

Armor in GB Timurid "heavies" range is similar enough, but helmets with ear flaps and brigandines with shoulder flaps are distinctively Central Asian. However, some of that military fashion could be used by Mameluks through trade contacts.

Still, GB Crusades period figures are much better to represent Mamelukes, even of later period. If you manage to put turbans around 1/3 of the helmets than you can plausibly use GB Timurids for mameluks.

You can compare contemporary paintings of early Timurid Soldiers and later Timurid and Turkmen Soldiers with illustrations of Mameluke Costume & Soldiers of Egypt and Syria

Also see Persian (Timurid) Cavalryman, Early-15th Century, in Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 2 by Ian Heath and Mamluk 1366, in Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 2 by Ian Heath and the linked extracts.

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

Thanks Druzhina. In the painting below that is included in your link the two sides (Timurid/Mameluke) in battle seem almost identical. The information in Armies of the Middle Ages seems to imply a great deal of overlap between the two. I can see why IGWARG1 suggests using more turban dressed cavalry for the Mamelukes. Am I getting this right?

Battle between Timur and the Mamluk Sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faraj of Egypt was painted by Behzad (Bihzad) in Herat, Afghanistan, in 1515, a century latter than the event. It is more likely that both sides are depicted as early 16th century Timurids, rather than portraying Mameluke costume. Otherwise, yes, there was some overlap.

Druzhina
16th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers