Takabara was a unit in the Persian

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

army. They appear in some references related to the

Greco-Persian wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of th ...

, but little is known about them. According to Greek sources they were a tough type of

peltasts A ''peltast'' ( grc-gre, πελταστής ) was a type of light infantryman, originating in Thrace and Paeonia, and named after the kind of shield he carried. Thucydides mentions the Thracian peltasts, while Xenophon in the Anabasis distin ...

.Nicholas Sekunda, ''The Persian Army 560-330 BC'', page 30, 1992, Osprey Publishing. Takabara nevertheless were more garrison warriors than front line fighters as proved against the well-armed

Hoplites Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The f ...

of Greece where they were easily defeated in hand to hand conflict.{{Citation needed, date=August 2011 They tended to fight with their own native weapons which would have included a crescent-shaped light wickerwork

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...

and a type of light-axe called the Sagaris as well as light linen cloth and

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

. The Takabara were recruited from territories that incorporated modern Iraq and parts of Iran.

References

Military units and formations of the Achaemenid Empire