The Silk Road Designs Armoury

Russian society from it's very beginnings was a blending of Slav, Scandinavian, and Turk elements. In early finds, such as the drinking horn from Chernaya Mogila, Scandinavian and Slavic imagery already blends with a Turk sensibility about the Bow - used on the horn as the symbol of the power of the New force defeating the Old.
(The horn's main image is of two warriors with bows. An arrow is nearing one of them. Interpretations include the "Golden Bough" type battle of the Young Hero replacing the Old King and the more political symbol of the defeat of the Khazar Kaganate by the Russ.)

Important even then, the bow gained in importance with further influences from new Central Asian forces, culminating after the conquest of Russia by the Mongols, during the cultural hegemony of the Golden Horde. Just as the early Russ rulers took on the trappings of their Turk predecessors, so the Tsar, becoming the inheritor of Mongol power, took on the symbols of that power. As such, the ceremonial bow and arrow case, constructed after the Mongol style became part of the regalia of the Tsar. Similarly, in their final form as they come to us today, the Russian legends and folk tales reflect a Central Asian sensibility about the bow. In these tales, as in those of the Turks and Mongols, the bow is the central part of the hero's equipment, often pivotal as the agent of the tale.
(Thus, for example, in "The Frog Princess", the three sons shoot their bows and where each arrow falls determines who the shooter of the arrow will marry. Thus, also, in the tragedy of Dunai and his warrior bride, the drunken Dunai chooses the bow for his fatal test of prowess with his wife.)

Islamic literature says that Mohammed was an archer. Whether this assertion is true or not, it indicates the place of the Bow in the society that attempted to use Mohammed's teachings as example. It is hard to say what the place of the bow was in early Arabic culture, and whether it was the influence of the Turk nomads that brought it to its prominence, but certainly by the height of the middle ages, the bow was the most noble weapon - one worthy of the person held by that society to be God's greatest prophet.

The bow was also of primary importance in Japan. While it was later eclipsed by the sword, the bow was the main weapon of the Samurai from the mainland incursions of the 6th century to the coming of the Mongols in the 14th century.

In contrast, the Central Asian nomadic peoples were mounted nations without land, or need for fortifications. As the chief weapon of such a people, the nomad bow was used from horseback as the center of a very mobile theory of war. Without slowing his horse, the Central Asiatic Nomad shot his bow both on the advance and in retreat. Using this skill, the nomad's mode of fighting was characterized by swift attacks and withdrawals. Much to the dismay of the Roman Legionaries, and later the European Knights, the Nomads harried the enemy, doing their best to never get within reach, drawing that enemy further and further into unknown territory and away from supply and reinforcement, while depleting the enemy's strength.
(This type of fighting may have been the genesis of the Chinese military strategy of combining swift mobile attacks and feigned retreats ("being as the Dao - yielding to strength and getting underneath"). A sort of "unconscious memory" of this style of war may also have been the origin of the warfare so successful in Russia recently (both in Napoleon's and the German invasions) where the enemy was pulled deeper and deeper into unknown and unfriendly territory to be eventually cut-off and destroyed.)

This military tactic also required a different method of riding the horse then that used by others. Because the nomad's most crucial maneuvering was done with both hands occupied with bow and arrow, horses were trained to respond to commands from the legs of the rider as well as the reins.

This Mounted Archery was adopted by most of the peoples influenced by the Central Asian Nomads. In Russia, Persia, Turkey, India and China the image of the noble warrior became the mounted archer.

Oddly for such a feudal and castle bound place, a form of Mounted Archery was the major tactic during the development of the Japanese Warrior culture. As mentioned elsewhere (the Armour of Bands page), prior to the arrival of the Mongols, war in Japan was carried on in the following highly ritualized manner: Armies of mounted, armoured knights (Samurai) would form up facing each other. One warrior would ride from his line towards the enemy, to the cheers of his comrades and jeers and arrows of the enemy, shooting as he came. After making a circuit, he returned to his line and another warrior rode out from either side. This form of warfare was of the greatest importance in the development of Japanese armour (see the Armour of Bands paragraph on Japanese Armour for details).

Most commonly these bows are also "Compound" - meaning that they are made from several pieces rather than being of one piece. Most commonly, the "ears" of the bow (the last portion, which culminates in the notch for the string) were made separately from the body. Almost as commonly, the body itself was made in two pieces (joining at the middle) or, in the best cases, three (the handle, and the two sides). In India the "ears" themselves were often made of two to three pieces each - making for a total of nine parts.

Finally, these bows were often "Composite" - made from several materials joined together. Usually, this was "ears" of wood and bone, a body "core" of wood, a "belly" of horn, and a "back" of sinew. In places were wood was not readily available, Bamboo was used instead.

While some of the bows were simply a one-piece Recurve, and others were Recurve-Compound, made of several pieces of wood, the best Central Asian Bows combined all three characteristics.
Such a bow was formed and all the parts were bonded over the period of a year or longer. At the end of this process, the combination of shaping, materials, and seasoning produced a weapon of unparalleled quality.

The Central Asian bow, as described above, was used throughout the East, from Russia, Persia, and Turkey, to India and China. On the other hand, while Japanese archery was strongly influenced by and paralleled the Central Asian style, the Japanese bow was quite different. Several Japanese bows existed, with the most well known being an extremely large (sometimes up to 8 feet long) bow, made in one piece and curved in a very distinctive manner (often characterized as similar to the human spine). As the bow was shot from horseback, the arrow rested not halfway down the body of the bow, but far lower, at approximately the last quarter.

An Archer's "Thumb Ring" shown worn. Two views of the same ring are shown at the top of this page. This ring is made of deer antler and the design is cut in and tinted with leather dye.

In the "Mediterranean release", the method of firing originating in the Mediterranean and used throughout Europe, the bow string is pulled by two or three fingers, with the arrow resting against the string between the pointer and middle finger. The arrow is placed to the outside of the bow's body - that is, assuming the bow is held in the left hand, the arrow is to the left of the bow.

To protect the shooting fingers, the European archer wears a glove or a leather tab over the fingers. To protect the arm holding the bow from the snap of the string upon releasing, a bracer is worn, sometimes made of leather, but often, historically, made of bone, antler, or even stone.

In contrast, the Eastern archer pulls the bow string with his thumb.
There are several specific techniques, but basically, the string is held by the bent thumb, with the edge of the thumb held between pointer and middle finger. The arrow rests above the thumb. With this "Thumb release", the arrow experiences different tensions than with the "Mediterranean release", and therefore is placed to the inside of the bow - in relation to a bow held in the left hand, the arrow would be placed to the right of the bow.

To protect the thumb from the extreme force of the powerful bow, most Eastern archers wore a thumb ring. In Persia, Turkey, and India, as well as lands related to the three, these rings were commonly of antler, bone, or stone, and sometimes of metal. The ring expanded somewhat on the side held towards the bow string, creating a small ledge for it. The expansion was sometimes curved in the opposite shape to that of the thumb so as to hold the string more securely, but more commonly curved with the thumb, so that the string was released smoothly as the thumb was opened. A simpler thumb ring was made from leather - a piece of heavy leather was cut in a "T" shape with the ring being the cross-bar of the "T" and a tab to protect the inside of the thumb being the very stubby leg of the "T".

In China, the ring differed somewhat, with the expansion being a simple square, made most commonly of stone. In Japan, instead of a ring, a glove was worn with the thumb and pointer finger reinforced by stiff leather.

During battle, the arm holding the bow was protected from any snap by the armour that was coincidentally worn. However, no special protection was used, and no protection was used in competition, practice, or the hunt. This is because, when fired with proper technique, the bow rotated slightly and the string moved so as not to hit the bow hand. The pain of the string's snap, and the welts left, were a powerful aid in developing proper technique.

As an illustration of the noble status of archery, thumb rings were carried as ceremonial regalia and were often carved and decorated with precious metals and stones, or made from precious metals or semi-precious stones. Moreover, thumb ring manufacture, and somewhat less often the manufacture of bows was the hobby of many Eastern leaders (who were often quite good at it), who gave the thumb rings and bows they had made as presents to favored courtiers or to other royalty.

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