History of Archery Timeline

Malian formations in the sixteenth century generally used a ratio of three archers to one spearman, demonstrating the continuing importance of archery in West African warfare.

Early firearms could be slower to reload than bows, but they offered greater penetration, greater effective range in many tactical situations, and superior performance when soldiers fired from behind obstructions. Repeating firearms eventually made bows functionally obsolete in warfare.

Image source: History of the firearm

The Battle of Cerignola was won by Spain mainly through the use of matchlock firearms and is often identified as the first major European battle won through firearms.

The Tokugawa shogunate severely limited the import and manufacture of guns and encouraged traditional martial skills among the samurai, preserving a role for archery in Japan.

Image source: Tokugawa shogunate

At Bridgnorth in October 1642, an impromptu militia armed with bows was reportedly effective against unarmoured musketeers, marking the last recorded use of bows in battle in England.

Image source: English Civil War

The last reputed use of the bow in battle in Britain occurred at Tippermuir, where James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, led Royalist Highlanders to victory over Scottish Covenanters.

François Bernier reported that well-trained mounted archers at the Battle of Samugarh in 1658 could shoot six times before a musketeer fired twice, illustrating the bow’s continuing rate-of-fire advantage.

Image source: Battle of Samugarh

Bows were last used in large numbers in the final clan battle between the MacDonalds and the Mackintoshes in 1688.

In the Scottish Highlands, archers continued to be used in battle until 1689 at Killiecrankie, where a documented fatal shot was made by an archer serving in the Hanoverian government army.

Image source: Battle of Killiecrankie

After about 1800, most Comanches began discarding muskets and pistols and relying more on older weapons. Repeating firearms later proved superior, and the Comanches adopted them when possible.

Image source: Comanche

Mounted archers remained part of the Ottoman order of battle until the post-1826 reforms to the Ottoman Army. The practice had already declined after Russia absorbed the Crimean Khanate.

Image source: Auspicious Incident

Toward the end of the Satsuma Rebellion, some rebels fell back on bows and arrows, showing the persistence of traditional weapons even in an era dominated by firearms.

Image source: Satsuma Rebellion

The last Comanche hunt took place in 1878. It failed because of the lack of buffalo rather than because of inadequate weapons.

Archery remained an important part of military examinations in Korea until 1894 and in China until 1904, even as firearms transformed warfare.

The Sentinelese continue to use bows as part of a lifestyle that has been scarcely touched by outside contact.

Image source: Sentinelese

Bows and arrows saw considerable use during the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis. Traditional archery has also been reported in some African conflicts in the twenty-first century.

Image source: 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis

The Company of Scottish Archers was formed in 1676 and became one of the oldest sporting bodies in the world.

Early recreational archery societies included the Finsbury Archers and the Kilwinning Papingo, both established in 1688.

The British initiated a major revival of archery as an upper-class pursuit from about 1780 to 1840. The pastime remained small and scattered before its fashionable aristocratic resurgence.

Antiquarian and collector Sir Ashton Lever formed the Toxophilite Society in London in 1781 with the patronage of George, Prince of Wales.

Image source: Royal Toxophilite Society

From 1789, general meetings brought local archery lodges together to standardize rules and ceremonies.

Sir Walter Scott’s 1819 novel Ivanhoe helped popularize archery by depicting the heroic archer Locksley winning an archery tournament.

Image source: Ivanhoe

The first Grand National Archery Society meeting was held in York in 1844. Over the following decade, older festive practices were reduced and rules were standardized as the York Round.

The standardized York Round consisted of shoots at 60, 80, and 100 yards and became a defining format for organized British target archery.

A leading champion who won the Grand National eleven consecutive times published a highly influential guide to archery in 1856, helping codify sporting technique.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, archery participation declined as croquet, tennis, and other sports became more popular among the middle class. By 1889, only about 50 British archery clubs remained.

Primitive archery experienced a revival in the United States during the early twentieth century, encouraging renewed interest in traditional equipment and techniques.

Archery was included as a sport at the 1900 Paris Olympics despite declining participation in Britain.

Ishi, the last known member of the Yahi, emerged from hiding in California in 1911. His knowledge helped draw attention to Indigenous technologies, including traditional archery.

Image source: Ishi

Founded in 1961 and named for Saxton Pope and Arthur Young, the Pope and Young Club became one of North America’s leading bowhunting and conservation organizations.

Image source: Saxton Pope

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, interest in traditional Chinese archery revived among craftspeople constructing bows and arrows and practitioners studying historical Chinese techniques.