Did Persian warriors wear turbans

Answer 1

It depends on the time period. If you mean ancient Persians like the ones that fought the Greeks, then NO. They wore conical helmets and scale-mail with padded clothing. Films like Alexander and 300 show some Persians with Arab headdresses (not turbans) that cover the face. This is FALSE. Only 2 tribes in the Persian Empire (Parthians and Arians) covered their face, and it was NOT in the Arab style. They never fought in Greece either.

Now if you are referring to Persians AFTER the Islamic conquest, then yes some of them did wear turbans or similar headgear. HOWEVER, turbans in Iran and the rest of the Islamic world were most commonly worn by Mullahs (religious scholars) rather than by soldiers. Persian soldiers largely continued wearing the conical helmets of their ancestors, only this time they replaced scale mail with chain mail (like what you see Saladin wear in Kingdom Of Heaven - even non-Persian Muslims adopted this armor). Soldiers wearing turbans would have had little head protection from arrows, that's why they tended to go fo the helmets, or sometimes even merge the two.