Barakah Al Arab is by Wadd Al Arab out of Jadah BelloftheBall.

Wadd Al Arab is by Triermain out Wisteria CF. All three generations Al-Dahdah breeding.

الكحيلة بركة العرب وبنتها بادية العرب يوم السبت

The Wadnan (or Wathnan) stallion Abu Khamseh (Khamseh x Parsa by Hashem) was one of Europe’s most important endurance horses. The first photo was taken in his prime, the second as was completing a 200 km ride, and the third by Christelle Seranne in old age.

He was bred by W.R. Brown, stood at Travelers Rest, was sold to the US Remounts and was used in service from 1935 to 1945.

Photo from The Arabian Horse News magazine February 1955.

He had the same hip and hindquarters as my Ginger.

Photo Marion Wassilewski

The Bu’ayri (from ba’ir, camel) strain, still exists in Iran today. It is a very rare strain, that appears in several early strain lists, e.g., Raswan’s (below, under “Bayiri”), where it’s the first in the Kuhaylan strains starting with the letter B. It also appears in George Tabet’s 1937 list, as a self-standing strain not to be mated, not under Kuhaylan.

Below, Kousha Rezai, a proud 2009 representative of the Bu’ayri strain. Photo Gudrun Waiditshka.

The headshot photo was taken by S. Kübe written under the picture in Asil Araber II page 473. The body shot is Asil Araber III page 680. Jens Sannek, who sent me both photos, told me that was first in training and second in performance test at Medingen in Northern Germany in 1978.

Habib is in the pedigree of my Jasminah.

Photo gleaned off social media without a source. If you know it’s source please share.

[Update: Kate tells me rthat there was another photo of King Faisal on the same horse at ctesiphon.com]

Jens tells that one was chestnut and the other grey. He told me that the chestnut mare, Jamila (a Saglawi x a Saglawia), born in 1967, broke her leg in January 1975. The grey mare was Mashora (a Hamdani x a Hamdania), born in 1962, died in 1978. Nothing is apparently left from either mare. He shared with me this photo of Mashora which had appeared in “Asil Araber” Vol. I 1977 Asil Club, Olm Presse Hildesheim New York, page 248. The pedigree from Mashora looks like she could have been an Anazah mare from Syria.

The edition by Archer and Fleming of Lady Anne’s Journals and Correspondence is so truncated here that it’s not immediately obvious that Mutlakh’s tribe is the Kethirin. This becomes plain once they are in Persia, when they make the connections to other Bani Lam there.

Her Journal entry for February 17, 1879 is upbeat, and in my opinion, one of the nicest sections of her J&C, complete with scenes from Bedouin hospitality and description of horses and nature:

“We have spent an interesting day. As agreed we and Mohamed and Mutlakh went to the latter’s camp […]. Shatti said the owner of a horse would bring it to show us from these tents and presently two people on a delul came leading a bay colt with three white feet (two fore and near hind) and star — a beautiful little horse he looked as far as we could see, in spite of the jellal which covered him. He seemed to be about 13.3 or 14 h. and is rising three. He had a proud way of walking, a lovely head, good hocks and knees and carried his tail perfectly […]. I fancy he would be worth buying […].”

This beautiful colt is Wadnan Khursan, a breed of which they [the Al Kathir] seem here to think as much as of as the Kehilans and the Abeyans. In fact Shatti and the other people all say that these breeds came from Kehilan originally and I think that those breeds Mr Skene called outside breeds, such as Wadnan, Rabdan and Rishan and Shueyman and others, are in no respect inferior to the Khamsa.

We arrived at the Kethirin camp after two and three quarter hours. There was Mutlakh’s large tent […]. Now the Wadnan colt looks first class though small.

February 18, 1879:

Then it was proposed that Hazzam should go with a message to the owner of the handsome Wadnan Khursan colt to tell him to bring it to wherever the Haj should camp this evening […];

Two months later, in lower Mesopotamia, the colt was still on her mind when she saw another mare from that strain:

“Wadnan is one of the breeds now existing with the Beni Lam now called Ketirin, our Nejd friends, and the beautiful little bay horse we saw belonging to one of Mutlakh’s men was of Wadnan.

