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Imperius-Rex — Seljuq Ghulam

Published: 2011-09-13 00:47:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 2810; Favourites: 32; Downloads: 0
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Description A drawing of a 13th Century Ghulam from the Seljuq Dynasty.

The Ghilman trace their origins back to the Abbasid Caliphate and were introduced during the reign of al-Mu'tasim, who favored them as his personal guard. The Ghilman were slave-soldiers comprised mainly of Turks, who were usually taken from conquered lands or frontier regions. A Ghulam would be trained and educated at his master's expense, sometimes earning his freedom through years of devoted service. These soldiers were required to marry Turkish slave-women chosen by their masters, but many seem to have also lived a life of celibacy.

Although the Ghilman initially served as caliph's personal guard, they were quickly promoted to high military command. These soldiers would eventually go on to hold great political power and influence. By the end of Abbasid reign the Ghilman had been grouped into whole armies and often served as elite cavalrymen, demanding high pay for their services.

These Turkic soldiers would later go on to serve the Fatimids, Seljuqs, Persians, Mughals, and Ottomans as well as starting a dynasty of their own, the Ghaznavid's of Afghanistan.

So I guess this is the first time I've attempted to draw chain-mail, I hope you guys like the job I did. Btw, the thing with the shoulders was done on purpose and doesn't need to be pointed out.
Enjoy!

Art © Myself
Ghilman/Ghulam © (Nobody owns History!)

Made with Copics!
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Comments: 26

TripleOGfox [2015-12-03 12:24:27 +0000 UTC]

Awesome drawing. And I am a huge fan of the Sultanate of Rum!

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Woaddragon [2011-12-14 17:07:33 +0000 UTC]

Love the chain-mail design. It's had to color armor.

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Imperius-Rex In reply to Woaddragon [2012-05-22 13:00:58 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, but I feel that the line-art was the most challenging aspect to get down.

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matmohair1 [2011-10-15 18:21:58 +0000 UTC]

awesome

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Imperius-Rex In reply to matmohair1 [2012-05-22 12:56:58 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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eyepilot13 [2011-09-26 00:53:26 +0000 UTC]

makes me want to play Medieval Toatal War and get Ghulam cavalry! Neat history!

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Imperius-Rex In reply to eyepilot13 [2012-05-22 13:03:56 +0000 UTC]

I haven't played the game personally, but I have seen a lot of material on it in historical forums.
When I was younger, I used to play games like Age of Empires and Age of Mythology.

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eyepilot13 In reply to Imperius-Rex [2012-05-26 23:38:10 +0000 UTC]

I just don't get into games that much anymore! I hear you!

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Imperius-Rex In reply to eyepilot13 [2012-05-28 04:45:25 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, but eventually something will come along to reignite that passion.

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eyepilot13 In reply to Imperius-Rex [2012-05-31 23:53:21 +0000 UTC]

It would seem, historical precedents and all

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Imperius-Rex In reply to eyepilot13 [2012-06-06 19:51:47 +0000 UTC]

I really liked the Age of Empires series, but I never got to play the third one.

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eyepilot13 In reply to Imperius-Rex [2012-06-11 03:44:22 +0000 UTC]

I only played 1 and the expansion...Actually I thought the AI was better in the original. I used to love setting ambushes with either my longbows or elephants depending on the faction.

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Imperius-Rex In reply to eyepilot13 [2012-06-11 05:36:04 +0000 UTC]

Yes, I would love to see a serious remake of the series!

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eyepilot13 In reply to Imperius-Rex [2012-06-11 23:56:57 +0000 UTC]

That would be cool, and without the AI constantly spanning junk to attack you. That's why I love MTW XL VI Mod. It has some really cool interesting battles in which strategy matters. I didn't experience it that much with MTW II. And I did give it a fair trial.

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Tadpole7 [2011-09-14 23:16:36 +0000 UTC]

Chainmail came out pretty good, it's definetly not one of the easir things to depict well.

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Imperius-Rex In reply to Tadpole7 [2012-05-22 12:59:51 +0000 UTC]

It took time to get right, but it's not something you'd easily forget.
I'd say that most of the work comes in the repetition and matching of patterns.
Thank you for your feedback!

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Ikaramel [2011-09-13 10:25:52 +0000 UTC]

thnx for refreshing my mind i was about to forget their existance completely xD

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Imperius-Rex In reply to Ikaramel [2011-09-13 20:26:27 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I'd love to see them featured on Deadliest Warrior or something like it!

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Ikaramel In reply to Imperius-Rex [2011-09-13 20:48:59 +0000 UTC]

yeh why not ! ^^

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Imperius-Rex In reply to Ikaramel [2011-09-13 21:14:00 +0000 UTC]

I bet their popularity would surge from then on.

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opal-tea [2011-09-13 07:34:50 +0000 UTC]

I loooooooooove ittttttttttttt. OuO I'm really glad you decided to go with the one without the background. Sometimes, backgrounds can be distracting, I think. c:

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Imperius-Rex In reply to opal-tea [2011-09-13 09:10:12 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I think I'll do more like this.

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opal-tea In reply to Imperius-Rex [2011-09-15 09:05:30 +0000 UTC]

DO IT DO IT DO IT.

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Imperius-Rex In reply to opal-tea [2011-09-15 20:29:09 +0000 UTC]

What should I draw next then?

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Artistic-Amira [2011-09-13 04:40:38 +0000 UTC]

A Ghulam? Wow I never expected to see this on dA!

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Imperius-Rex In reply to Artistic-Amira [2011-09-13 09:17:57 +0000 UTC]

You can literally count the relevant search results on your fingers!
But hey, that doesn't mean there aren't any good results.
Just look at this reenactment photo;
[link]

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