From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Truman
Prevatt Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 12:04 PM To: Beverley
H. Kane, MD; RideCamp List Subject: Re: [RC] Mongol Riders//was:
OUTRAGE - the Mongol Derby
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. 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
