Nihayat al-su'l, 1371

a manual of horsemanship and military practice.

Nihayat al-su'l. Four horsemen, brandishing circular shields and sabres, ride around a circular pond edged with lilies.

A larger image of the four horsemen in the Nihayat al-su'l

folio 140. Four horsemen, brandishing circular shields and sabres, ride around a circular pond edged with lilies.

folio 140. 'Illustration of four horsemen, each one with a sword and a hide shield, and each one carrying his shield on his horse's croup'

Title: Nihāyat al-su'l wa-al-umnīyah fī ta'allum a'māl al-furūsīyah Aqṣarā'ī, Muḥammad ibn 'Īsa ibn Ismā'īl al-Ḥanafī [140r] (291/602)
Date: 10 Muḥarram 773 (AH, Hijri qamari)
Written in: Arabic
Extent and Format: Codex; ff. ii+292+ii
Holding Institution: British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Copyright for document: Public Domain
Qatar Digital Library
Executed under the Mamelukes, in Syria or Egypt, 1371AD. British Library, Add. 18866.

MEDIEVAL MUSLIM HORSEMEN
British Library Add. MS 18866, f. 140a
This fourteenth-century manuscript illumination shows four Muslim horsemen carrying swords and small circular shields. Their swords are slightly curved and have simple cross hilts. The horsemen have also looped the reins around their right arms leaving them free to wield their swords.
Source: p.269, Medieval Weapons: An Illustrated History of Their Impact by Kelly DeVries & Robert D. Smith (2007)

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