Abstract:

Sports in the Ottoman Empire have evolved as a systematic activity to make the practitioners acquire mililtary skills needed for warfare. The aim of training was to acquire and maintain the physical strength, power and neuro-muscular coordination that were necessary for using weapons like bow, mace and sword. Remarkable performances in using these weapons have been appreciated, and some of them were meticulously documented. Based on the tradition of ‘erecting a stone’ (taş dikme) most of these singular performances have been recorded and commemorated by erecting a monumental column bearing a carved inscription. The stone columns indicating the range of the arrow (ok menzil taşları) are the most common examples of this tradition. There were other recorded performances of rifle and cannon shooting and –with a single known example– of a mace throw. The present study discusses another weapon with which there is only one known/documented performance of similar kind: a “lobut” (cludgel) throw from horseback. Short, thick, hand-held clubs like lobut have been used in many cultures with many variations by striking or throwing to cause damage on the target. In this article we focused on the development, use and morphology of this primitive weapon with a related sportive performance mentioned in an inscription. This inscription is carved on a marble tablette to memorize a jereed and a lobut thrown by Sultan Murad IV, and is still being displayed in the fourth inner courtyard of Topkapı Palace, Istanbul.

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