when were pigeons first used to carry messages
Homing pigeon The sport of flying homing pigeons was well-established as early as 3000 years ago.[5] They were used to proclaim the winner of the Olympics.[5][6] Messenger pigeons were used as early as 1150 in Baghdad[7] and also later by Genghis Khan. By 1167 a regular service between Baghdad and Syria had been established by Sultan Nour-Eddin.[8] In Damietta, by the mouth of the Nile, the Spanish traveller Pedro Tafur saw carrier pigeons for the first time, in 1436, though he imagined that the birds made round trips, out and back.[9] The Republic of Genoa equipped their system of watch towers in the Mediterranean Sea with pigeon posts. Tipu Sultan used homing pigeons. They returned to the Jamia Masjid mosque in Srirangapatna, which was his headquarters. The pigeon holes may be seen in the mosque's minarets to this day.