Turkish Archer Kills 43 Men

[Alina]

The following story is from Philip K. Hitti's translation of the Memoirs of Usamah ibn Munqidh, in the book "An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades." It seemed a bit like an urban legend, so I decided maybe it didn't belong in the history forum.

"A maiden's ingenuity saves the day - A similar case was related to me by Al-Mu'ayyad, the Baghdadi poet, in al-Mawsil in the year 565. (1169-1170AD) This is what he said:

'The caliph bestowed upon my father as fief a village which my father used to frequent. That village was infested with vagabonds who carried on highway robbery and whom my father endeavored to please for fear of them and for profiting a little from what they seized. As we were one day sitting in their village, there came a young Turk mounted on a horse, and with him a mule carrying a maiden riding on the saddlebags. He alighted, assisted the maiden to dismount and said, "O young men, help me put down the saddlebag." We came and put down the bag with him and lo! it was full of gold dinars and jewelry. He sat down with the maiden and ate something. Then he said, "Help me life the saddlebag." We lifted it up with him. Then he said to us, "Where is the road to al-Anbar?" My father said to him, "Here is the road (pointing it out with his hand), but there are on the road sixty vagabonds from whom I fear for thy safety." The man pooh-poohed my father, saying, "I fear the vagabonds!" My father left him and went to the vagabonds and told them the story of the man and what he carried. The vagabonds set off to intercept him on the way. When he saw them, he pulled out his bow, put in it an arrow and bent it, desiring to shoot them. The string gave way. The vagabonds rushed at him and he fled away. So they took the mule and the maiden, together with the saddlebag. The maiden said, "O young men, by Allah, dishonor me not. Rather let me buy myself and the mule also for a necklace of gems, which is with the Turk and the value of which is five hundred dinars. Then take ye the saddlebag and all that is in it." "We accept," they replied. She said, "Send with me someone from among you so that I may speak with the Turk and take the necklace." Accordingly they sent with her someone to guard her until she came near the Turk and said to him, "I have bought myself and the mule for the necklace which is in the leg of thy left boot, thy shoe. Deliver it to me." "All right," said he. Presently he went aside, took off his boot and lo! there was in it a bowstring, which he immediately fixed on his bow and turned back on them. They kept on fighting him while he was killing one after the other until he had killed forty-three men of their number. Looking around, he unexpectedly saw my father among the vagabonds who survived. So he said, "Thou too among them! Dost thou desire that I should give thee thy share of arrows?" "No," replied my father. "Take them," said the Turk, "these seventeen who survive, lead them to the magistrate of the city to hang them." In the meantime, those seventeen had stood staring with fear and put down their arms. The Turk drove his mule with all that was on it and continued his march. Thus Allah (exalted is he!) sent through him upon the vagabonds a calamity and great wrath.'"

[Herbert]

He may have really had the help of some god, otherwise I can't believe it. 60 men standing there while being shot? Not rushing in, not shooting back, nothing?

Well...

Herbert

[admin]

Being a Turk, I imagine he would have been riding away and in circles while shooting.. if they were bad shots or trying to attack with hand weapons then such a mounted archer could do some serious damamge to a group of pursuing unarmoured men. The Turkish style of mounted archery is most adapted to attacking an enemy who is giving chase - this method was used over and over again during the crusades and also by the Mongols and Mamluks of course. The weakness in the system is when the enemy does not chase but stands its ground with good armour and/or shields or in a strong defensive position.

[Carlo]

For the record, a Finnish farmer killed 500 men in the Finnish-Russian war with an ordinary Mosin Nagant rifle. Some folks are just good at it.

Cap

[Alina]

Yeah, I agree with Matt on this one. If the bandits were unarmoured or were unmounted then they'd have been especially vulnerable to the Turk's archery. On the other hand, this does have the ring of urban legend about it. Either way, I like the story.

[Paul]

Cool story. But I don't see how this would be an urban legend.

[Alina]

Cool story. But I don't see how this would be an urban legend.

In the sense that it's a contemporary tale passed around as true of course.

[Paul]

Is Baron von Münchhausen also an urban legend?

[Alina]

Who?

[Paul]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Münchhausen

Copy/paste if the link doesn't work.

[Patrick Williams]

Jeeze, Paul...would you be happier if we called it a folk tale?

[Paul]

Jeeze, Paul...would you be happier if we called it a folk tale?

Well, "folk tale" has less of a "bad-ass pimp" sound to it.

[Patrick Williams]

Jeeze, Paul...would you be happier if we called it a folk tale?

Well, "folk tale" has less of a "bad-ass pimp" sound to it.

True, but you'll have to admit that a lone archer who can take down 43 Turkish bandits is a pretty bad ass pimp. Dewd!!

[admin]

What's Turkish for Shaft?

[Alina]

What's Turkish for Shaft?

Saft. But with a cedilla on the S. My keyboard doesn't do that unfortunately.

[Patrick Williams]

Unfortunately, Babel Fish does not offer English to Turkish translations. Too bad.

αλλά μιλώ για τον άξονα και μπορεί να τον σκάψει.

[Alex]

Saft. But with a cedilla on the S. My keyboard doesn't do that unfortunately.

How about "can you dig it?". What's that in Turkish?

[Paul]

Jeeze, Paul...would you be happier if we called it a folk tale?

Well, "folk tale" has less of a "bad-ass pimp" sound to it.

True, but you'll have to admit that a lone archer who can take down 43 Turkish bandits is a pretty bad ass pimp. Dewd!!

He may be bad ass, but the girl he's with is still a virgin, so that makes him a pretty ineffective pimp.

What's Turkish for Shaft?

Saft. But with a cedilla on the S. My keyboard doesn't do that unfortunately.

So it's pronounced "shaft"? Interesting, given the fact that Turkish and English are completely unrelated languages.

[Patrick Williams]

He may be bad ass, but the girl he's with is still a virgin, so that makes him a pretty ineffective pimp.

I can't say I agree. Lone man wandering the countryside with bucketsfull of treasure and a beautiful woman. Despite being 'abducted' by Turks, she remains a virgin and he keeps all the treasure. Sounds like a pretty damned effective pimp to me.

[admin]

Yeah. He wouldn't get as much gold for a former-virgin.