Anonymous collection of lance drills

Content

Collection of instructions for military drills for lancers. Each set of instructions for a drill is called a band (بند, pl. بنود). The fragment contains 26 bunūd most of which are attributed to companions of the Prophet. Although no title or author of the fragment is specified, it is probable that its contents are ultimately derived from the lance master Najm al-Dīn al-Aḥdab al-Rammāḥ (نجم الدين الأحدب الرماح, d. 1296; see al-Sarraf, 'Mamluk Furūsīyah Literature and Its Antecedents', Mamlūk Studies Review 8.1 [2004], p. 173). For a similar collection of bunud explicitly attributed to Najm al-Dīn, see Muḥammad ibn Īsá al-Aqṣarā’ī, Nihāyat al-su’l , Ta‘līm 2, Bāb 2 (British Library, Add. MS 18866, ff. 51v-57v).

Begins (f. 1v, lines 2-5):

بند المجموع الكبير

لأبي بكر الصديق رضي الله عنه

حمائلي، عقبية، زندية، قدام.

كفية، ظهرية، دبوقة، مستعصب

Ends (f. 10v, lines 6-10):

... بند التطويب

لف حمائلي، تسلم إلى شمالك استقبله

مسك استوا بضرب دبوقة، استقبله بيدك

اليمين من تحت الرمح بتسريح، وقربصة ونشل

Extent and format

Ff. 1v-10v

It is part of

Three Mamluk treatises on horsemanship

280 images

Ref: Add MS 14056

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript item

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Add MS 14056, ff 1v-10v

History of this record

Date(s)

870 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Related material

Finding aids

Cureton, William and Charles Rieu, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium qui in Museo Britannico asservantur. Pars secunda, codices arabicos amplectens (London: The British Museum, 1846-71), Item 1156, pp. 528-29

Select Bibliography

Study:

• Shihab al-Sarraf, 'Mamluk Furūsīyah Literature and Its Antecedents', Mamlūk Studies Review 8.1 (2004), pp. 141-200, on pp. 172-74

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Cite this record in your research

Anonymous collection of lance drills, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Add MS 14056, ff 1v-10v, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100045805361.0x000001> [accessed 13 January 2025]

Link to this record

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100045805361.0x000001

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