Orlat Battle Plaque\'s Importance

[Alanus]

I thought I'd pass this info to those interested in Alanic roots. They say a picture is worth a thousand words; and since the Alans and their subtribes left few words, the Orlat belt stiffener is priceless.

I spent a decade analyzing it, trying to pinpoint its origin and age. The stylistic horses are identical with the one on the famous Altai rug showing the 4th century BC horseman. The plaque depicts a famous battle between the Wusun/Alans on the left (west) and the Yue-chi (Kushans) on the right (coming from the east). The date is 2nd century BC, and the battle was fought on the outskirts of the Ili River valley, near lake Issyk Kul.


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The battle shows the equipment and techniques that would later be incorporated into the Roman cavalry-- long swords, the "Sarmatian" draco, and 12-foot contus, and heavy armored horsemen. It shows that the Yue-chi lost. They moved further west and established the Kushan state in Sogdiana-Bactria, then down to India.

The equipment has parellels, first in Tacitus who describes the Roxolani's long two-handed swords. The bow is tilted forward and asymmetrical. It is what we erringly call the "Hunnish bow," yet the individuals depicted are otherwise.

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The belt plate clearly shows a typical scabbard slide, attributed as an invention of the Chinese. However, if we dig back a bit, again to the Altai, we discover an even older belt plaque dating to the 5th century BC. It shows a Saka warrior, aka "eastern Scythian," ancestor of the Alans, Massagetae, and Saka Haumavarga. He is wearing a scabbard slide and riding the legendary "stag-horse." Also notice that his bow is asymmetrical with the top portion tilted forward, a standard method of shooting this type of bow.

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What the Orlat Plaque shows is much that became the later Roman cavalry, and a definate Eastern influence of the two-handed longsword that crossed the Danube in AD 68.

That sword's characteristics had an early Han Dynasty origin. The belt plaque was found in Sogdiana along with items dated "from the last centuries BC to the 1st century AD." The scholarly debate of its date has never researched the shape of the sword guards, the obvious disk pommels, the long two-handed grips, and the squared scabbard chape. All these design hallmarks are found on early Han swords. The idea that these weapons are Hunnish discounts what a short-handled Hunnish sword looked like. Even the top-knot worn by a warrior at the right fits the style worn by the Yue-chi, as recorded by the Chinese and referenced by Pita Kelekna.

For whatever it's worth.:-)