His brother is Abdel Khan, mounted on a dark Arabian horse.

His father’s full name including titles is Gholam Hossein Khan Sardar Mohtasham Bakhtiar (Haji Ilkhani).

His grandfather’s full name is Emam Gholi Khan Haji Ilkhani Bakhtiari (Esfandiari) (1819 – 1896). The latter is likely the Bakhtiari Khan Lady Anne and Wilfrid set out to meet in 1879, and the father of Ali-Qoli the young man they journeyed with on the way back from his pilgrimage to Mecca. The young Ali-Qoli Khan had promised the Blunts an introduction to his father (re-reading the J&C now to check if it actually happened). Ali-Qoli Khan was to have a distinguished career later on.

J&C, Bagdad, March 18th, 1879:

[…] a messenger had brought a letter from Mr. Wertman to the Bani Lam Sheykh Mizban.. […]

J&C, somewhere in Khuzestan/Arabestan, March 28th, 1879:

We had great luck not to be met or found yesterday or in the night by any of the ghazus between the camps of Mizban and Akul or rather Musa. […]

The Bani Lam cannot however be very particular about their breeds for Beneyeh asked Wilfrid for the use of the grey horse for a little bay mare of his which he called Wadneh Hursan [sic] — Wadnan is one of the breeds now existing with the Bani Lam now called Ketirin [Al Kathir, in the plural], our Nejd friends, and the beautiful little bay horse we saw belonging to one of Mutakh’s men was of Wadnan. This mare of Beneyeh’s might be aseel but was uninteresting — she did not please the horse either, and it seems that these Beni Lam as well as other Bedouins don’t pay any attention to circumstances in these matters […].

[…] Presently a large number of fifty to a hundred khayal had assembled just outside Mizban’s tent and began to sing Aduan, Mizban (“Enemies, Mizban”), Aduan Mizban, etc., and stamp, or strike their spears on the ground beating time to the chanting.

[…] As to peace being made between Musa and Mizban I doubt it — Mizban has killed a son of Musa’s, so there is blood as well as other grievances.

The of the J&C published by Archer and Fleming are very incomplete, but it would appear that Beneyeh was the son of Shaykh Mizban the leader of the Bani Lam, and that he was to accompany Lady Anne and Wilfried on their journey through his tribe’s territory. I looked up him online and sure enough, here he is:

سنة 1904 تولّى رئاسة قبائل بني لام بالعراق الشيخ “غضبان البنية” بعد والده الشيخ بنية بن مزبان بن جنديل، فبسط نفوذه على مساحات واسعة من جنوب العراق من العمارة إلى الكوت، وذاع صيته حتى صار دخوله العمارة يتقدّمه آلاف المسلحين والأتباع.

My translation:

“In 1904, Shaykh Ghadhban al-Beneyeh (Ghazban in Persian) took over the leadership of the tribes of Bani Lam in Iraq, after his father Shaykh Beneyeh (Beneyyan) son of Mizban son of Gandil; he spread his influence on large swaths of Souther Iraq from al-Amarah to al-Kute; his reputations spread to the point that he’d enter al-Amarah preceded by thousands of armed men and followers [source unknown].”

A photo of Sh. Ghadhban son of Beneyeh son of Mizban from Facebook:

He famously supported the Ottomans and opposed the British during and after their 1917 invasion of Iraq. The British opposed his claim to the throne of Iraq, instead supporting Faysal son of the Sharif Hussain of Mecca, and exiled Ghadhban from Iraq twice.

