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Parthian horseman,on display at the Palazzo Madama, Turin.

The Parthian shot was a military tactic made famous by the Parthians, an Iranian people. The Parthian archers, mounted on light horse, would feign retreat; then, at a full gallop, turn their bodies back to shoot at the pursuing enemy. The maneuver required superb equestrian skills, since the rider's hands were occupied by his bow. As the stirrup had not been invented at the time of the Parthians, the rider relied solely on pressure from his legs to guide his horse.

You wound, like Parthians, while you fly,
And kill with a retreating eye.

—Samuel Butler, An Heroical Epistle of Hudibras to His Lady (1678)^[1]

This tactic was used by most Eurasian nomads, including the Scythians, Huns, Turks, Magyars, and Mongols, and it eventually spread to armies away from the Eurasian steppe, such as the Sassanid clibanariis and cataphracts^{[citation needed]}.

A notable battle in which this tactic was employed (by the Parthians) was the Battle of Carrhae. In this battle the Parthian shot was a principal factor in the Parthian victory over the Roman general Crassus.

Parting shot / Parthian shot [link]

"Parthian shot" is not to be confused with the phrase "parting shot". The first official record of the use of the phrase "parting shot" was by John McCleod, surgeon on board His Majesty's ship Alceste contained in "A narrative of a Voyage to the Yellow Sea" (1818):

The consort, firing a parting shot, bore up round the north end of the island, and escaped.

In 1828 records in "The Friend, or Advocate of Truth" (a publication of The Religious Society of Friends) used the phrase in the figurative sense, being the first officially to do so on official records:

I think it would be much more becoming..., if you could separate without giving each other a parting shot.

The two phrases have rather similar phonetic soundings but are actually separately derived at different times. Although the Parthian archers of old have been famous for their shooting, the term "parthian shot" was actually officially used and recorded for the first time only in 1832 by Captain Mundy, ADC to Lord Combermere on a hunting trip in India:

...I made a successful Parthian shot with my favourite Joe Manton (shotgun).

The figurative use of the phrase "Parthian shot" only appeared much later in The Times (1842):

They have probably enough dealt a Parthian shot to British interests...

If chronology were to be the source, it would appear that the English usage of "parting shot" actually preceded the use of the phrase "Parthian shot". "Parthian shot" is now rather archaic and rarely used. "Parting shot" is far more likely to be encountered.^[2][3]

With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him.

—Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (1886)

His Parthian shot reached them as they closed the doors. 'Never mind darlings', they heard him say, 'we can all sleep soundly now Turner's here.'

—John Le Carre, A Small Town in Germany (1968)

See also [link]

• Mounted archery
• Feint
• Pyrrhic victory
• Caracole, a similar cavalry maneuver
• Cantabrian circle
• The Purloined Letter Approach

References [link]