| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Not invented yet
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not yet developed
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Not mentioned by sources.
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Not mentioned by sources.
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Absent in previous and subsequent polities
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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Hassig lists crossbows among the new military technologies the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG |
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Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
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Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
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This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
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This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
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not mentioned in any of the sources that deal with weapons and armor
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet.
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet.
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Not invented yet.
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-
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the sources mention machetes, rifles and arrows but to the best of our knowledge no other weapons were used at the time
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Diamond mentions the use of crossbows on hunting trips among swidden cultivators: ’Economic strategies vary. The Hua Miao were shifting-swidden agriculturalists, growing buckwheat, oats, corn, potatoes, and hemp, and using a simple wooden hand plow or hoe. Sheep and goats were fed on nearby pasture land. Additionally the Hua Miao hunted with crossbow and poisoned arrows and gathered foodstuffs in the forests.’
[1]
But the presence of firearms seems to make the active use of the crossbow in violent conflict less likely.
[1]: Diamond, Norma: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Miao |
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Not invented yet
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Diamond mentions the use of crossbows on hunting trips among swidden cultivators: ’Economic strategies vary. The Hua Miao were shifting-swidden agriculturalists, growing buckwheat, oats, corn, potatoes, and hemp, and using a simple wooden hand plow or hoe. Sheep and goats were fed on nearby pasture land. Additionally the Hua Miao hunted with crossbow and poisoned arrows and gathered foodstuffs in the forests.’
[1]
The presence of firearms seems to make the active use of the crossbow in violent conflict less likely. We need to confirm this.
[1]: Diamond, Norma: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Miao |
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"Crossbows first appeared in Chu in the early fifth century BC and were in general use in the fourth century BC."
[1]
From 340 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Tin-bor Hui 2005, n139 95) Tin-bor Hui, Victoria. 2005. War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press. [2]: (Meyer 1994, 132) Milton Walter Meyer. 1994. China: A Concise History. Second Edition, Revised. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham. |
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"Mounted warfare in Chinese armies began in the sixth century BCE, while the increasing projectile power of composite bows and especially the crossbow from the fifth century BCE led to the rise of heavy armour."
[1]
[1]: (Günergun and Raina 2010, 65) Günergun, Feza. Raina, Dhruv. 2010. Science between Europe and Asia: Historical Studies on the Transmission, Adoption and Adaptation of Knowledge. Springer Science & Business Media |
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No discussion in literature of this. In this case it is evidence of absence since this is in line with logical expectations for this late-complexity society.
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"the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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not yet developed
|
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not present during this time period
|
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"the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.
|
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|
Inferred from the absence of crossbows in past and future polities in Paris Basin
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Inferred from the absence of composite bows in past and future polities in Paris Basin
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"The crossbow, or arbaleste, was reintroduced into France ca. 950 and was commonly used thereafter to ca. 1550, primarily by special infantry units placed from ca. 1200 to 1534 under the overall authority of a grand master of the crossbowmen (arbalest[r]iers)."
[1]
[1]: (Boulton in Kibler et al 1995, 127) |
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"The crossbow, or arbaleste, was reintroduced into France ca. 950 and was commonly used thereafter to ca. 1550, primarily by special infantry units placed from ca. 1200 to 1534 under the overall authority of a grand master of the crossbowmen (arbalest[r]iers)."
[1]
[1]: (Boulton in Kibler et al 1995, 127) |
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|
"The crossbow, or arbaleste, was reintroduced into France ca. 950 and was commonly used thereafter to ca. 1550, primarily by special infantry units placed from ca. 1200 to 1534 under the overall authority of a grand master of the crossbowmen (arbalest[r]iers)."
[1]
[1]: (Boulton in Kibler et al 1995, 127) |
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Not listed: "Weapons, notably axes, clubs, swords, and daggers, seem to have been Indian, though the curved swords are of a later type than those on the Central Javanese reliefs. The reappearance of the spear in these reliefs, while the use of the bow is confined to human heroes, suggests an increasing pressure to resume use of local types of weapons."
[1]
[1]: (Powell 2002, 325) John Powell. 2002. Weapons & Warfare: Ancient and medieval weapons and warfare (to 1500). Salem Press. |
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|
"The hand crossbow was used on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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|
NB: The following refers to a different era and place. Known to Chinese in the first millennium BCE but Vedic literature does not describe anything like a crossbow although Pant suggests "the weapon mentioned as the nalika in ancient Sanskrit literature was a crossbow."
[1]
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
Mauryan soldiers only known to use self-bows & compound bows.
[1]
Known to Chinese in the first millennium BCE but Vedic literature does not describe anything like a crossbow although Pant suggests "the weapon mentioned as the nalika in ancient Sanskrit literature was a crossbow."
