' (Arabic: ÃÂñÃÂóÃÂé; also transliterated as , knighthood) is an Arabic knightly discipline and ethical code developed in the Middle Ages. It was practised in the medieval Muslim world from Afghanistan to Muslim Spain, and particularly during the Crusades and the Mamluk period. The combat form uses martial arts and equestrianism as the foundation.
The term furà «siyya is a derivation of () "horse", and in Modern Standard Arabic means "equestrianism" in general. The term for "horseman" or "cavalier" ("knight") is (ÃÂçñó), which is also the origin of the Spanish rank of alférez. The Perso-Arabic term for "Furà «siyya literature" is or . is also described as a small encyclopedia about horses.
The three basic categories of furà «siyya are horsemanship, including veterinary aspects of proper care for the horse (hippology) and the proper riding techniques (equestrianism), mounted archery, and jousting. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya adds swordsmanship as a fourth discipline in his treatise Al-Furà «siyya (1350). Ibn Akhi Hizam also cited that there are three fundamentals to the furà «siyya: horse mastery, proficiency in handling all types of weapons, and bravery.
The Arabic literary tradition involving equestrianism dates back thousands of years and occupied large sections of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. That of veterinary medicine () in Furusiyya literature, much like in the case of human medicine, was adopted from Byzantine Greek sources in the 9th to 10th centuries. In the case of furà «siyya, the immediate source is the Byzantine compilation on veterinary medicine known as the Hippiatrica (5th or 6th century); the very word for "horse doctor" in Arabic, bayá¹Âar, is a .
The first known such treatise in Arabic is due to Ibn Akhë ḤizÃÂm (), an Abbasid-era commander and stable master to caliph Al-Muÿtadid (r. 892âÂÂ902), author of KitÃÂb al-Furà «siyya wa 'l-Bayá¹Âara ("Book of Horsemanship and Hippiatry"). Ibn al-Nadim in the late 10th century records the availability in Baghdad of several treatises on horses and veterinary medicine attributed to Greek authors.
The discipline peaked in Mamluk Sultanate during the 14th century. In a narrow sense, furà «siyya literature comprises works by professional military writers with a Mamluk background or close ties to the Mamluk establishment. These treatises often quote pre-Mamluk works on military strategy. Some of the works were versified for didactic purposes. The best known versified treatise is the one by Taybugha al-Ashrafi al-Baklamishi al-Yunan ("the Greek"), who in c. 1368 wrote the poem al-tullab fi ma'rifat ramy al-nushshab. The discipline of furusiyya became increasingly detached from its origins in Byzantine veterinary medicine and more focussed on military arts.
The three basic categories of furà «siyya are horsemanship, including hippology and veterinary aspects of proper care for the horse, and the appropriate riding techniques, mounted archery, and jousting. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya adds swordsmanship as a fourth discipline in his treatise Al-Furà «siyya (1350). Ibn Akhi Hizam also cited that there are three fundamentals to furà «siyya: horse mastery, proficiency in handling all types of weapons, and bravery.
Persian which can be dated with confidence are extant only from about the mid-14th century, but the tradition survives longer in Persia, throughout the Safavid era. One treatise by ÿAbd-AllÃÂh á¹¢afë, known as the a (written in 1407/8) is said to preserve a chapter from an otherwise lost 12th-century (Ghaznavid-era) text. There is a candidate for another treatise of this age, extant in a single manuscript: the treatise attributed to one Moḥammad b. Moḥammad b. Zangë, also known as Qayyem NehÃÂvandë, has been tentatively dated as originating in the 12th century. Some of the Persian treatises are translations from the Arabic. One short work, attributed to Aristotle, is a Persian translation from the Arabic. There are supposedly also treatises translated into Persian from Hindustani or Sanskrit. These include the by Zayn-al-ÿÃÂbedën Ḥosaynë Haà ¡emë (written 1520), and the by á¹¢adr-al-Dën Moḥammad Khan b. Zebardast Khan (written 1722/3). Texts thought to have been originally written in Persian include the by Moḥammad b. Moḥammad WÃÂseÿë (written 1365/6; Tehran, MS no. 5754). A partial listing of known Persian literature was published by GordfarÃÂmarzë (1987).
The following is a list of known Furusiyyah treatises (after al-Sarraf 2004, al-Nashërë 2007).
Some of the early treatises (9th to 10th centuries) are not extant and only known from references by later authors: Al-Asma'i, ( "horse"), Ibn Abi al-Dunya (d. 894 / AH 281) , Al-ṬabarÃÂnë (d. 971 / AH 360) , Al-QarrÃÂb (d. 1038 / AH 429), .
The term furà «siyya, much like its parallel chivalry in the West, also appears to have developed a wider meaning of "martial ethos". Arabic furusiyya and European chivalry has both influenced each other as a means of a warrior code for the knights of both cultures.
The term fÃÂris () for "horseman" consequently adopted qualities comparable to the Western knight or chevalier ("cavalier"). This could include free men (such as Usama ibn Munqidh), or unfree professional warriors, like ghulams and mamluks. The Mamluk-era soldier was trained in the use of various weapons such as the saif, spear, lance, javelin, club, bow and arrows, and tabarzin (Mamluk bodyguards are known as tabardariyya), as well as wrestling.