Military Ritual Research Articles

Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology through History, and: Warfare in Inner Asian History (500-1800) (review)

Reviewed by: Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology through History, and: Warfare in Inner Asian History (500–1800) Jeremy Black Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology through History. By Alfred Crosby. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2002. 206 + xii pp. $26.00 (cloth). Warfare in Inner Asian History (500–1800). Edited by Nicola Di Cosmo. Leiden: Brill, 2002. 456 + vii pp. $112.00. Between them, these two books contribute much to military history. From the perspective of this journal, the Cosmo volume is more important, not only because it contains far more material, but also because the chapters measure up to the subject and the introduction, a verdict that can be delivered in the case of far too few edited volumes. This is largely because the individual case studies, although disparate in time and space and based on highly detailed research on often difficult sources that require formidable linguistic skills, range widely in seeking to draw out conclusions. The most important, which emerges repeatedly, is the need to avoid a simplistic account of nomadic warfare, in particular an analysis based on innate ecological advantages. Instead, the contributors emphasize the limitations of the nomads, the need to consider inter-nomadic warfare, the extent to which nomad skills and success varied and changed, and the role of nomadic military culture in facilitating the transmission of military ideas and technology. After an effective introduction by Nicola Di Cosmo presenting the major themes, there are ten essays. David Graff considers strategy and contingency in the Tang defeat of the Eastern Turks, 629-630, specifically the Tang ability to emulate the operational behavior and cavalry forces of their opponents, with their emphasis on speed and surprise. The flexibility and skill of the Tang are again in evidence in Michael Drompp's analysis of the Uighur-Chinese conflict of 840-848, while Peter Golden ranges widely in considering war and warfare in the pre-Cinggisid [End Page 246] Western Steppes, in order to indicate common themes in nomadic warfare within a context in which the nomads oscillated between loosely or more tightly structured unions depending to some degree on external pressures. Golden suggests that, with few exceptions, nomads were not interested in large-scale conquests or the takeover of sedentary states. The latter, according to Golden, were better than the nomads at playing the "deadly game of divide and conquer." Michael Biran examines the battle of Herat of 1240, an important, though exceptional, stage in inter-Mongol warfare that played a major role in defining the borders of the independent khanates. For both sides, the main weapon was the bow and arrow, and skill in using arrows was tactically crucial. Reuven Amitai questions John Smith's analysis of Mongol-Mamluk warfare in his study of Ghazan's 1299-1300 invasion of Syria. He argues that their fighting methods and quality were less different than Smith suggested, and also emphasizes the problems of Mongol logistics. Thomas Allsen considers the circulation of military technology in Mongolian Eurasia, specifically the transmission of the trebuchet to China and gunpowder weaponry to the West. He also argues that nomads were only slightly changed by their adoption of gunpowder weapons, whereas in the Latin West it was possible to integrate warriors from other strata of European society who could embrace new technologies. Furthermore, Allsen suggests that peoples with a long history of interaction with the nomads and their "cavalry revolution," such as Russians, were more reluctant to join the gunpowder revolution, while others on the Eurasian periphery, Europe and Japan, were protected from the nomads and able to press forward with gunpowder weaponry. John Herman considers the difficulties the Mongols faced in translating successful advances into lasting control when campaigning in southwest China in the late thirteenth century. Nicola Di Cosmo demonstrates the role of political strategy in the Manchu success against the Mongol Ligdan Khan in 1619-1635. Changes in the character of steppe warfare arising from Manchu intervention are considered, although the evidence islimited.Peter Perdueindicates the crucial role of logistics in Qing success against the Zunghars and also points out shifts in generalship and strategy on both sides. Joanna Waley-Cohen shows how by the end of the eighteenth century military rituals...

The Rite of the Elephant Duel in Thai-Burmese Military History

The tradition of a single combat on elephant back first emerged in Thai history in the 13th century during the Sukhothai period. Before that time, there was. no evidence that this tradition was practiced by mainland Southeast Asian rulers. The origin of the elephant duel is still unknown but there is historical interpretation that the Thais and other mainland Southeast Asian warriors had adopted this practice from Sri Lanka. The fight on elephant back is a kind of military ritual observed by pre-modem monarchs of mainland Southeast Asia. With the arrival of modern weapons, particularly fire-arms such as muskets and cannons, the tradition was brought to its end. This is due to the fact that the fighter riding on the back of a huge creature had become a clear target of the opposition gunners. Many of them had been murdered before the engagement. The tradition was terminated in late 16th century. The fight between King Naresuan of Ayudhya and the Crown prince of Pegu had marked the end of this fatal ritual after being practiced without interruption for over three centuries.

"More Devoted to the Equipment of Battle Than the Splendor of Banquets": Frontier Kingship, Military Ritual, and Early Knighthood at the Court of Louis the German

'More Devoted to Equipment of Battle Than Splendor of Banquets': Frontier Kingship, Military Ritual, and Early Knighthood at Court of Louis German. This article explores role of political symbolism and ritual in creation of a medieval frontier kingdom. The study focuses on reign of Carolingian king Louis the (840-876), founder of east Frankish kingdom that later evolved into kingdom of Germany. Reflecting endemic warfare along his kingdom's Slavic frontiers, Louis cultivated a highly militarized courtly ceremonial and triumphal royal ideology rooted in emerging Frankish culture of knighthood, exemplified especially by king's devotion to relics of True Cross, which became holy talisman of east Frankish army in its annual campaigns against pagan barbarian Slavs. Through militaristic rituals of knighthood and a triumphal devotion to True Cross, Louis German and his magnates proclaimed independent existence of their n...