[2]
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[2]
[1]: Sen, Sailendra Nath. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International, 1999. p. 388 [2]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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|
Not mentioned by sources.
|
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|
Not mentioned by sources.
|
||||||
|
Not invented at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
"The weapons used in the military forces of the Anatolian Principalities were bow and arrow, sword, shield, javelin, dagger, club, axe, catapult and arrade."
[1]
[1]: (1994, 365) Ibrahim Kafesoglu. Ahmet Edip Uysal. Erdogan Mercil. Hidayet Yavuz Nuhoglu. 1994. A short history of Turkish-Islamic states (excluding the Ottoman state). Turkish Historical Society Printing House. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
"...the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
"The use of the hand-crossbow in Europe thus divides into two quite distinct periods, the first between about -100 and +450; the second beginning in the +10th century."
[3]
Absent in preceding and succeeding polities.
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 174) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press. |
||||||
|
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
|
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
[The first mentioning of a crossbow is from the late 12th century but we don’t know when they first appeared in Iceland. Around 1100 is a reasonable educated guess. If more precise information is available from Scandinavia we should go with that.] We have changed the code accordingly.
|
||||||
|
Certainly being used in the 15th CE but maybe hand-guns had supplanted them in use by this time: “In the Papal States Spoleto had developed a considerable arms industry and supplied crossbow bolts, shields and lances to the army.”
[1]
[1]: Michael Mallett (2009) Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Pen & Sword Military. Barnsley. |
||||||
|
Not at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
|
||||||
|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
|
Hassig lists crossbows among the new military technologies the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG |
||||||
|
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
|
||||||
|
"When the stirrup, which provides a firm seat in the saddle for combat, was combined with the type of heavy armor for both man and horse that had developed in the post-Han era, and the complete ensemble became available to Xianbei warriors (armor and the crossbow having previously provided the Chinese with a degree of comparative military advantage over nomadic light cavalry), it became possible to field a truly formidable Xianbei cavalry force.1 The mere sight of over a thousand colorfully caparisoned Xianbei cavalry deployed in defense of the Southern dynasty capital in 410, for example, reportedly intimidated a powerful southern rebel army.103 Mounted Xianbei (or Xianbei- ized) warriors were able to dominate north China almost continuously from the fourth through the sixth centuries."
[1]
The introduction of crossbows seems to be a much later development.
[1]: (Holcombe 2013, 21-22) |
||||||
|
Hassig lists crossbows among the new military technologies the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG |
||||||
|
Hassig lists crossbows among the new military technologies the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG |
||||||
|
Hassig lists crossbows among the new military technologies the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG |
||||||
|
Weapons other than obsidian swords, bows and arrows, slings, spears and atlatls are not known for this period.
[1]
[1]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
"There is no substantial evidence of bows and arrows at this time [Middle and Late Formative]".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 197) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"There is no substantial evidence of bows and arrows at this time [Middle and Late Formative]".
[1]
First introduced into Central Mexico during the Middle Postclassic by Chichimec invaders from Northern Mesoamerica.
[2]
[3]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 197) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. [2]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.47, 119-20. [3]: Tolstoy, Paul (1971). "Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico." In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, ed. G. F. Ekholm, and I. Bernal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 270-296. |
||||||
|
Hassig lists crossbows among the new military technologies the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG |
||||||
|
Hassig lists crossbows among the new military technologies the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG |
||||||
|
Hassig lists crossbows among the new military technologies the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG |
||||||
|
not mentioned in any of the sources that deal with weapons and armor
|
||||||
|
Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets
[1]
. It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html |
||||||
|
This is before the earliest known example of crossbows in China.
|
||||||
|
Not at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Not at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
not yet developed
|
||||||
|
not yet developed
|
||||||
|
not yet developed
|
||||||
|
not yet developed
|
||||||
|
No discussion in literature of this. In this case it is evidence of absence since this is in line with logical expectations for this late-complexity society.
|
||||||
|
the sources mention machetes, rifles and arrows but to the best of our knowledge no other weapons were used at the time
|
||||||
|
not yet invented
|
||||||
|
not yet developed
|
||||||
|
not yet developed
|
||||||
|
not present during this time period
|
||||||
|
not yet invented
|
||||||
|
not present during this time period
|
||||||
|
not invented at this time
|
||||||
|
not yet developed
|
||||||
|
Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.
|
||||||
|
Not mentioned in the literature.
|
||||||
|
Not mentioned in the literature.
|
||||||
|
Not mentioned in the literature.
|
||||||
|
Inferred from the absence of crossbows in past and future polities in Paris Basin
|
||||||
|
Not mentioned in the literature.
|
||||||
|
Not mentioned in the literature.
|
||||||
|
Not mentioned in the literature RA.
|
||||||
|
(ibid.)
|
||||||
|
-
|
||||||
|
-
|
||||||
|
-
|
||||||
|
"Hasan-i Nizami, in describing the campaigns of Mu’izz al-Din and Aybeg, refers with remarkable frequency to the Muslims’ use of the crossbow (nawak) and makes great play of the armour-piecing properties of the crossbow bolt."
