A stirrup is one of a pair of light frames or rings attached to the saddle of a riding animal (usually a horse or other equine, such as a mule) by a strap (often called a stirrup leather) that holds its rider's foot, aiding in their mounting and support. They greatly increase the rider's ability to stay in the saddle and control the mount, increasing the animal's usefulness to humans in areas such as communication, transportation, and warfare.
In antiquity, the earliest foot supports consisted of riders placing their feet under a girth or using a simple toe loop appearing in India by the 2nd century BC. Later, a single foot support was used as a mounting aid, and paired stirrups appeared after the invention of the treed saddle. The stirrup was invented in the Chinese Jin dynasty during the 4th century, was in common use throughout China by the 5th century, and was spread across Eurasia to Europe through the nomadic peoples of Central Eurasia by the 7th or 8th century.
Etymology The English word "stirrup" stems from Old English or "mounting rope"Dictionary.com definition compounding lit. “to ascend" (cf. obsolete verb sty) and "rope".
History The stirrup, which gives greater stability to a rider, has been described as one of the most significant inventions in the history of warfare, prior to gunpowder. As a tool allowing expanded use of horses in warfare, the stirrup is often called the third revolutionary step in equipment, after the chariot and the saddle. The basic tactics of mounted warfare were significantly altered by the stirrup. A rider supported by stirrups was less likely to fall off while fighting, and could deliver a blow with a weapon that more fully employed the weight and momentum of horse and rider. Among other advantages, stirrups provided greater balance and support to the rider, which allowed the knight to use a sword more efficiently without falling, especially against infantry adversaries. Contrary to common modern belief, however, it has been asserted that stirrups actually did not enable the horseman to use a lance more effectively (cataphracts had used lances since antiquity), though the cantled saddle did."Saddle, Lance and Stirrup" ; for a concise argument for the common view, see Lynn White, Jr., Medieval Technology and Social Change, Oxford University Press, 1964, pp. 1–2.
Precursors
Soft stirrups The stirrup was invented relatively late in history, considering that horses were domesticated in approximately 4000 BC, and the earliest known saddle-like equipment was fringed cloths or pads with breast pads and cruppers used by Assyrian cavalry around 700 BC.Russel H. Beatie (1981). Saddles. University of Oklahoma Press. . p. 18.
The earliest hard foot support was a toe loop that held the big toe and was used in India late in the second century BC,Russel H. Beatie (1981). Saddles. University of Oklahoma Press. . p. 28.White, Lynn Jr. (1964). Medieval Technology and Social Change. Oxford University Press. . p. 14 though it may have appeared as early as 500 BC. This ancient foot support consisted of a looped rope for the big toe which was at the bottom of a saddle made of fibre or leather. Such a configuration was suitable for the warm climate of south and central India where people used to ride horses barefoot. Buddhist carvings in the temples of Sanchi, Mathura and the Bhaja caves dating back between the 1st and 2nd century BC feature horsemen riding with elaborate saddles with toes slipped under girths. Archaeologist John Marshall described the Sanchi relief as "the earliest example by some five centuries of the use of stirrups in any part of the world". This type of foot support has been called the "toe stirrup" in contrast to the later stirrup known as the "foot stirrup" seen in China during the 5th century AD. It is speculated that they may have spread to China and were the precursors of the "foot stirrup".
Hard stirrups
Riders in Central and Southern Asia during the last century B.C. and the first century A.D. seem to have used toe loops and "hook stirrups," which featured a curved metal hook hanging from the saddle to support the foot. A pair of first century BC double bent iron bars, approximately 17 cm in length with curvature at each end, excavated from a grave near Junapani in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, have been postulated as either full foot stirrups or bridle bits."16.17.4: Stirrups". In Amalananda Ghosh, ed. (1990). Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology, Vol. 1. p. 336
Some credit the nomadic Central Asian group known as the Sarmatians with developing the first stirrups."Stirrups"
The invention of the solid saddle tree allowed development of the true stirrup as it is known today.Bennett, Deb (1998). Conquerors: The Roots of New World Horsemanship (1st ed.). Amigo. p. 100. Without a solid tree, the rider's weight in the stirrups creates abnormal pressure points that make the horse's back sore.Treeless vs. Conventional Saddles: Back Pressure Evaluated Modern thermography studies on "treeless" and flexible-tree saddle designs have found that there is considerable friction across the center line of a horse's back.West, Christy (February 4, 2005). "AAEP 2004: Evaluating Saddle Fit". TheHorse.com.. Accessed February 2, 2008. A coin of Quintus Labienus, who was in service of Parthia, minted circa 39 BC depicts on its reverse a saddled horse with hanging objects. Smith suggests they are pendant cloths, while Thayer suggests that, considering the fact that the Parthians were famous for their mounted archery, the objects are stirrups, but adds that it is difficult to imagine why the Romans would never have adopted the technology.
