[Kavsname] - [قوسنامه]

This volume contains a treatise on Ottoman archery technique, procedure, and etiquette, an account of the history of archery, and a description of archery grounds in Istanbul, Gelibolu (Gallipoli), and Cairo. It was authored by Kemankeş Mustafa Efendi in the seventeenth century. The work comprises a mukaddime, 16 bablar, and a hatime. It ends with tables of archers' names and competition scores, which may well be a unique feature of this copy; the copy of the text at British Library Or 16165 does not have this addition, nor does the critical edition of Hanifi Vural and Yaşar Metin Aksoy. The bablar are listed on ff 3v-4r. However in some cases, the headings listed for each bab differ from their actual content. Thus for clarity, the contents, both as listed and as found in the text, are mentioned below:. (4r-7r) Mukaddime: Yay kanda peyda olup ve üstattan la budd olduğun beyanıdır (The invention of the bow, and the necessity of a teacher). (7r-12v) Bab 1: Ok atmağı sevap beyanındadır (The reward for shooting arrows). (12v-19v) Bab 2: Ok atmağa müteallik bazı nasayih beyanındadır (Pieces of advice on archery). (19v-20v) Bab 3: Yay ok bir zaman battal olup yine peyda olduğun beyanındadır (What to do on finding a bow or arrow that has been out of use). (20v-26r) Bab 4 (headed el-Bab el-evvel): İdman edip kaide ile ok atmak beyanındadır (Following the normal rules of archery while at practice). (26r-27v) Bab 5: Nişana ok atmağı ahvalin beyan eder (Aiming at the target). (27v-33r) Bab 6: Darp urmak beyanındadır (Target shooting). (33r-39v) Bab 7: Menzil atmak beyanındadır (Distance shooting). (39v-42r) Bab 8 (described in the list of chapters as Menzil yaylar ve darp yaylar beyanındadır, On bows): üstatlar şakirtlere ne minval üzere kabza vermek gerek onu beyan eder (How instructors should hand distance-shooting and target-shooting bows to their students). (42r-43v) Bab 9 (in chapter list, Menzil atıldıkta sakil düşen okun hikmeti beyanındadır, On heavyweight bows for distance shooting): Menzil ve darp yaylarını boylarını beyan eder (Sizes of distance and target bows). (43v-46r) Bab 10 (in chapter list, Sahabe-'i Güzin Rıdvanullah 'aleyhim ecma'in zamanlarında olan üstatlar beyan eder (Master bowmen in the time of the Prophet's Companions): Menzili salk düşen okun beyanındadır (Explaining defective results in distance shooting). (46r-48v) Bab 11 (in chapter list, Kabza kaç türlüdür onu beyan eder, Types of grip): Sahabe-i güzin Rıdvanullāh Teala 'aleyhim ecma'in zamanlarında olan üstatlar… (Master bowmen in the time of the Prophet's Companions). (48v-49r) Bab 12 (in chapter list, Atçıya lazım olan bazı ahval beyanındadır, Some matters necessary for horsemen): Malum ola ki kabza dahi dörttür... (Four types of grip). (49r-54v) Bab 13 (in chapter list, Ok atıldıkta halel ne yerden hasıl olur onu beyanındadır, Causes of poor shooting): Malum ola ki ok yirmi dört bahıştır (Twenty-four types of arrow). (54v-55v) Bab 14 (in chapter list, Kiriş itmek beyanındadır): Kiriş itmek neden hasıl olur... (How to draw the bow, or how to make a bowstring). (55v-56r) Bab 15: Siperin ve zihgirin beyanındadır (Thumbguards and bowstring-drawers). (56r-59r) Bab 16: Kiriş şehadet parmağı soktan dokunur... (title in chapter list ends: ...neden dokunur onun beyanındadır) (Using index finger to draw the bow). (59r-62v) Hatime: İstanbul'da ve Gelibolu'da ve Mısırda atılan menziller beyanındadır (Conclusion: archery ranges in Istanbul, Gelibolu (Gallipoli), and Cairo). (63r-74v) Tables of archers' names and competition scores. Begins: Hamt ü sipas ol Kaviyy-i Kahire ki nev'-i Beni Adem ve cemi'-i mahlukattan mümtaz edip talim-i sanayi' ve tahsil-i kemalat-i bi-nihayeye kabiliyet verdi. The colophon on f 74v carries the date 1174 AH/1760-1 CE.

Available for research unless otherwise stated

Acquired at auction from Christie's South Kensington on 3 April 2009 (Lot 84)

For another copy of the Kavsname, see Or 16165. The British Library also holds two other seemingly rare volumes on archery: Or 15977 is devoted to a description of archery grounds in Istanbul, Edirne, and elsewhere in the Ottoman territories, of Sultans and distinguished archers associated with them, and some of the their outstanding feats. Or 16163 contains a treatise on distinguished archers and archery ranges in Rumeli, from the time of Sultan Mehmed II to Sultan Süleyman I. On the Kavsname, see Hasan Aksoy, 'Kavsnâme,' TDVİA, 25, 70-71.

Kemankeş Mustafa effendi, Kavsnâme, edited by Hanifi Vural and Yaşar Metin Aksoy (Tokat: Taşhan Kitap Yayınları, c2010). A more recent edition has been prepared by the same editors (Okçular Vakfı ile Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu, 2021) based on a manuscript in Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, (Lala İsmail 559).