[1]
[1]: (Jackson 2003, 16) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
||||||
|
Present in previous and subsequent polities.
|
||||||
|
’Kanishka’s Central Asian identity is confirmed by his appearance in a statue that was discovered near Mathura. Although the statue depicts the king wearing a long coat and boots, with a huge sword in one hand and a cross-bow like contraption in the other.’
[1]
"Even with strong crossbows that shoot far, and long halberds that hit at a distance, the Hsiung-nu would not be able to ward them off. If the armors are sturdy and the weapons sharp, if the repetition crossbows shot far, and the platoons advance together, the Hsiung-nu will not be able to withstand. If specially trained troops are quick to release (their bows) and the arrows in a single stream hit the target together, then the leather outfit and wooden shields of the Hsiung-nu will not be able to protect them. If they dismount and fight on foot, when swords and halberds clash as [the soldiers] come into close quarters, the Hsiung-nu, who lack infantry training, will not be able to cope."
[2]
[1]: Sanu Kainiraka. 2016. From Indus to Independence. A Trek Through Indian History. Volume II. The Classical Age. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. New Delhi. [2]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 203 |
||||||
|
Present due to the following in contemporary Chinese sources, which are relevant for gaining insight on the weapons and armor of Steppe Nomads. "Even with strong crossbows that shoot far, and long halberds that hit at a distance, the Hsiung-nu would not be able to ward them off. If the armors are sturdy and the weapons sharp, if the repetition crossbows shot far, and the platoons advance together, the Hsiung-nu will not be able to withstand. If specially trained troops are quick to release (their bows) and the arrows in a single stream hit the target together, then the leather outfit and wooden shields of the Hsiung-nu will not be able to protect them. If they dismount and fight on foot, when swords and halberds clash as [the soldiers] come into close quarters, the Hsiung-nu, who lack infantry training, will not be able to cope."
[1]
[1]: Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, p. 203 |
||||||
|
Present in previous and subsequent polities.
|
||||||
|
"the Persian nawak, also known by its Arabic name of majra or mijrat. An early reference is the use of it by the Sassanid Persians against the Arabs in +637 when it was termed qaus al-nawakiyah (the tube bow). In the Islamic world extraordinary distances were shot with this device."
[1]
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
[1]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 166) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilization in China. Cambridge University Press. |
||||||
|
"the Persian nawak, also known by its Arabic name of majra or mijrat. An early reference is the use of it by the Sassanid Persians against the Arabs in +637 when it was termed qaus al-nawakiyah (the tube bow). In the Islamic world extraordinary distances were shot with this device."
[1]
[1]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 166) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilization in China. Cambridge University Press. |
||||||
|
"There were also misgivings about the troops’ training, particularly the Chinese units. In 1035 the armies were enjoined to supervise the regular training of their catapulteers, crossbowmen, archers, and swordsmen. In 1046 the emperor watched the exercises of Chinese troops while they practiced using catapults and bows, but serious concern about the inferior skills of the Chinese armies’ catapulteers and crossbowmen continued through the next reign. These were skills that were irrelevant to the Khitans’ traditional mobile cavalry warfare but essential to their warfare with their sedentary Chinese and Korean neighbors."
[1]
[1]: (Twitchett, D.C. and K. Tietze. 1994. The Liao. In Franke, H. and D.C. Twitchett (eds) The Cambridge History of China Volume 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368 pp. 43-153. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. P. 120) |
||||||
|
"The dearth of illustrative material for the greater part of six centuries is largely due to the wanton destruction caused by two savage invasions from the east and only such finds as the stucco figures from Kara-shar [Central Asian warrior, eighth to tenth century] tell us that in all this period there had been little change."
[1]
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. |
||||||
|
Used the Mongolian Empire, and referenced in the 1709 Khalkhan law code: "The seven original articles cover supply of provisions for the “Gegeen” (the Jibzundamba Khutugtu), government messengers and nobility; premedi- tated murder; theft; marriage engagements, bridewealth, and dowries; fugitives and intruders; the prerogatives of the Gegeen; limitations on killing animals; death, bodily harm, or loss caused by noblemen’s “jokes”; lies; assaults; lost cattle or other things; injuries from mad dogs, mad people, or trip-wired crossbows; public drunkenness; desecrating graves; wolves; disputes over wells and camp- sites; Chinese and Russian merchants; military prepared- ness; hospitality; witnesses in criminal cases; and relations of parents and children."
[1]
[1]: (Atwood 2004, 301) |
||||||
|
Mentioned as one of the tactical advantages that the Han had over the Xiongnu.
[1]
However, the Xiongnu were said to have inferior crossbows:" "Why does it take five Xiongnu to match one Han soldier? It is because their sword blades are dull and their crossbows worthless. 48" Skill with a crossbow was at such a premium that it could even lead to offices in the court."