East Asia
The Wenwu journal (1981) speculated that stirrups may have been used in China as early as the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) based on representations of horses believed to date to the Eastern Han period (25–220 AD). Two plaques depict horses with squares between their belly and base line, which has been speculated to represent stirrups. However in 1984, Yang Hong remarked in the same journal that the horses had no saddles and therefore the squares were only ornaments.
Excavations at Khukh Nuur in northern Mongolia discovered a single iron stirrup in a cave burial. Radiocarbon dating of the human bone associated with this stirrup produced a date of 243–405 AD. Another cave burial at Urd Ulaan Uneet in Khovd Province was discovered with a saddle that had bilateral straps attached midway through the saddle tree, strongly suggesting the existence of paired stirrups. Radiocarbon dating of a strap made with horse hide gives a date of 267–535 AD.
The earliest known paired stirrups first appeared in China during the Jin dynasty by the early 4th century AD. A funerary figurine depicting a stirrup dated 302 AD was unearthed from a Western Jin tomb near Changsha. The stirrup depicted is a mounting stirrup, only placed on one side of the horse, and too short for riding. The earliest reliable representation of a full-length, double-sided riding stirrup was also unearthed from a Jin tomb, this time near Nanjing, dating to the Eastern Jin period, 322 AD. The earliest extant double stirrups were discovered in the tomb of a Northern Yan noble, Feng Sufu, who died in 415 AD. These stirrups were made with mulberry wood gilded with bronze and iron plates. References to stirrups appeared in Chinese texts by the end of the 4th century. Stirrups have also been found in Goguryeo tombs dating to the 4th and 5th centuries AD, but these do not contain any specific date. The stirrup appears to have been in widespread use across China by 477 AD.Hobson, John M. (2004). The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation. Cambridge University Press, p. 103. .
The appearance of the stirrup in China coincided with the rise of heavily armoured cavalry in the region. Dated to 357 AD, the tomb of Dong Shou shows fully armoured riders as well as horses. References to "iron cavalry" and "iron horse" began to appear at the same time and instances of captured horse armour in numbers as high as 5,000 and 10,000 are recorded. In addition to the stirrups, Feng Sufu's tomb also contained iron plates for lamellar armour. Armoured heavy cavalry would dominate Chinese warfare from the 4th century AD to the early Tang dynasty when the military transitioned to light cavalry. A. von Le Coo's theory on the invention of the stirrup is that it was a contraption created by either mounted people who wanted to make riding less tiring, or those unused to riding to gain the necessary skills to match their adversaries.
The earliest stirrups in Japan were unearthed from 5th century tombs. They were flat bottomed rings of metal-covered wood. Cup-shaped stirrups () that enclosed the front half of the rider's foot replaced the earlier design. During the Nara period, the base of the stirrup which supported the rider's sole was elongated past the toe cup. This half-tongued style of stirrup () remained in use until the late Heian period when the or replaced it. It had a base that extended the full length of the rider's foot and the right and left sides of the toe cup were removed. The open sides were designed to prevent the rider from catching a foot in the stirrup and being dragged. The military version () of this stirrup was in use by the middle Heian period. It was thinner, had a deeper toe pocket, and a longer and flatter foot shelf. This stirrup stayed in use until European style-stirrup rings were reintroduced in the late 19th century. It is not known why the Japanese developed this unique style of stirrup.Friday, Karl (2004). "Samurai, warfare and the state in early medieval Japan". Psychology Press. p. 98. These had a distinctive swanlike shape, curved up and backward at the front so as to bring the loop for the leather strap over the instep and achieve a correct balance. Most of the surviving specimens from this period are made entirely of iron, inlaid with designs of silver or other materials, and covered with lacquer. In some examples there is an iron rod from the loop to the footplate near the heel to prevent the foot from slipping out. The footplates are occasionally perforated to let water drain out when crossing rivers, and these types are called . There are stirrups with holes in the front forming sockets for a lance or banner.Blair, Claude and Tarassuk, Leonid, eds. (1982). The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons. p. 17. Simon & Schuster. .
In the 6th century AD and later, earlier wooden and composite stirrups were replaced with cast iron versions in East Asia.
West Asia In east of Iran, local stirrups ( rekāb) are circular with short straps, west of Iran influenced by Arab smithery sometimes produce triangle stirrups with long straps.
In the Ottoman Empire, the stirrup ( rikâb or üzengi) became a metonym for the presence of sultan and/or his imperial entourage; rikâb often appended titles of people taken to replace higher ranking officials on leave for military campaigns.
Indian subcontinent Khajuraho sculptures in the 10th century depicted horses with leather stirrups. A horse equipped with golden stirrups (pādādhāra) was described in a poem by Someshvara III of Western Chalukya dated 1130 AD.
The iron stirrup arrived with the Mughal Empire and had developed a similar symbolism of power for the Emperor as was in the Ottoman Empire –a meeting before the emperor's court is in "presence of the stirrup" ( hazir-i rikab)– though partly from the Persian tradition of horse-rearing seen as a job worthy of and differentiating nobility from the commoner.
Europe