The Parthian Shot Newsletter of the British Horseback Archery Association
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The Parthian Shot Newsletter of the British Horseback Archery Association Issue 1, November 2009 Welcome to the Parthian Shot, occasional newsletter of the BHAA. In this inaugural issue we hope to give you an insight into the world of horseback archery from both a historical and contemporary viewpoint. In this newsletter you can expect to find articles on the finer points of riding techniques, archery skills, and opinion pieces regarding all aspects of horseback archery; including some historical background into the life and times of mounted archers throughout history. So without further ado let us saddle up with the Scythians - the original horse archers. The Scythians by Rick Lippiett Around 700 B.C., loosely allied nomad tribes conquered the steppes from the Carpathians to the Altai Mountains. The Greeks called them Scythians, the Persians named them “Saka” or “Saccae”. The related words derive from “skuza” - an ancient Indo-European word for archer (cf. English shoot). Scythians thought of themselves as the people of the bow and called themselves “Skolotoi”. Their livestock, which were their lifeblood, were fed by the grasslands; and thus the nomad tribes had to move every time their animals grazed the area clean. Horses were at the heart of this mobility Scythian Nobles - From a romanticised painting and nomads spent almost their whole lives on horseback. They were also an active warrior nation and the Scythian mounted Much of the surviving information about Herodotus mentions a royal tribe or clan, an archers were much feared across Asia the Scythians comes from the Greek elite which dominated the other Scythians. Minor. Scythian armies took an active part historian Herodotus (c. 440 BC) who, in his Their sociopolitical structure was complex in the attack against the Assyrian city of Histories, made a study of both their culture and generally followed a confederation of Nineveh, and were richly rewarded by the and their belief system. clans – very similar to the Celtic tribes that Egyptian Pharaoh himself. would later come to dominate them in the “The Scythians do not have cities, no West. In the Bible, Jeremiah 5:15-16 says of them: fortified dwellings. All of them are horsemen armed with bows. No enemy can run from Often, compacts were made, sealed with “It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient them, because they are people who carry blood, when family connections didn’t nation, a nation whose language you do not their homes with them, people who do not exist. This was “blood-brotherhood”. A know, nor can you understand what they have cities or forts, and every one of them relationship sealed with blood was taken say. Their quiver is like an open grave, all of are riding bowmen. A nation like that is very seriously and a man would have them are mighty men.” invincible and unapproachable.“ sacrificed his own life for his blood-brother. Footnote: What was the Parthian Shot? The Parthian shot was a military tactic made famous by the Parthians, an ancient Iranian people. The Parthian archers, mounted on light horses, would feign retreat; then, while at a full gallop, turn their bodies back to shoot at the pursuing enemy. The manoeuvre required superb equestrian skills, since the rider’s hands were occupied by his bow. This tactic was used by most Eurasian nomads, including the Scythians, Huns, Magyars, Turks and Mongols and later Byzantine & Sassanids. At the Battle of Carrhae the Parthian shot was a principal factor in the Parthian victory over the Roman general Crassus. The Parthian Shot Newsletter of the British Horseback Archery Association Their physical features and stature are very evident from artwork depicted on Scythian coins and Grecian pottery – in the latter there is also some evidence of their colouring; including the oft-mentioned red and blonde hair.1 Scythians had a taste for elaborate personal jewellery, weapon-ornaments and horse- trappings. They executed Central-Asian animal motifs with Greek realism. They commonly used motifs on their possessions that were the so-called “Siberian animals” - a sort of mystical combination of different animals, from gryphons, to stags, eagles and of course their beloved horses. Warrior belts were made of leather, often with gold or other metal adornments and had many attached leather thongs for fastening of the owner’s gorytos (bow case), sword, whet stone, whip and axe. Scythian horsemen rode with no stirrups or saddles – merely a saddle-cloth. Scythian Culture - A set of modern Ukrainian stamps Herodutus goes on to describe them: “The Saccae, or Scyths, were clad in trousers, The intact artefacts from these “kurgans” Southern Russia a kindred tribe, the and had on their heads tall stiff caps rising show the Scythians’ interaction with Sarmatians, gradually overwhelmed them. to a