[2]
[1]: (Lewis 2000, 47) [2]: (Lewis 2000, 45) |
||||||
|
Mentioned as one of the tactical advantages that the Han had over the Xiongnu.
[1]
However, the Xiongnu were said to have inferior crossbows:" "Why does it take five Xiongnu to match one Han soldier? It is because their sword blades are dull and their crossbows worthless. 48" Skill with a crossbow was at such a premium that it could even lead to offices in the court."
[2]
[1]: (Lewis 2000, 47) [2]: (Lewis 2000, 45) |
||||||
|
Early Janissaries used weapons such as bows, slings, crossbows and javelins.
[1]
At some stage crossbow came into use, mainly for use in fortresses.
[2]
Janissaries, founded in second half of the 14th century, were less numerous.
[3]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 10) [2]: (Imber 2002, 267) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [3]: (Imber 2002, 257) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. |
||||||
|
[The first mentioning of a crossbow is from the late 12th century but we don’t know when they first appeared in Iceland. Around 1100 is a reasonable educated guess. If more precise information is available from Scandinavia we should go with that.] We have changed the code accordingly.
|
||||||
|
The Papal States often used foreign mercenaries who may have had access to the crossbow. Certainly being used in the 15th CE (inferred for this time?): “In the Papal States Spoleto had developed a considerable arms industry and supplied crossbow bolts, shields and lances to the army.”
[1]
Waley writes of composite bow and crossbowmen during this period.
[2]
[1]: Michael Mallett (2009) Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Pen & Sword Military. Barnsley. [2]: Waley, D.P (1957) Papal Armies of the Thirteen Century, Vol. 72, No. 282, The English Historical Review, Jan pp 1-30. |
||||||
|
The Papal States often used foreign mercenaries who may have had access to the crossbow. Certainly being used in the 15th CE (inferred for this time?): “In the Papal States Spoleto had developed a considerable arms industry and supplied crossbow bolts, shields and lances to the army.”
[1]
[1]: Michael Mallett (2009) Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Pen & Sword Military. Barnsley. |
||||||
|
Certainly being used in the 15th CE but maybe hand-guns had supplanted them in use by this time: “In the Papal States Spoleto had developed a considerable arms industry and supplied crossbow bolts, shields and lances to the army.”
[1]
[1]: Michael Mallett (2009) Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Pen & Sword Military. Barnsley. |
||||||
|
In the late fourteenth century, soldiers in southwestern Yunnan were still primarily armed with spears and crossbows, while firearms were being used primarily by the Ming troops which contributed to their military success. The Ming troops frequently employed fire arrows and ’rocket-arrows’ in addition to the stone projectiles launched from their firearms against Maw Chan soldiers and elephant cavalry.
[1]
[1]: (Laichen, 2008, p.499-500) |
||||||
|
"the Persian nawak, also known by its Arabic name of majra or mijrat. An early reference is the use of it by the Sassanid Persians against the Arabs in +637 when it was termed qaus al-nawakiyah (the tube bow). In the Islamic world extraordinary distances were shot with this device."
[1]
[1]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 166) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilization in China. Cambridge University Press. |
||||||
|
General reference for medieval warfare: crossbow bolts.
[1]
Illustration shows "N. Italian crossbowman, c. 1330" with a crossbow.
[2]
Illustration shows "N. Italian crossbowman, late 15th C."
[3]
[1]: (Gaier 2010, 76) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate B) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [3]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate E) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
|
"As no Japanese oyumi (siege crossbow) has survived, it is impossible to know exactly what one looked like or how it was operated. Certain records make tantalising reference to them being different from Chinese varieties, although this may just be an expression of national pride. It is, however, well substantiated that, in contrast to the predominant Chinese practice, the Japanese crossbows were used for throwing stones as much as for firing arrows."
[1]
Crossbow known and used in Japan sometime after the invention in China (from date not stated) "but neither the ritsuryo armies nor the bushi appear to have developed much interest in it, preferring to rely instead on the long bow. The ritsuryo military statutes provided for only two soldiers from each fifty-man company to be trained as oyumi operators, and no later source indicates that this ratio was ever increased. Hand-held crossbows and crossbowmen are not mentioned in the statutes at all." "The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[2]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
||||||
|
Present but rarely used? This polity is more ‘forest people’ and less ’savannah’: “was apparently in use among only a few of the forest peoples and seems to have been unknown in the savannah. No descriptions of this weapon have been found in the accounts of West African armament given by the early European and North African travellers, but a missionary report of a military review at Ijaye in 1861 refers to the carrying of ’great crossbows’ by some of the troops".
[1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 74) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
||||||
|
There are different definitions of a crossbow. Present on one definition.