He tells me that he saw both Jallad and the black mare Jezabel at their former owner: “I saw both of them by the last owners and was very impressed. They had a very special aura I can’t explain. This special thing I only noticed by the wonderfull [Algerian/Tunisian] Jahir. I never saw this in SE lines.“

Mary Gharaghozlu wrote the following story about Karoun in the section on Jilfan (Djelfan) in her studbook for the Asil Stud of Khuzestan:

The other Djelfan of the Jarjari line was the stallion, Karoun, which although now dead, is of the utmost importance in the A.S.K. stud book and pedigree. This stallion first became famous during the period when its owner Haji Hassoun Moravene of Khuzestan was involved in contraband activities across the border. On several occasions when he was pursued by mounted police the horse took his rider to safety through sheer speed and endurance. This attracted the interest of Col. Rokni, who as well as being a border patrol official in that area, was also a lover of horses, and he eventually bought the horse and called him Karoun. He entered him in races at Abadan and Ahwaz and won them with great ease.
This then attracted the attention of Col. Shaki, one of Iran’s top racing riders and enthusiasts. Col. Rokni gave Karoun to Col. Shaki who brought him to Tehran where he proceeded to win races against the Turkoman (the famous race-horse of Persia).
Since Karoun was an Asil, this in turn attracted the attention of Majid Bakhtiar, one of the last breeders of Asils in Iran. Being friends with Col. Shaki, Majid obtained Karoun from him and took him back to Khuzestan, his original home, where he set him up as stud in his stable in Agili.
Karoun had originally belonged to Haji Hassoun, son of Sangur Moravene. Both Karoun and his mother were born with this family but the grandmother was given by the Bani Malek to a priest from whom Sangur Moravene bought him. The Bani Malek live between Khorramshahr and Ahwaz and are one of the original owners of the Djelfan Jarjari.

Here is more on the Bani Malek from Enc. Iranica, under the broader entry of their parent tribe the Bani Tamim.

BANĪ TAMĪM, an Arab tribe of western Ḵūzestān, both settled and nomadic, raising sheep and camels. Their range lies between Howayza and Ahvāz, where they are also known as the Banī Mālek (Persia, pp. 378, 380; Field, pp. 198-99). Their numbers were estimated at 10,000 persons before World War I, when they also extended south on the Kārūn as far as Qājārīya (Lorimer, Gazetteer II, pp. 123, 1858), and in the 1940s at 2,200 families (Oppenheim, IV, p. 25). They are Shiʿite, and organized in sixteen sections.

You can see the location of Bani Malek in the map location, under the name of Bani Tamim, between Ahwaz (the crossroad in the center) and Huwayzah (to the west of that), north of the Karun river.

By Khamseh out of Parsa by Hashem out of Palmira by Jallad. 75 percent Iranian lines, 25 percent Egyptina lines. Photos taken in 2021 at 26 years old.

She is in the same style as my AAS Nelyo, who traces to her five times. The tail set and carriage, the croup, the length are similar.

The first one features an older Jezabel with her last foal Juno by an Egyptian horse of show bloodlines. The second shows her with the Hamdani Simri stallion Inta (Ibn Insiatur x Sabah).

The lovely Sotoudeh, a 1998 Iranian Asil Meleihieh of the strain of Ghassem Ali Zargani of the Zarqan/Zargan Bedouin tribe of Iran. I wrote about Ghassem Ali Zargani (multiple spellings) here.

Photo courtesy of Jens Sannek, who just like me, is awed by this strain.

The Kaab, under whose name General Tweedie recognizes the Arab of Iran, are a large tribe divided into sub-tribes. Those best known for certain strains are […] the Mojadami known for a branch of the Hamdani, the Sobeili and Beaiyreh.

She also wrote in Volume 1 of the Asil Studbook of Iran:

The Koheilan Adjuz belonging to the Mojadami family, headed by Sheikh Hanash Mojadami, today are the most valued south and east of Ahwaz. Since Sheikh Hanash Mojadami is head of those tribes living in the Ghaizanie area, east of Ahwaz, his people also own and revere the Koheilan and cross their mares with the Koheilan Adjuz. His own preference is to use the Khersan Mir as stud.

An online written record for Hanash Mojadami was not easy for me to find because of the ways both Iranians and Bedouin Arabs spell Arabic names. He is Sh. Hanash al-Yabir Aal Muqaddam (Mugadam/Mojadam, hence Mojadami), a leader of the Bani Kaab tribe and a poet (photo below, probably doctored to represent him next to a hawk, but the face seems authentic). His son Sh. Abdallah al-Hanash was also an important tribal figure in Iran.

Kina tells me that there is a much a better version, without all the irritating advert interruptions on youtube, but that one has to pay for it. More info about the film here.

There are numerous Arab tribes in Ḵūzestān, all of which still speak Arabic. The most important ones at the turn of the century included:

(1) north of Ahvāz:

• the Āl-e Kaṯīr tribe between the Karḵa river and the Šoṭayṭ branch of the Kārūn river (8,000 people, according to J. G. Lorimer, Gazetteer II, pp. 121, 994-97);
• the Banū Lām tribe between the Iraqi border and the Karḵa river south of Šūš (ca. 45,000 people; pp. 121, 1081-85);
• the ʿAbd-al-Ḵān tribe around Ḵayrābād on the Karḵa river, some 70 km northwest of Ahvāz (no number indicated);
• the Salāmāt tribe east of the Gargar river between Haddām and Āb-e Gonǰī (1,600; pp. 123, 1652-53);
• the Bayt-e Saʿd tribe on both banks of the Dez river above the territory of the ʿAnāfeǰa, around Mīānāb and on the left bank of the Gargar river (14,100; p. 123);
• the ʿAnāfeǰa tribe on the lower course of the Šoṭayṭ, on the banks of the Dez river close to its mouth and on the right bank of the Kārūn river (5,000; pp. 71-73, 119);
• the Ḥamayd tribe in an area stretching from the Kārūn river to Raḡeyva, south of the territory of the ʿAnāfeǰa (6,000; pp. 120, 620-21);
• the Āl-e Bū Rawāya tribe around Ḡoreyba on the Karḵa river, some 35 km northwest of Ahvāz (700; p. 122);
• the Banū Ṭorof tribe on the southern loop of the Karḵa river, as well as most of the marshy area watered by the Karḵa west of Kūt Nahr Hāšem (20,000; pp. 124, 1909-11);
• the ʿEkreš tribe between Howayza and Ahvāz, and around Sayyed ʿAbbās and Zovīya on the Kārūn river, north of Ahvāz (5,000; pp. 120, 758-59);
• the Ḥardān tribe around Dūb-e Ḥardān and Čārṭāq, west of Ahvāz, and on the right bank of the Kārūn river, north of that city (2,500; pp. 120, 637-38);
• the Zarqān tribe around Garāna and Ṯedīn, northeast of Ahvāz, and in a tract east of Ways (1,500; pp. 124, 1937-38).

• (2) South of Ahvāz:
• the Banū Sāla tribe in a twenty-mile-long territory stretching from Howayza to Šayḵ Moḥammad, southwest of Ahvāz, and part of the Karḵa-Tigris marshland (15,000; pp. 123, 1654-55);
• the Bāvīya tribe in the dehestān of Bāvī, south of Ahvāz (20,000; II, pp. 119, 293-96),
• the Banū Tamīm tribe in an area from Howayza to Ahvāz and toward the south as far as Qāǰārīya on the Kārūn river (10,000; pp. 123, 1858);
• the Āl Ḵamīs tribe in an area southwest of Rāmhormoz (2,500; pp. 121, 1017-18);
• the Moḥaysen tribe in a large area between the Iraqi border and the Kārūn river, from the territory of the Banū Tamīm in the north all the way to the Šaṭṭ al-ʿArab and the northwestern half of Ābādān island in the south (12,000; pp. 122, 1249-53);
• the Banū Kaʿb tribe in a large area stretching from the Šaṭṭ al-ʿArab and the southeastern half of Ābādān island to Bandar Maʿšūr (55,000; pp. 121, 947-62);
• the Šarīfāt tribe along the left bank of the Jarrāḥī river near Ḵalafābād (1,000; pp. 123, 1757);
• the Qanawātī tribe around Bandar Maʿšūr and Hendīān to the east of the territory of the Banū Kaʿb (5,250; p. 122).
• (For additional information on the tribes of Ḵūzestān, see Field, Contributions, pp. 184-99; J. Qāʾem-maqāmī, “ʿAšāyer-e Ḵūzestān,” Yādgār 1, 1323-24 Š./1945, no. 7, pp. 18-24, no. 10, pp. 19-26; 2, 1324-25 Š./1946, no. 4, pp. 58-68, no. 8, pp. 22-28; 3, 1325-26 Š./1947, no. 1, pp. 71-74, no. 3, pp. 40-47, no. 5, pp. 8-12, no. 9, pp. 10-12, no. 10, pp. 26-37; M. Żarrabī, “Ṭawāyef-e Mīānāb,” FIZ 10, 1341 Š./1962-63, pp. 394-407; 11, 1342 Š./1963-64, pp. 281-92; Military Report on Arabistan, Area no. 13, Simla, 1924; Great Britain, Naval Intelligence Division, Persia, Oxford, 1945­, pp. 379-80.) According to Kayhān, (Joḡrāfīā II, pp. 90-92), a large part of the urban population of Ḵūzestān is also Arab.

In turn, he traces back to a Wadnan Khursan stallion from the Hardan tribe. The Encyclopedia Iranica had the following to say on this small tribe:

BANĪ ḤARDĀN, a Shiʿite Arab tribe of Howayza (Ḥawīza) district in Ḵūzestān. Small in number (they were estimated at 2,500 persons early in the century, and at 500 families, i.e., roughly the same number, in the 1930s), their range is comparatively extensive: north of Ahvāz, west of Ahvāz to Howayza, between the Kārūn and the Karḵa rivers, and inland from the left bank of the Āb-e Gargar. Their main centers are Kūt Nahr Hāšem, Dūb-e Ḥardān, and Čārṭāq. Formerly predominantly nomadic (Lorimer, II, p. 120, noted only 100 persons settled), they have progressively sedentarized, cultivating wheat and barley and raising sheep. They are organized into six sections.

Below, Adjar by Yatim by Karoun, a good representative of this sireline. The photo was taken in Khuzestan by Gustl Eutermoser and pulished by Erika Schiele. It was shared with me by Jens Sannek, who tells me it is in the journal “Arabische Pferde” Quarter III, pages 250 and 251.

Gassem Ali Zarqan (abbreviated GAZ in the ASK) is one these Arab tribal breeders. He is the breeder of a Meleihe (Mlayhan) stallion, Meleihe GAZ, which features prominently in early Iranian Arabian horse pedigrees. I found a reference to Gassem Ali Zarqan in Azzawi’s “Tribes of Iraq”:

عشائر اخرى متصلة بكعب وهذه العشائر منها فى العراق لا سلطة لامارة كعب عليها، ومنها فى الحويزة ولا تخلو عشيرة من عشائر خوزستان الا ولها أصل فى العراق ومن أشهرها
.الباوية : وأصلهم من ربيعة وليس بصواب عدهم من كعب. يسكنون فى شرقي نهر كارون. قال البسام: “فى جانب البصرة الشرقي الباوية. ألف خيّال تتبع شيخ كعب وهم منتشرون فى أنحاء أخرى من العراق
:وهذه أشهر طوائفهم: الزركان. رئيسهم جبار بن قاسم علي (يلفظ قسمه لي). ولهم نخوة خاصة وهى (طفلة). وأكد الكثيرون انهم من حمير

My translation:

