Lady Sevindik of Desht-i Yurtubi (Cuman-Kypchak)

This is a highly conceptual Drawing for the Pontic-Caspian (Cuman-Kypchak) Steppe Turkic Women Warrior in the Historically Wrong Sketch Series - Medieval Revisited, which is roughly based on the Middle ages covering 800 AD to 1400 AD. The character itself is a representation of the historical Turkic Cuman/Kypchak tribal federation that dominated Eurasian steppe before the Mongol Invasion of Europe, and her faction Desht-i Yurtubi can be compared to the historical Cuman-Kypchak Federation that dominated the great steppe in the high middle age. Although, I for the sake of history, I must include the Khazar as well.

Inspired by the music: Algirmaa by Enkh Jargal



The Pontic-Caspian steppe was home to many of the Steppe Turkic Tribes that inhabited the region, often referred as the border between the "Civilized Europe" and the "Barbaric Horde". It was from this frontiers that warfare in the form of raids often occurred, but also along with lucrative trade activities as well as cultural/technological exchange. some of the notable "Steppe Empire" that existed in this region were the Old Bulgars, Khazars and Cuman Kypchak federation. Although there's little of what's left behind from them, their existence were nevertheless recorded by many of the other great civilization and in many cases, influenced the way in which warfare were fought to their more settled neighbors.




Well, Initially i wanted to draw a cupid for a valentine's gift, but ended up redrawing one of the steppe women warrior that i have drawn earlier Khanum Sevindik Begotoglu of Steppe Federation. Still, her pose is pretty similar to a Cupid shooting his love arrow . The pose may not be the best or anatomically accurate, so please do correct me if i make many mistakes. ( I did make some concession to portray a more feminine figure)

I was really surprised that of all the warrior culture that have been published here in DA, the steppe warriors of Eurasia represents the minority compared to other drawings, such as  knights or exotic middle eastern warrior, or viking. You can try searching for Cuman, Kypchak, Khazar, Volga-Bulghar, Pechenegs, Tatar, and any of the Turkic Tribal group and see how many results you will get that closely portray them in historical manner......and yes, Hetalia does not count . I have read their history and they are some of the world's most beautiful culture that i really admire. The tribal Turkic people represented a very different image to their European and Oriental counterpart, where faith, ambitions, dominance and intolerance were the norm (i will get into this later). So, I really hope that this drawing would increase people's awareness that steppe nomads were more than just "Archer on Horse", and certainly they deserve as much attention as their Mongol neighbors.

As for the character itself, she is Khanum Sevindik Begotoglu Sarkelli, the wife of the Khan of Desht-i Yurtubi in the historical series. She is drawn in a very stylized cuman attires, complete with the conical headdress, silk tunic, kaftan as well as turkic composite bow. Initially i wanted to include armor, but judging by her role in the fight as light cavalry/horse archer (which was common in the tactic for the steppe people), armor would be cumbersome and impractical....and also would make it less feminine. As a Khanum, she commands great respect from her people, but also had the freedom to ride alongside her husband (or go hunting and horse riding) in the great steppe, a luxury that was limited for many of the European noble women living in their cold and dark castle.

The drawing depicts her in a short of ritual archery activity. On the left, you can see another female Turkic warrior (possibly Bulgar), dressed in typical "Tarkan" attires, with lamellar armor, and anthropomorphic helmet. As for the ones on the right, the gentlemen on the far right is her husband, richly dressed in a very stylized Cuman kaftan and conical helmet, while the man next to him is dressed in Khazar attire, complete with leather jacket and richly decorated cap. I have alos included some Cuman Statues to add the flavor to the overall composition

I would like to also tribute for inspiring this work. He is one of the finest artist here in DA, whose jaw-dropping beautiful artwork would make my drawings look like a simple line sketches, as well as contributing his idea about the steppe culture . Also, many thanks to for his advise regarding archery that contributed to the creation of this drawing







The history of this so called Eurasian Steppe nomads can be traced back to Göktürks who dominated the central Asia steppe and began expanding their realm in the so called "Great Turkic Expansion", before disintegrating into various tribal confederation that we know of, like the Bulgars, Khazars, Tatars and Cuman-Kypchaks. It's rather hard to point out a specific culture that was more dominant than others, because it's a rather heterogeneous society composed of different tribal clans, united by a great leader, often elected or chosen by its people. But for the sake of this series, I will focus on the Khazars and Cuman-Kypchacks.

As mentioned before, the Gökturks fell into disarray and were divided between 2 hostile khaganaes, the East Turkic Khaganate and the Westenr Turkic Khaganates. The Western Turkic people were known as Onogurs, and they ruled for almost half a century, before further disintegrating into several smaller khanates like the Turgesh, the Oghuz, and finally the Khazars. Out of all the successor state, the Khazar emerged as one of the most powerful polity that ruled the pontic steppe, controlling major trade networks that linked China, Middle East and Kievan Rus. Perhaps, the Khazars were known for embracing Judaism, but the religion itself only adopted by some of the nobles and ruling families, since the populace were multi-ethnic and multi-religious. However, they suffered several external pressure from the 10th century onwards, and by mid 10th century, the Rus had successfully conquered its capital and destroyed the Khazar state.

On the other hand, The Cumans originally lived on the eastern part Yellow River, but entered the Eurasian steppe in the 11th century, interacting with various other Turkic group like the pechenegs, Remnants of the Khazars, Kypchaks, Volga-Bulgar and others. They later formed into what we know of as Desht-i Kypchak, a tribal federation composed of various Turkic clans. What we must understand is that, there were no such thing as Cumania or the Cuman-Kypchak Empire, due to the lack of central authority. Instead, each region that comes under this "federation" were governed by independent khans and chieftains, meddling with the tribal politics, and sometimes interacting (or waging war) with their slavic, Persian and finno-ugric neighbors.

What interesting about these steppe turkic people is their customs and cultures. To the Europeans who settled in their castles and accustomed to the "feudal" way of life and to the Muslims who were known foe their artistic works and scholars, the steppe people would probably been viewed similar as to what the ancient romans viewed the "Barbarians" centuries ago. Their practice of animal husbandry, drinking horse-blood, living in portable tents, having a nomadic lifestyle, and the lack of cultural/scientific could be considered as backwards by their more settled neighbors. But their warfare, from the use of belt, military drums, signals (in the form of whistling arrow and others), Curved Sword as well as lamellar armor, became influential in shaping the warfare of most middle-eastern, Persian, and Eastern European culture.

Also, If one were to speak of Women Warriors in the middle ages, in my opinion, the Cumans and Other Turkic Steppe people would fit in the category. Their women were not only known for their beautiful features, but also their horsemanship and skills in archery, and often rode alongside their men in battle. Not only that, women in the turkic society occupies important position and were equally respected in their society.