[1]
"Whether Byzantine soldiers also used the hand-held crossbow, some evidence for which exists from the late Roman period (as opposed to the much larger frame- or swivel-mounted weapon used as field or siege-artillery, which certainly did continue in use), seems doubtful."
[2]
Preiser-Kapeller says present.
[3]
[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (Haldon 2008, 477) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) |
||||||
|
"As no Japanese oyumi (siege crossbow) has survived, it is impossible to know exactly what one looked like or how it was operated. Certain records make tantalising reference to them being different from Chinese varieties, although this may just be an expression of national pride. It is, however, well substantiated that, in contrast to the predominant Chinese practice, the Japanese crossbows were used for throwing stones as much as for firing arrows."
[1]
Crossbow known and used in Japan sometime after the invention in China (from date not stated) "but neither the ritsuryo armies nor the bushi appear to have developed much interest in it, preferring to rely instead on the long bow. The ritsuryo military statutes provided for only two soldiers from each fifty-man company to be trained as oyumi operators, and no later source indicates that this ratio was ever increased. Hand-held crossbows and crossbowmen are not mentioned in the statutes at all." "The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[2]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
||||||
|
Safavid diplomat carrying a "victory letter" presented the Mamluk Sultan an ornamental copy of the Quran, a prayer carpet, a kiswah for the Kabah in Mecca, and a crossbow.
[1]
[1]: (Mitchell 2009, 37) Mitchell, Colin P. 2009. Practice of Politics in Safavid Iran, The: Power, Religion and Rhetoric. I.B. Tauris. London. |
||||||
|
Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
||||||
|
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
||||||
|
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
||||||
|
"The hand crossbow was used on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
Reads like a general reference that also applies to northern India.
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
||||||
|
"The hand crossbow was used on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
Reads like a general reference that also applies to northern India.
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
||||||
|
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
|
||||||
|
"The hand crossbow was used on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
Reads like a general reference that also applies to northern India.
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
||||||
|
The first mentioning of a crossbow is from the late 12th century.
|
||||||
|
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
||||||
|
Known to Chinese in the first millennium BCE but Vedic literature does not describe anything like a crossbow although Pant suggests "the weapon mentioned as the nalika in ancient Sanskrit literature was a crossbow."
[1]
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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"The hand crossbow was used on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
Reads like a general reference that also applies to northern India.
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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"The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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"Babur makes many references to individual foot soldiers armed with bows. He also discusses a weapon particularly suited to the infantryman—the crossbow. Crossbows were especially valuable during sieges because they were ideal for sniping. Unlike a conventional archer, a crossbowman could fire his weapon while lying prone and behind cover. He could also keep it cocked and at full draw while carefully lining up a shot or waiting for a target to emerge. Babur describes his own experience as a sniper, firing a crossbow from the ramparts of Samarqand while that city was under siege. Before muskets became commonplace, the Ottomans used janissary infantrymen as missile troops, arming them with crossbows or heavier, more powerful versions of the cavalry bow. Babur may have employed similar large formations of foot archers. Once firearms were adopted they became the ranged weapon of choice for his infantry, but the musketeers were still supported by large numbers of foot archers."
[1]
[1]: (De la Garza 2010, p. 58) |
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"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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Known to Chinese in the first millennium BCE but Vedic literature does not describe anything like a crossbow although Pant suggests "the weapon mentioned as the nalika in ancient Sanskrit literature was a crossbow."
[1]
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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|
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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Abbasid refered to the crossbow as the qaws al-rijl, first mentioned in 881 CE.
[1]
Unlike Medieval Europe, archery was seen as a noble pursuit. Compound bows and Crossbows were present, as well as more esoteric weaponry such as fire arrows, were used on some occasions. Volunteers and informal levies were reported to have used slings, makeshift spears and other unconventional weapons.
[2]
[1]: Nicolle,David, Medieval Siege Weapons (2): Byzantium, the Islamic World and India AD 476-1526(Osprey Publishing 2003) [2]: Kennedy, Hugh N. The armies of the caliphs: military and society in the early Islamic state. Vol. 3 Routledge, 2001. pp. 168-182 |
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crossbows long used in China were used up to the 11th CE century in Japan.
[1]
"As no Japanese oyumi (siege crossbow) has survived, it is impossible to know exactly what one looked like or how it was operated. Certain records make tantalising reference to them being different from Chinese varieties, although this may just be an expression of national pride. It is, however, well substantiated that, in contrast to the predominant Chinese practice, the Japanese crossbows were used for throwing stones as much as for firing arrows."
[2]
[1]: Friday, Karl F. 2004. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Psychology Press.p.76. [2]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing. |
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Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
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’The ordinary Khmer soldiers as well as officers might carry a lance; or a bow, with the arrows being held in a quiver; or sabres of different length; or various sizes of knives and daggers; or a kind of halberd known as a phka’h. The latter was basically an iron axe mounted on a long handle curved at one end. At Angkor Wat, the phka’k is held in the hands of high-ranking warriors mounted on elephants or horses; it is still in use in the twentieth century for hunting or work in the forest. Crossbows were known, but are extremely rare in the reliefs.’
