Turkish Composite Bow

Turkish Composite Bow (Katışık Türk Yayı); decorated with golden motifs, including crescents on the handle, made by Haci Gavsî, AD 1823-24. The Turkish bow is a recurved, composite bow made from horn, wood and sinew glued together with fish glue. A thumb-ring was worn to protect the thumb and aid the draw. With these composite bows, the Turks shot up to 800 meters. The furthest shot on record is of Iskender the “Tozkoparan” who shot 846 meters in the year 1550. As usual with these records, a stele (Nişan taşı) was erected where his arrow landed which is still in Istanbul today.