ABOUT THE BIT WITH S-SHAPED CHECKPIECES FROM THE SUNGAK BURIAL GROUND

Abstract

The article in detail describes the bit with two-sided bit shanks, identified in the Sungak burial ground, and
highlights the formation and evolution of the bits and bit shanks. As the primary means of horse control,
these devices were popularized during the early nomadic period and improved along with the development
of metalwork. The bits were often as important as war chariots and saddles. A rider armed with one was more
likely to keep his balance in combat. This ensured that the rider on the horse could duly control the horse. By
the time of the Turkic Khaganate, iron horse equipment had developed as an important branch of manufacturing
for the Turks, who were skilled in blacksmithing. Nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples lived side by side in
the mountainous areas of Chach, strategically important to the Khaganate. In the middle of the 1st millennium
A.D., along with increasing urbanization, the area saw the resettlement of nomadic peoples in the mountains
and partial sedentarization. The discovery of such horse equipment in the mountainous regions of Chach makes
it possible to shed light on the activities of the Turkic Khaganate, whose army was based on cavalry.