Archery in the Punjab region of India
Does any body have any information on the SIKH archers in India, Ihave not seen any examples of bows from that region(i expect them to be of mughal design)I find many mentions of the sikh archers in the Sikh texts and legends but never have i found any examoles of their bows,even in meusems all over India and even in the Golden temple meusem which houses the weapons of the most prominent sikh leaders and generals.I would appericiate any information on the subject.Thanks.P.J.Singh
Try the Grayson Archery Collection http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayson/grayson.shtml
I am not sure how helpful this is, as it doesn't have anything on specifically Sikh bows, but there is a Sind bow featured under 'Archery Equipment of the Islamic Crescent' and an Afghani bow under 'Archery Equipment of Tribal Asia and Oceania'
http://www.atarn.org/letters/ltr_dec04.htm Has information on a steel Mughal bow.
Good luck with your search.
Mike H
I am not sure how helpful this is, as it doesn't have anything on specifically Sikh bows, but there is a Sind bow featured under 'Archery Equipment of the Islamic Crescent' and an Afghani bow under 'Archery Equipment of Tribal Asia and Oceania'
http://www.atarn.org/letters/ltr_dec04.htm Has information on a steel Mughal bow.
Good luck with your search.
Mike H
I believe there are some references to Sikh archers using steel bows.
I am not sure if I have seen illustrations of that, but I can check. I doubt that there would be much use of archery by the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, but before the modernisation of the Khalsa there should be some records. I think archery survived longer under the Rajputs, thought there are records of archers during the siege of Delhi by the British. So the Moghuls must have had some archers in their army.
There is no reason that the tradition of archery would not have survived among the Sikhs as a sport and a martial art as it did in other parts of India.
I have seen the Sind bows in the Grayson Collection and they bear a resemblance to the large Afghan bow also in the collection. I believe the Sindis were generally Moslem rather than Sikh.
I am not sure if I have seen illustrations of that, but I can check. I doubt that there would be much use of archery by the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, but before the modernisation of the Khalsa there should be some records. I think archery survived longer under the Rajputs, thought there are records of archers during the siege of Delhi by the British. So the Moghuls must have had some archers in their army.
There is no reason that the tradition of archery would not have survived among the Sikhs as a sport and a martial art as it did in other parts of India.
I have seen the Sind bows in the Grayson Collection and they bear a resemblance to the large Afghan bow also in the collection. I believe the Sindis were generally Moslem rather than Sikh.
Thanks for the information,archery has survived with the sikhs but barely,In all the years i lived in india I saw only 3 sikh archers,They were the Nihangs who were the bodyguards of the Guru.every year on the 13th of April the sikhs gather at Anandpur in punjab for the celebrations for the founding of the khalsa,all manner of traditional sports are practiced there during the celebrations(tent pegging,gathka,chakra fighting techniques)and i saw only 3 archers,their bows were made with bamboo with steel springs on the limbs to give more tencion,alas no recurves.I am trying to get more information from the different locations in India where the Nihangs gather to find out if there are any more archers among them with recurves and if anyone amongst them still knows how to make traditional bows.I would appericiate if anyone has any more info on the subject,thanks,P.J.
Thank you Mr,Hardman the process you describe is still in use today,there is one rajput weaponmaker who still uses this process in his work,all I know is that he is located in Jodhpur(Rajisthan).I know for a fact that his family has been doing this work for generations and have often been comissioned by the royal families of the region to make swords and daggers for them to be worn on marriages and special occasions,i am trying to find out if they are still able to make working bows.as soon as i have any definate information I will post it for archery lovers to utilize.Thanks.P.J.
From , Indian and Oriental Arms and Armor, by Lord Egerton of Tatton, p127:
"The rapid rise in the power of the Sikhs was to a great extent due to the adoption by them of improved weapons and methods of warfare.
The early force of the Sikhs was composed of horsemen, but they seem intuitively to have adopted the new and formidable matchlock of recent times, instead of the ancestral bow, and the spear common to every nation.
The peculiar arms of the contending nations of the last century passed into a proverb, and the phrase "Mahatta spear, Afghan sword, the Sikh matchlock, and the English cannon' is still of common repetition.'"
p 129-129 The quoit is worn only by the Akalis, who are armed to the teeth. They wear, in obedience to their founder, the tenth Guru, Govind nothing but steel and blue cotton cloth, STEEL BOW, sword, shield, brace of horse pistols, or collection of daggers, and sometimes as many as six war quoits around the arm and on top of their high conical turban. " -j-
"The rapid rise in the power of the Sikhs was to a great extent due to the adoption by them of improved weapons and methods of warfare.
The early force of the Sikhs was composed of horsemen, but they seem intuitively to have adopted the new and formidable matchlock of recent times, instead of the ancestral bow, and the spear common to every nation.
The peculiar arms of the contending nations of the last century passed into a proverb, and the phrase "Mahatta spear, Afghan sword, the Sikh matchlock, and the English cannon' is still of common repetition.'"
p 129-129 The quoit is worn only by the Akalis, who are armed to the teeth. They wear, in obedience to their founder, the tenth Guru, Govind nothing but steel and blue cotton cloth, STEEL BOW, sword, shield, brace of horse pistols, or collection of daggers, and sometimes as many as six war quoits around the arm and on top of their high conical turban. " -j-