Re: [RC] Mongol Riders//was: OUTRAGE - the Mongol Derby - Truman Prevatt
When I attended Army War College, I wrote my thesis on, would you
believe it the great technological advances, that changed warfare. The
stirrup was one such and is felt to be to by most military historians
the most significant invention in warfare prior to gunpowder. I did
quite a bit of research on the lowly stirrup.
There is some evidence that earlest stirrup goes back to about 500 to
400 BC in India. Buddhist carvings in the temples of Sanchi, Mathura
and the Bhaja caves dating back between the 1st and 2nd century BC
figure horsemen riding with elaborate saddles with feet slipped under
girths. In this regard Sir John Marshall described the Sanchi relief as
"the earliest example by some five centuries of the use of stirrups in
any part of the world". A single stirrup was used as a mounting aid by
a nomadic group known as the Sarmatians (Persia) in the first century
BC.
This time line coincides with the development of the solid tree saddle
that goes back to about 200 BC. However, the first solid tree saddles
(used by the Romans) did not have stirrups. The first dependable
representation of a rider with paired stirrups was found in China in a
Jin Dynasty tomb of about 322 AD. The stirrup appeared to be in
widespread use across China by 477 AD.
By the 7th century, primarily due to invaders from Central Asia, such
as the Avars, stirrups spread across Asia to Europe. By the 8th
century, they appear to have been adopted by the Europeans. Among other
advantages, stirrups provided greater balance and support to the rider,
which allowed the knight to use a sword more efficiently without
falling, especially against infantry adversaries. Contrary to common
image, stirrups do not enable the horseman to use a lance more
effectively, but a cantled saddle does. It has been long argued that
the Battle of Hastings ( around 1000 AD) was decided in a large part
because of the where the Normans conquered England was decided because
of the stirrup.
The stirrup goes back well prior to Kahn and the Mongolian empire in
the 13th and 14th century.
Truman
Beverley H. Kane, MD wrote:
Ah, yes. The Parthian ("parting") shot, performed at a full gallop . But
they didn't have stirrups, which hadn't been invented yet. - BK
On 6/30/09 7:57 AM, "Barbara McCrary" <bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
One of the tactics of Genghis Khan's warriors was to attack, then turn tail
and run away. THEN...they would stand in the stirrups, turn around and
shoot arrows at the pursuers. It worked wonderfully well.
Barbara
-- “I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in
pseudoscience
“I maintain there is much more wonder in science
than in
pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any
meaning,
science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one,
of
being true.” Carl Sagan
