Abstract:

Archery which is defined as “sports made with arrows and bows”, has an important share in hunting, nutrition and war arts in cultures with nomadic and warlike structures. Therefore, the Turks, who adopted archery as a way of life and portrayed as “Archer Nations”, they gave names related to the arrows such as “Bozok” and “Üçok” for themselves. Turks who accepted arrow and bow as symbols of justice and sovereignty, they have even defined such as “Khan for bow, loyalty for Khan for arrow”. It is already stated that the Turks use arrow-bow in every area of life, such as birth, marriage and death, and use the arrow that it means symbol of hero/courage. However, it is also known that the Turks have organized an “arrow-throwing race” as a way of proving their power. Moreover, the pre-Islamic oaths on the arrow-bow, which is an invitation/call tool, it constitutes a clear indication of the religious dimension and importance attributed to the arrow and archery. The archery which has begun to appear in the foreground in the form of virtue/merit after the acceptance of Islam. In this conception, it is visible that the influence of Prophet Muhammad’s hadiths. Hadiths are such as “Three people go to the heaven thanks to an arrow; the people who makes the arrow, who proffer and who shoot… The one who learns to throw arrows and then leaves (without reason) is not from us” are only a few of these examples. Even it is rumored that Prophet Muhammad indicated that a father’s an obligation to teach his son archery. Thus, archery created a sense of “sunnah” in the Turks and was regarded as a “spiritual discipline”. In addition, the “Squares of Arrow” have been attributed to the sanctity and these squares have been described in the form of “a piece from heaven”. Therefore, the Turks are not allowed to enter the squares of arrow, alcoholic or ablution and they have shown care to say “Ya Allah” with the recite bismillah from the heart when they shooting arrows. As a result, archery, which is a sporting activity today, has become a symbol of life as a symbol of merit, justice, power, strength and courage, as well as being an art, sports and religious motif in Turks, before Islam and after Islam.

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