[1]
’Others, equally rare, carry an arbalest. This weapon (Fig 12.5), very poorly reproduced, seems to consist of a bow and a grooved guide. G. Groslier suggests it is a wooden trigger holding taught the bowstring; this seems possible but we have found nothing like it.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 185) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 23) |
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’The ordinary Khmer soldiers as well as officers might carry a lance; or a bow, with the arrows being held in a quiver; or sabres of different length; or various sizes of knives and daggers; or a kind of halberd known as a phka’h. The latter was basically an iron axe mounted on a long handle curved at one end. At Angkor Wat, the phka’k is held in the hands of high-ranking warriors mounted on elephants or horses; it is still in use in the twentieth century for hunting or work in the forest. Crossbows were known, but are extremely rare in the reliefs.’
[1]
’Others, equally rare, carry an arbalest. This weapon (Fig 12.5), very poorly reproduced, seems to consist of a bow and a grooved guide. G. Groslier suggests it is a wooden trigger holding taught the bowstring; this seems possible but we have found nothing like it.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 185) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 23) |
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“Large framed mounted crossbows" used in sieges. Crossbowmen may have come into Iran in this period through the Mongols.
[1]
[1]: David Nicolle, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350: Islam, Eastern Europe and Asia, rev. and updated ed (London : Mechanicsburg, Pa: Greenhill Books ; Stackpole Books, 1999). P.221, p.296 . |
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’The ordinary Khmer soldiers as well as officers might carry a lance; or a bow, with the arrows being held in a quiver; or sabres of different length; or various sizes of knives and daggers; or a kind of halberd known as a phka’h. The latter was basically an iron axe mounted on a long handle curved at one end. At Angkor Wat, the phka’k is held in the hands of high-ranking warriors mounted on elephants or horses; it is still in use in the twentieth century for hunting or work in the forest. Crossbows were known, but are extremely rare in the reliefs.’
[1]
’Others, equally rare, carry an arbalest. This weapon (Fig 12.5), very poorly reproduced, seems to consist of a bow and a grooved guide. G. Groslier suggests it is a wooden trigger holding taught the bowstring; this seems possible but we have found nothing like it.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 185) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 23) |
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’The ordinary Khmer soldiers as well as officers might carry a lance; or a bow, with the arrows being held in a quiver; or sabres of different length; or various sizes of knives and daggers; or a kind of halberd known as a phka’h. The latter was basically an iron axe mounted on a long handle curved at one end. At Angkor Wat, the phka’k is held in the hands of high-ranking warriors mounted on elephants or horses; it is still in use in the twentieth century for hunting or work in the forest. Crossbows were known, but are extremely rare in the reliefs.’
[1]
’Others, equally rare, carry an arbalest. This weapon (Fig 12.5), very poorly reproduced, seems to consist of a bow and a grooved guide. G. Groslier suggests it is a wooden trigger holding taught the bowstring; this seems possible but we have found nothing like it.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 185) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 23) |
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Reference for 1456 CE siege of Ceuta (Marinid Sultanate): "Crossbowmen served with the crews to fire on the walls, forcing the Portuguese to shelter their own gun emplacements so that they could not target Moroccan positions as well."
[1]
[1]: Sandra Alvarez. February 23, 2014. Warfare and Firearms in Fifteenth Century Morocco, 1400-1492. Weston F. Cook Jr. War and Society: v.11 (1993). Site accessed 24 October 2018: http://deremilitari.org/2014/02/warfare-and-firearms-in-fifteenth-century-morocco-1400-1492/ |
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Present but rarely used? Crossbow "was apparently in use among only a few of the forest peoples and seems to have been unknown in the savannah. No descriptions of this weapon have been found in the accounts of West African armament given by the early European and North African travellers, but a missionary report of a military review at Ijaye in 1861 refers to the carrying of ’great crossbows’ by some of the troops".
[1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 74) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south."
[1]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17) |
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"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south."
[1]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17) |
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"Crossbows first appeared in Chu in the early fifth century BC and were in general use in the fourth century BC."
[1]
"By 340 B.C., they had adopted the crossbow..."
[2]
[1]: (Tin-bor Hui 2005, n139 95) Tin-bor Hui, Victoria. 2005. War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press. [2]: (Meyer 1994, 132) Milton Walter Meyer. 1994. China: A Concise History. Second Edition, Revised. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham. |
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Used by indigenous forces under British command?
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Early Janissaries used weapons such as bows, slings, crossbows and javelins. "not until the end of the 16th century did the majority have tüfek matchlocks."
[1]
Magaharibad, north African marines, used a crossbow.