point. They bore the bow of their country the developed cultures of the time and In the South and East they were either and the dagger; besides which they carried also their relative wealth in the form of subjugated or assimilated into the Parthian the battle-axe, or sagaris.” exquisitely worked gold. Some of that tribes. wealth was no doubt derived from being the The religious beliefs of the Scythians intermediators between west and far-east, Many nations would later claim to descend were a type of pre-Zoroastrian religion. and taxing the goods passing through on from the warlike horse-nomads. In the Archeological evidence has confirmed the the “silk road”. Artefacts extracted from the Ukraine and Crimea the fearsome Cossacks use of cannabis in funeral rituals, and the tombs prove that Scythians were excellent claimed descent from the mounted horse- drug was also used to induce trance and herders, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, bow lords - such as the famous Zaporozhian divination by soothsayers. Herodotus also makers, carpenters, coopers, and potters, Horde (as romanticised in Nicolai Gogol’s reported that Scythians regularly used and that their women had mastered Taras Bulba). It has even been argued that cannabis, both to weave their clothing and weaving, braiding, and felt making. They the Scythian peoples were the founders to cleanse themselves in its smoke for ritual traded with the Greeks and there was some of Celtic tribes of Scotland (Scotae) and purification. transmigration between the peoples - the Ireland, and the Germanic tribes such as Scythian philosopher Anacharsis visited the Saxons. Interestingly most of the latter Tombs excavated in the Southern Ukraine Athens in the 6th century B.C. and became seem to have placed less importance on have revealed important insights into their a legendary sage. the horse and the art of horseback archery culture. These tombs, or “kurgans” were seems to have been lost entirely as they about 50 square meters of surface, and 4-5 During the 3rd Century B.C., in the migrated West. 2 meters deep underground. The burial site aftermath of several defeats to the Greeks was covered by piling large rocks over it, and Macedonians under Alexander the In the East, Scythian influences have been and then earth over the rocks, so it looked Great (and his father Philip before him), identified all through China and even as far like a hill from a distance. In the Carpathian the Empire of the Scythians started to afield as Korea and Japan. Various Korean basin, especially the middle and northeast disintegrate somewhat. By the 1st century artefacts, such as the royal crowns of the of Hungary, several of these burial hills can BC the Celts seem to have displaced the kingdom of Silla, are said to be of Scythian be found. Scythians from the Balkans. while in design. Footnote: Blonde & Red-headed Asians? 1. There have been some studies of the mitochondrial DNA of the skeletons found in some Scythian “kurgans”. Skeletons discovered in kurgans in the Altai Republic showed characteristics “of mixed Euro- Mongoloid origin” – so the blonde & red-haired colouring and its origin remains a mystery. The Parthian Shot Newsletter of the British Horseback Archery Association THE BATTLE OF JAXARTES 329 B.C. 1 The battle itself was forced upon Alexander the Great; he had already decided to accept the river Jaxartes as the north-eastern frontier of his empire, as it had been before. While the Macedonians started construction on a new city to mark the frontier, the native Sogdians revolted. During the suppression of the Sogdian rebels, and the heavy fighting that followed, an army of mounted nomadic warriors appeared north of the Jaxartes, eager to join in the struggle and take away the loot. Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander had inflicted a crushing defeat on the Scythians in 339BC, killing one of the last kings of the second Scythian empire, Ateus. Revenge and retribution would also play a factor in their willingness to attack the Macedonian armies. The Saccae had occupied the northern bank of the Jaxartes, confident that they could beat Alexander’s men as they disembarked, but underestimating the harmony with which the Macedonian artillery, fleet, cavalry, and infantry collaborated. Firstly Alexander ordered that the crossing would take place en masse, so that the mounted enemy archers would be faced with more targets than they could strike at; and he ordered his artillery to cover the soldiers in the ships. (Catapults have a longer range of fire than bows.) The Saccae were thus forced from the banks by the powerful catapult and siege bows. For the Macedonians, it was now easy to cross the Jaxartes. In all likelihood the Scythians would normally have withdrawn at this point. However Alexander wanted to neutralise the threat to his borders from the nomad armies once and for all and was not about to let the enemy get away so easily.