Cavalry Warfare of Ancient Iranian Peoples

The Distinguished CAAS (Center of Arms & Armor Studies), in Kyiv, Ukraine held the “Program of the Fourth International Conference on the History of Arms and Armor/ПРОГРАМА ЧЕТВЕРОЇ МІЖНАРОДНОЇ ЗБРОЄЗНАВЧОЇ КОНФЕРЕНЦІЇ“ on November 3-4, 2020.

The prime director of the conference was Dr. Denys Toichkin of the Institute of History of Ukraine NASU.

The founders of Conference were: the National Museum of Military History of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine), the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine), Guild Blacksmiths and Knifemakers of Ukraine, The Fund for Research of Ancient Civilization (NY, USA), the Center of Arms & Armor Studies (Kyiv, Ukraine), and Nihonto – the Gallery of Japanese Swords (Kyiv, Ukraine). The conference was attended by researchers from several countries: USA, Canada, Germany, Poland, Greece, Romania, Croatia, Belarus, as well as India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, with the majority of the researchers having been from Ukraine. Kaveh Farrokh presented on the topic of: “Military Interactions between the Neo-Assyrian Army and Ancient Iranian Peoples: Implications for the development of Cavalry warfare”. This has now been published in a full academic article available for download from Academia.edu:

Farrokh, K. (2023). Military Interactions between the Neo-Assyrian Army and Ancient Iranian Peoples: Implications for the Development of Cavalry Warfare. In D. Toichkin (ed.), History of Antique Arms – Researches 2020: Collection of Scientific Papers, Kyiv, Ukraine: Stylos, pp.140-158.

The article examines the development of cavalry warfare as a consequence of the military interactions between the Neo-Assyrian Empire (c. 911–609 BCE) and Iranian peoples (notably the Medes and Persians) from latter half of the 9^th century BCE and the Scythians arriving through the Caucasus by c. mid-7^th century BCE. The primary focus of the article is on mutual influences in cavalry warfare between the Neo-Assyrian army and Iranian peoples (Medes, Persians, Scythians) with respect to horse archery, lance combat and armor development.

One of the slides displayed by Kaveh Farrokh at the “Program of the Fourth International Conference on the History of Arms and Armor/ПРОГРАМА ЧЕТВЕРОЇ МІЖНАРОДНОЇ ЗБРОЄЗНАВЧОЇ КОНФЕРЕНЦІЇ“ on November 3-4, 2020.

For more on the topic of the military history of pre-Achaemenid Iranian cavalry warfare, kindly consult the below article available for download from Academia.edu:

Farrokh, K., Maksymiuk, K., Skupniewicz, P., & Fathi, S. (2022). An overview of military confrontations between the Assyrian Army against the Medes in the 7th centuries BCE. HISTORIA I ŚWIAT: ACTA MILITARIA IRANICA, 11, pp.125-144.

The article begins with a synopsis of the origins of equestrian-based (as well as wheeled) transport and the composite bow by an examination of the archaeological data (e.g. Kammenaya Mogila, Dereivka stallion, etc.).

The paper then follows with an examination of the evolution of equidae-propelled wheeled combat vehicles (3000-2000 BCE), the composite bow (c.2000 BCE) and the advent of warfare from horseback (c. 1^st millennium BCE).

The discussion then leads to the analyses of the clashes of Iranian peoples with Assyrian armies from the 9^th to the 7^th centuries BCE.

The role of the Saka Paradraya (Scythians of ancient Eastern Europe and Ukraine) on Iranian cavalry warfare development is outlined, notably with respect to late Mede armies of the 7^th century BCE.