by In the Archery sports History, Tribesmen of Central Asia (after the domestication of the horse) and American Plains Indians (after gaining access to horses through Europeans) developed a great skill in archery while riding on horses. Lightly armoured, but highly mobile archers were ideally suited to warfare in the Central Asian steppes, and they formed a large part of armies which repeatedly conquered large areas of Eurasia. The shorter bows are more suitable to be used while riding on horses as well as the bow that is composite made it possible for mounted archers to make use of powerful weapons.
Seljuk Turks used mounted archers to fight the European First Crusade, especially at the Battle of Dorylaeum (1097). Their tactic was to shoot at infantry from the other side, and utilize their superior speed to keep the enemy from closing in on them. Empires throughout the Eurasian area often strongly associated their “barbarian” counterparts with the use of the bow and arrow. This was to the point that powerful states such as the Han Dynasty referred to their neighbor, the Xiong-nu known as “Those who Draw the Bow”.
For instance, Xiong-nu’s mounted bowmen proved to be much more formidable than the Han military. Their threat was at the very least responsible in the Chinese growth into Ordos region, in order to establish an even more robust, stronger buffer zone to protect the Chinese. It is possible that “barbarian” peoples are the ones who introduced archery or certain bow types to their “civilized” counterparts, with the Xiong-nu and the Han being just two examples. Similarly, short bows seem to be used in Japan by the northeast Asian groups.