[2]
At some stage crossbow came into use, mainly for use in fortresses.
[3]
Janissaries, founded in second half of the 14th century, were less numerous.
[4]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 10) [2]: (Nicolle 1983, 36) [3]: (Imber 2002, 267) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [4]: (Imber 2002, 257) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. |
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The Papal States often used foreign mercenaries who may have had access to the crossbow. Certainly being used in the 15th CE (inferred for this time?): “In the Papal States Spoleto had developed a considerable arms industry and supplied crossbow bolts, shields and lances to the army.”
[1]
[1]: Michael Mallett (2009) Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Pen & Sword Military. Barnsley. |
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manuballistae
[1]
"The use of the hand-crossbow in Europe thus divides into two quite distinct periods, the first between about -100 and +450; the second beginning in the +10th century."
[2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 221) [2]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 174) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press. |
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There are different definitions of a crossbow. Present on one definition.
[1]
"The use of the hand-crossbow in Europe thus divides into two quite distinct periods, the first between about -100 and +450; the second beginning in the +10th century."
[2]
solenarion or tzangra crossbow which could shoot multiple iron tipped arrows (or "mice") simultaneously "was apparently brought to the east Mediterranean by the Latins in the eleventh century."
[3]
Presumably also after 10th century, large stationary crossbow called cheiroballistrom which could fire arrows, bolts and small stones.
[3]
[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 174) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press. [3]: (Rautman 2006, 218) Rautman, M L. 2006. Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire. Greenwood Publishing Group. |
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Each legion had 55 carroballistae bolt-shooters.
[1]
"The use of the hand-crossbow in Europe thus divides into two quite distinct periods, the first between about -100 and +450; the second beginning in the +10th century."
[2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 45) [2]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 174) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press. |
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There are different definitions of a crossbow. Present on one definition.
[1]
"Whether Byzantine soldiers also used the hand-held crossbow, some evidence for which exists from the late Roman period (as opposed to the much larger frame- or swivel-mounted weapon used as field or siege-artillery, which certainly did continue in use), seems doubtful."
[2]
[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (Haldon 2008, 477) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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“The crossbow, too, was only of limited use of the Spanish. It could fire at a superior velocity when compared to the native bows, but that extra power was designed to penetrated metal armour on the European battlefields.”
[1]
[1]: (Pemberton 2011, preview) Pemberton, John. 2011. Conquistadors: Searching for El Dorado: The Terrifying Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires. Canary Press eBooks Limited. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3SI549GS |
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Maybe still some use of the crossbow? Lances, swords, crossbowmen, longbows, pikemen were of central importance on the battlefield for at least 200 years after the first guns until the Battle of Carignola (1503 CE) which was probably decided by guns and Marignano (1515 CE) when Swiss squares were beaten by cavalry shooting pistols and cannon artillery.
[1]
The first Bourbon era 1589-1660 CE is firmly after the transition to firearm dominance so at this time the old weapons must have played only a minor role in warfare or had been completely abandoned.
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 367) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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General reference for medieval warfare: crossbow bolts.
[1]
Illustration shows "N. Italian crossbowman, c. 1330" with a crossbow.
[2]
Illustration shows "N. Italian crossbowman, late 15th C."
[3]
"The history of crossbow design and manufacture seems to be unknown, but there is definite evidence that the number and importance of these weapons in sea warfare increased markedly in the years following 1282. It looks as though the value of crossbows for land warfare assumed a new order of magnitude only after the weapons 1) began to be manufactured in comparatively vast quantities for use at sea, and 2) the skills for maintaining these relatively complicated instruments had spread among a few thousand increasingly professionalized bowmen-mariners. Large-scale manufacture of these bows may have started in Genoa and/or Barcelona, perhaps in preparation for the campaign of 1282."
[4]
[1]: (Gaier 2010, 76) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate B) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [3]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate E) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [4]: (McNeill 1986, 39) William H McNeill. 1986. Venice: The Hinge of Europe, 1081-1797. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. |
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tufak or tufang
[1]
"From the Indian chronicles of the Late Medieval period, it could be seen that the Delhi Sultans, probably Iltutmish, adopted the crossbow for military use."
[2]
[1]: Khan, Iqtidar Alam, ‘Early Use of Cannon and Musket in India: A.D. 1442-1526’, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 24 (1981), 149. [2]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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Earlier Abbasids had the crowboss.
[1]
Abbasids referred to the crossbow as the qaws al-rijl, first mentioned in 881 CE.
[2]
[1]: Kennedy, Hugh N. The armies of the caliphs: military and society in the early Islamic state. Vol. 3 Routledge, 2001. pp. 168-182 [2]: Nicolle,David, Medieval Siege Weapons (2): Byzantium, the Islamic World and India AD 476-1526(Osprey Publishing 2003) |
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Crossbow/arbaleste reintroduced c950 CE.
