Orphan Rights

Sportsman could make a goodliving by being skillful asa warrior. The Turks andMongols, especially, werefamous for their skills inarchery. Young men havethe privilege to demonstratetheir different skills beforethe Sultan of the OttomanTurks and some foreignvisitors.Falconry - A sport by whichtrained falcons were usedfor huntingFalconry has a long historyin the Middle East. Falconswere first used by man ashunting birds about 4,000years ago in Asia Minor.Some highlights of thehistory of falcons are listedbelow:The ancient Hittites andGreeks also had huntingbirds. The famous Greekpoet Homer told of “usingbirds of prey to hunt with”among the people found inthe travels of Ulysses in theOdyssey in the 13th centuryB.C.Falconry was used by desertdwellers to bring more meatinto their diet. Falcons couldhunt down ducks, rabbits,and other small animals.Later, Falconry became asport of the wealthy. Princeshad hunting parties whichare shown in miniatureart displayed in manyillustrations.One story from the ArabianKnights tells how a youngprince by the nameTemoudjin and anotherprince, around 1180, hadjust lost a battle, andwere making their waythrough the desert. Theywere without weapons orfood and were dying ofhunger. They had almostabandoned (given up)hope, when Temoudjinsaw a wild hawk. The otherPrince said, “God is sendingus our food. Let us chasethe hawk away, seize (grab)its quarry (the animal it hadcaught) and then we caneat”...Temoudjin said, “No,we will only be given foodif we are able to earn it.” Sothe two caught the hawk,trained it to catch food forthem, and shared the foodwith the bird. Almost twoyears later they were able toreturn to their own country.Now suppose IF Temoudjinhad died of hunger andnot trapped and trainedthe hawk. History wouldhave never known the manTemoudjin - who was to24An Islamic Periodical Magazine - Issue No 18 June 2010