The term "samurai" comes from the Japanese word saburau, meaning "to serve," and was first used in A.D. 702 to describe mid-to-low-ranking court administrators and, later, armed imperial guards.

A group of the fighting elite, trained in martial arts, these highly disciplined men and women, with their light armour and super sharp blades, made European knights look like clumsy amateurs. And the ...

Together with their renowned martial capabilities, these characteristics made the samurai what historian Stephen Turnbull calls "the knights of old Japan." In this interactive time line ...