Daylamīs

There isn't a lot of information on the Daylamis from the Elburz mountains south of the Caspian Sea. To start with, here are extracts from a doctoral thesis The military technology of classical Islam, concerning Daylamis, by David Nicolle.
plus the pictorial sources referred to including:
Manuscript, 'Joshua' Rabula Gospels, 586 AD, north Syrian, Bib. Laur. Plut. 1, f.4r, Florence
Fatimid Manuscript with two soldiers, 11th - 12th Centuries, Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo
Paper fragment, 11th-12th centuries AD, Fatimid, Museum of Islamic Art no. 12801, Cairo
Byzantine Plates - Herakleios, early 7th century, with scenes from the life of David, Metropolitan Museum, New York
Manuscript from Mosul, Kitab al Diryak, mid-13th century AD, Nationalbibliothek, Ms. AF. 10, Vienna
Manuscript, 13th century AD, Syriac Jazirah, Bib. Vat., Ms. Syr. 559, Rome
Ceramic fragment, 10th-11th centuries AD, Fatimid, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Manuscript, Book of Fixed Stars, 1009 AD, western Iranian or Iraq, Bodleian Lib., Ms. Marsh 144, Oxford

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

The way in which they are described(based on the doctoral article and sources) leads me to believe that their primary weapon was their peculiar 'javelin' both in ranged and melee combat.
It appears that they functioned essentially as 'shortspearmen' with multiple spears, and were as heavily armoured as they could afford and was practical. Functionally, a light spear and a heavy javelin are the same. Just a pointed stick, less than 2 meters long, handy and still deadly with the thrust.

matmohair1 said:

Spoiler

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Matmohair1, I am interested to know the source of the design on the shield for this one?

Contemporary descriptions of the zupin are usually translated as '2-bladed' or '2-pronged', that could be a pitch-fork, or a spearhead with a waist as preferred by David Nicolle, or a spear with a head at each end as in a Daylami Tribesman by Ian Heath in Armies of the Dark Ages 600-1066
Possibilities include:
Detail of top, Morgan Casket, Southern Italy, 11th-12th century
Detail of front, Morgan Casket, Southern Italy, 11th-12th century
Rear of ivory casket, Fatimid Sicily or Southern Italy, 11th-12th Centuries. Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, Berlin

See a summary of the written sources for Dailamis

Daylami Infantryman, early 11th century by Angus McBride is based on:
. 10th century plate excavated at Nishapur, Museum of Oriental Art, no. 2629/3258, Rome (anyone have a better picture?)
. 'Book of Fixed Stars' (Kitab suwar al-kawakib al-tabita) by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Umar al-Sufi, 1009-10AD (Bodleian Library, Oxford, manuscript Marsh 144)

MIRROR SITES

Druzhina
11th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

A probable Daylami Fatimid Caliphal guard, early 11th century, by Angus McBride based on:
Fatimid Ivory Plaque of Two Soldiers, 10th century, Louvre
Ceramic fragment, 10th-11th centuries AD, Fatimid, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Fatimid Manuscript with two soldiers from Fustat, 11th - 12th Centuries, Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo
and an unknown painted paper fragment from Fustat, Louvre, Paris. (any ideas?)
Although one of the main features of this figure is the carrying of 2 javelins, none of the sources I have found have 2 javelins. The 4th source may be Paper fragment, 11th-12th centuries AD, Fatimid, Museum of Islamic Art no. 12801, Cairo (if which museum is mistaken) which has 2 javelins.

Druzhina
11th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers