Mughal archery
I have become very interested in the Mughal period of archery and the related gear. I would appreciate any input of information as to the bows in particular the North Indian crab bow , their performance and the related gear , quivers ,costume and so forth. Any information photos , images or where to find it would be greatly appreciated.
All the best,
Alan
All the best,
Alan
G N Pant. Indian Archery; Garg Offset works, New Deli. Second edition 1995.
Thanx Jack I have heard of this book , and plan to order it this week.
Alan
Alan
Alan,
Frankly, Pant's book is full of misinformation, particularly in the Mughal period. He regularly misidentifies Safavid miniatures from Iran as Mughal paintings. The book's greatest advantage is its collection of photographs. In his defence, I should point out that many Safavid painters moved to India because of the greater tolerance and higher wages. The result was that there was a degree of high quality copying of paintings known to be produced in India that closely resemble the Safavid originals. You should also take into account that he was trying to cover the whole history of Indian archery from Vedic times to the present.
Much of the information, where accurate is derived from Paterson's work which would be better read in the original.
There are some very good books of mid-period Mughal miniatures, including the Hamzanameh, which show detailed depictions of bows, arrows, quivers and bow cases. Many are in large format with high quality reproduction.
Actual late quivers, the kind worn vertically from the belt, are illustrated in some works on Islamic armour and arms.
The Journal of the Society of Archer-antiquaries has a number of articles, including original translations by Edward McEwen, a very good article by Adam Karpowicz and several collections of material by Doug Elmy. I recommend the collected Journals on CD as a source.
Frankly, Pant's book is full of misinformation, particularly in the Mughal period. He regularly misidentifies Safavid miniatures from Iran as Mughal paintings. The book's greatest advantage is its collection of photographs. In his defence, I should point out that many Safavid painters moved to India because of the greater tolerance and higher wages. The result was that there was a degree of high quality copying of paintings known to be produced in India that closely resemble the Safavid originals. You should also take into account that he was trying to cover the whole history of Indian archery from Vedic times to the present.
Much of the information, where accurate is derived from Paterson's work which would be better read in the original.
There are some very good books of mid-period Mughal miniatures, including the Hamzanameh, which show detailed depictions of bows, arrows, quivers and bow cases. Many are in large format with high quality reproduction.
Actual late quivers, the kind worn vertically from the belt, are illustrated in some works on Islamic armour and arms.
The Journal of the Society of Archer-antiquaries has a number of articles, including original translations by Edward McEwen, a very good article by Adam Karpowicz and several collections of material by Doug Elmy. I recommend the collected Journals on CD as a source.
Some of Latham/Patterson's research notes relating to archery were bequeathed to ATARN when Prof. Latham died. They are with me here.