"... And against them, they could not withstand anywhere and they are not able to fight against them". Arms and Military Tactical Aspect of the Kalmyk-Nogai and Kalmyk-Tatar Wars during the first half - middle of the 17 <sup>th </sup>century
This paper considers the main stages of military expansion of Oirats (Kalmyks) in western Dasht-i Kipchak in the first half - mid-17 <sup>th</sup> century as well as weaponry and tactical aspects of the Kalmyk-Nogai and Kalmyk-Tatar wars during a given historical period. The author has identified four stages of the Kalmyk military expansion: in the Trans-Volga region (1607-1634), in the Volga region and Caucasus (1635-1644), in Volga region (1645-1653), and in Caucasus and Northern Black Sea Coast (1654-1667). The article contains the analysis of weaponry complex and military tactics of the Crimean Tatars, Nogays, and Oirats in the 16 <sup>th</sup> - the first half of the 17 <sup>th</sup> centuries. The Kalmyk success in the wars against the Turkic nomads was not only caused by political weakness of the Nogai hordes and their allies but also by military factors including a perfect complex of cavalry weapons and effective tactics of equestrian battle. Among the major military and tactical innovations brought by the Kalmyks from Central Asia to Eastern Europe was light spear and mass shielded cavalry. The Kalmyk-Nogai and Kalmyk-Tatar wars had a significant impact on the evolution of the warfare of the regional peoples. For example, the use of light spear cavalry was borrowed by the Turkic nomads and Russian Cossacks. This military practice became widespread in Poland through the Polish-Lithuanian Tatars. On the basis of an irregular light spear cavalry, a new kind of European regular cavalry gradually developed in Poland and became widely known as the “ulans”.