Some Remarks on the Headgear of the Royal Türks

Abstract

This article was inspired by Etsuko Kageyama’s thoughtful study on Hephthalite crowns in one of the last issues of this journal.1 At one point she briefly touches upon the question of the crown of the Türks (the successors of the Hephthalites in Western Central Asia), by referring to the differences between the crowns of the Türks and those of the Hephthalites. But in fact, our knowledge of “Turkic” crowns from the mid-sixth to the mid-eighth century is rather scanty. In this article I will offer a critical overview of this topic while at the same time introducing some relevant monuments up until now neglected in the discussion.