Persian Archery

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 4:11 am

Persian Archery and Swordsmanship: Historical Martial Arts of Iran

I know there is a topic on the above ^ title, but I was wondering if there were any other translations of the manuscripts that were used in this book that involved Persian Archery techniques. We hear plenty of Arab and Saracen Archery manuals but not of Persian ones.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 12:45 am

As far as I know from Dr Khorasani, these are all translated for the first time. Most of the other Persian archery texts that have been translated into English are Persian language texts from India translated by McEwen. Scholars knew of the texts, but there were not many available in Europe and so many other things for translators to work on. Dr Khorasani sourced his copies of the manuscripts in most cases from collections in Iran.

Here are two of McEwen's publications:

McEwen Edward, (1974), ?Persian Archery Texts: Chapter Eleven of the Fakhr-i Muddabir?s Ādāb al-Ḥarb? , Islamic Quarterly, Vol. XVIII No.s 3 & 4, London: Islamic Cultural Centre.

McEwen, Edward, (2001), ?Persian Archery Texts The Hidāyat al-Rāmī and the Kullīyāt al-Rāmī?, Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries, Vol. 44, pp. 45-52, England.

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Wed May 07, 2014 9:43 pm

Since this topic highlights Persian Archery, what are the most "major" texts by Persians/Iranians which explicate Persian archery techniques?

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Thu May 08, 2014 8:10 am

At this stage, we are not in a position to clearly identify the principal Persian archery texts. The ones translated so far in "Persian Archery and Swordsmanship" are only the tip of the iceberg;Dr Khorasani has found many more manuscripts, which he will be translating as soon as he has time.

However, so far the Safavid texts seem to be the most comprehensive. Judging from the Arabic texts which have been studied but not translated, there are earlier Persian authorities that may be found. In terms of significance, the "Adab al-Harb" text translated by McEwen is very important because it has early references to techniques and anecdotal accounts of how archery was used in battle and what was expected of expert archers.

The "Nowruznama" chapter is illuminating of the intellectual milieu of archery at the time of Omar Khayyam.

What I have found particularly illuminating is how widespread certain practices and techniques were. In the past we have been likely to assign something to Turkish or Arab archery, when these texts have shown most ideas were circulating for centuries and were not tied to any one culture.

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Thu May 08, 2014 2:00 pm

That's very interesting...where can one find a pdf of Adab al-Harb? Is it the same as Adab al-Mamluk?

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Sat May 10, 2014 11:52 am

Not the same. I haven't seen a pdf on line for it. Here is the full reference.
McEwen Edward, (1974), ?Persian Archery Texts: Chapter Eleven of the Fakhr-i Muddabir?s Ādāb al-Ḥarb? , Islamic Quarterly, Vol. XVIII No.s 3 & 4, London: Islamic Cultural Centre