[1]
"The rise of crossbows lead to the virtual disappearance of the simple bows as war weapons in France and no hand bows are recorded in surviving castle inventories from 1230 to the mid-14th century."
[2]
Crossbow armed infantry gained in importance during the 13th century.
[3]
[1]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Nicolle 1991, 11-12) [3]: (Nicolle 1991, 11) |
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Likely in some form?: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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"The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[2]
In southern India at this time (Rashtrakuta dynasty) military technology included "the sword, the trident or spear, the javelin, the battleaxe, the shield, etc."
[3]
; while their predecessors had "swords, shields, spears, clubs, lances, bows and arrows etc."
[4]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [3]: (Ramachandra Murthy 1994, 116) N S Ramachandra Murthy. 1994. Military Administration of the Rashtrakutas in the Telugu Country. B R Gopal. ed. The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed. [4]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
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"The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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Crossbow known and used in Japan sometime after the invention in China (from date not stated) "but neither the ritsuryo armies nor the bushi appear to have developed much interest in it, preferring to rely instead on the long bow. The ritsuryo military statutes provided for only two soldiers from each fifty-man company to be trained as oyumi operators, and no later source indicates that this ratio was ever increased. Hand-held crossbows and crossbowmen are not mentioned in the statutes at all." "The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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Certainly being used in the 15th CE but it is perhaps too long a time gap to infer presence at this time: “In the Papal States Spoleto had developed a considerable arms industry and supplied crossbow bolts, shields and lances to the army.”
[1]
[1]: Michael Mallett (2009) Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Pen & Sword Military. Barnsley. |
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Known to Chinese in the first millennium BCE but Vedic literature does not describe anything like a crossbow although Pant suggests "the weapon mentioned as the nalika in ancient Sanskrit literature was a crossbow."
[1]
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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Known to Chinese in the first millennium BCE but Vedic literature does not describe anything like a crossbow although Pant suggests "the weapon mentioned as the nalika in ancient Sanskrit literature was a crossbow."
[1]
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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Crossbow known and used in Japan sometime after the invention in China (from date not stated) "but neither the ritsuryo armies nor the bushi appear to have developed much interest in it, preferring to rely instead on the long bow. The ritsuryo military statutes provided for only two soldiers from each fifty-man company to be trained as oyumi operators, and no later source indicates that this ratio was ever increased. Hand-held crossbows and crossbowmen are not mentioned in the statutes at all." "The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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"The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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"The bow staves of Chinese crossbows were composites of wood, bone, sinew and glue ... But, as we have observed, the Japanese lacked supplies of animal products, and fashioned their bows from wood and bamboo instead, which required that the weapons be long. Manufacturing crossbows with composite bow staves of wood and bamboo comparable in length to those of regular bows would have resulted in a weapon too unwieldy to be practical". However some crossbows were imported.
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 74-76) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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"the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting."
[1]
"The use of the hand-crossbow in Europe thus divides into two quite distinct periods, the first between about -100 and +450; the second beginning in the +10th century."
[2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Needham and Wang 1954, 174) Needham J and Wang L. 1954. Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press. |
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This reference suggests we should not completely rule out its use: “was apparently in use among only a few of the forest peoples and seems to have been unknown in the savannah. No descriptions of this weapon have been found in the accounts of West African armament given by the early European and North African travellers, but a missionary report of a military review at Ijaye in 1861 refers to the carrying of ’great crossbows’ by some of the troops".
[1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 74) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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Known to Chinese in the first millennium BCE but Vedic literature does not describe anything like a crossbow although Pant suggests "the weapon mentioned as the nalika in ancient Sanskrit literature was a crossbow."
[1]
"The hand crossbow was usd on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow."
[1]
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press. |
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Present but rarely used? Crossbow "was apparently in use among only a few of the forest peoples and seems to have been unknown in the savannah. No descriptions of this weapon have been found in the accounts of West African armament given by the early European and North African travellers, but a missionary report of a military review at Ijaye in 1861 refers to the carrying of ’great crossbows’ by some of the troops".
[1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 74) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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No mention of crossbows. Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
The switch-over did not occur until the end of the Kediri Kingdom: it was the Singhasari Kingdom that witnessed ’the decline of Hindu culture and civilisation in Java and the succession of Javanese culture.’
[2]
Temple reliefs from earlier periods contain murals showing clubs, swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, armour, knives, halberds.
[3]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[4]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Rao 2005, 213) B V Rao. 2005. History of Asia. Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. New Dawn Press, Inc. Elgin. [3]: (Draeger 1972, 23, 27) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. [4]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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Certainly being used in the 15th CE but it is perhaps too long a time gap to infer presence at this time: “In the Papal States Spoleto had developed a considerable arms industry and supplied crossbow bolts, shields and lances to the army.”
[1]
[1]: Michael Mallett (2009) Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Pen & Sword Military. Barnsley. |
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