Armors in Topkapi Seray Museum

There is a great collection of weapons and armor in the Topkapi Seray Museum of Istanbul. Now, take a look at the storage rooms of this museum and see what visitors may not be allowed to see…

It is time to show you the arms of the Ottomans in quantity. As for me, it is impressive to think about how these weapons had been in use in the battlefields of the “Hungaries” (Transylvania, Royal Hungary, and Ottoman Occupied Lands of Hungary) in the 16th century or later.

You can find many Western weapons there that have been taken and reused. We know that Hungarians liked to use eastern blades, fitting a Hungarian-style handle on them. It is also recorded that the armored Sipahi riders in the Ottoman army often wore pieces from Western armor, helmets, gauntlets, or plates. They combined them with their Eastern weapons and armor…

Check out this nice “pallos” (a Hungarian broad-sword) that combined an Eastern blade with a Hungarian handle:

https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/swords-and-sabers/pallos/

Here are the armor and weapons from the cellars of the Topkapi Museum (source of the photographs taken by Salih Zeki Fazlioglu, back in 2009 http://www.haber7.com/foto-galeri/3027-osmanlinin-topkapidaki-sakli-hazinesi):