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Last Page Update:
March 6, 2001
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Norman J. Finkelshteyn
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Tugh - Animal Hair Banner
"...in Turco-Mongol Central Asia ...the tug (horse-tail banner) also used yak and big-cat tails; five, seven or nine being reserved for a ruler or subordinate khan during the pre-Islamic period. Smaller tugs were also attached to war-drums."
(Nicolle, Sourcebook)
"...the Central Asian tug or yak-tailed pennant ...entered the Middle East with various waves of Turkish nomads and soldiers. The number of tails indicated rank, and although this device had pagan origins it continued to be used by many Turco-Muslim armies such as that of the Ottoman Empire where... [it] was called tugh. Here six tails were reserved for the Sultan, lesser numbers being used by senior officers. Variations on the tugh were seen in post-Mongol Iran where it was sometimes combined with an ordinary flag, and also among various Anatolian dervish brotherhoods where very simple forms of tugh had tufts of wool instead of animals' tails..."
(Nicolle, Sourcebook)
NOTE: The above assertion by Dr. Nicolle MUST NOT be read to say that the combination of Flag with Tugh was a "post-Mongol Iran" innovation. The same appears on 12th century Chinese art showing Turkic tribesmen. It was thus likely imported to Iran by the Mongols, or earlier Turkic tribes.
- Norman Finkelshteyn
Citations to "Nicolle, Sourcebook" are to - David Nicolle, Medieval Warfare Sourcebook: Christian Europe and its Neighbors, Brokhampton Press, London, 1998.
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