Editing Arquebus (section)

===Origins===
The earliest known examples of an "arquebus" date back to 1411 in Europe and no later than 1425 in the Ottoman Empire.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=443}} This early firearm was a [[hand cannon]], whose roots trace back to China, with a serpentine lever to hold matches.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=425}} However it did not have the matchlock mechanism traditionally associated with the arquebus. The exact dating of the matchlock addition is disputed. The first references to the use of what may have been arquebuses (''tüfek'') by the [[Janissary]] corps of the [[Ottoman army]] date them from 1394 to 1465.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=443}} However, it is unclear whether these were arquebuses or small cannons as late as 1444, but according to Gábor Ágoston the fact that they were listed separately from cannons in mid-15th century inventories suggest they were handheld firearms.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ágoston |first1=Gábor |title=Military Transformation in the Ottoman Empire and Russia, 1500–1800 |journal=Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History |date=2011 |volume=12 |issue=2 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254954728 |pages=281–319 [294] |doi=10.1353/kri.2011.0018|s2cid=19755686 |quote=Initially the Janissaries were equipped with bows, crossbows, and javelins. In the first half of the 15th century, they began to use matchlock arquebuses, although the first references to the Ottomans' use of tüfek or hand firearms of the arquebus type (1394, 1402, 1421, 1430, 1440, 1442) are disputable.}}</ref>

In Europe, a [[shoulder stock]], probably inspired by the [[crossbow]] stock,<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal|last=Khan |first=Iqtidar Alam|date=1991|title=The Nature of Handguns in Mughal India: 16th and 17th Centuries|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=52|pages=378–389|jstor=44142632}}</ref> was added to the arquebus around 1470 and the appearance of the matchlock mechanism is dated to a little before 1475. The matchlock arquebus was the first firearm equipped with a trigger mechanism.{{sfn|Phillips|2016}}{{sfn|Petzal|2014|p=5}} It is also considered to be the first portable shoulder-arms firearm.{{sfn|Partington|1999|p=xxvii}}