“[There are] other tribes linked to [the large Arab tribe of] Kaab. Some of these tribes are in Iraq so the emirate of Kaab has no sway over them, while others are in al-Huwayzah [an area west of the large Arabestan/Khuzestan region of Iran, close to the Iraqi border]. There is no tribe among the [Arab] tribes of Khuzestan that does not have origins in Iraq. Most famous among these [tribes related to Kaab] are al-Bawiyah. Their origin is from [the tribe of] Rabi’ah so counting them among the Kaab is incorrect. They live east of the Karun river. [Najdi historian] Al-Bassam said of them: “On the east side of Basra are the al-Bawiyah. A thousand horsemen who follow the sheikh of Kaab, and are spread in other areas of Iraq as well.” Among their most famous groups/clans are al-Zarqan, their head is Jabbar son of Gassem Ali (his name pronounced Gassemali. Their have their own war cry: Tifla. Many [people] confirm that they are from Himyar [a Yemeni tribe].

Another source, Ali Nu’mah al-Hulu, the author of the book: “Ahwaz, its tribes and families”, 1970, section 4, pages 97-98, building on the previous one, adds that the Zarqan clan live near Ahwaz and that their leader Gassem son of Ali sided with the Ottomans in WW1 against the British. This source traces the arrival of the Zarqan to Ahwaz around the year 1800 CE, under a leader by the name of Jaafar al-Zarqani. This is the full text of al-Hulu in Arabic:

يقول علي نعمة الحلو في كتابة (الأحواز، قبائلها وأسرها)، الطبعة الأولى (1970)، الجزء الرابع ص 97، 98، يقول: الزركان، قبيلة عربية ذات عز وشموخ، وأصالة وشجاعة، وتعد من الباوية من ربيعة، ولكن البعض يدعي أنها من حمير من قحطان، وهي قبيلة كبيرة ذات بطون وفصائل وديارهم قرب الأهواز، شرقي نهر قارون ولا يزالون يحتفظون بتقاليدهم العربية. ولهذه القبيلة موقف مجيد مشرف أثناء الحرب العالمية الأولى، وشيخها قاسم بن علي في حربه ضد الأنكليز، وقد ذكرهم (ولسن) في عدة أماكن من كتابه مع العشائر العربية التي عارضت الإنكليز وعضدت الدولة العثمانية ويرجح علي نعمة الحلو تأريخ نزوح الزركان إلى الأحواز إلى حوالى عام 1800 م، على عهد الشيخ جعفر الزركاني (راجع عشائر العراق – الجزء الرابع ص 192). ونخوتهم طفلة، وكانت لهم نخوة عامة وهي (أولاد عامر). ومن فروعها التي ذكرها، السماق، آلبو حيّة، البو فاضل وغيرهم

Bottom line: Gassem Ali Zarqani is the leader of the Zarqan clan of the tribe of al-Bawiyah, an Arab tribe originally from either Rabi’ah or Himyar but later affiliated with the tribe of Kaab in Khuzestan, and living east of the Karun river in the vicinity of al-Ahwaz/Ahvaz.

Below, an excellent British map of Arabestan/Khuzestan from 1924, showing the location of the different Arab Bedouin tribes, and that of others like the Bakhtiari. I will writing about this map more in next posts.

This photo came to him from the late Austrian breeder Anton Tucek. It shows Anton’s 1991 bay stallion Jezar, by the Bahraini stallion Sarhan out of the black Iranian mare Jezabel. He had obtained Sarhan (Maanaghi Saghir x Sitah) from Danah Al Khalifah.

I am particularly interested in this Iranian/Bahraini cross, which I am looking forward to try this spring.

Look at the fine skin, the abundant forelocks, the prominent facial bones, and the fine muzzle ending with elongated (not square) nostrils, all hallmarks of authenticity.

Hayoun is the full brother of the dam of Abu Khamseh (photo below), a significant stallion in European endurance comptitions. Abu Khamseh is already in Jasminah’s pedigree.

Of the tribes mentioned by Layard in the first quotation, branches of the Al Khamees, Al Kathir and the Bani Lam are existent today in Khuzestan.

The Bani Lam and the Al Kathir are known for the foundation of certain strains, the former for the Saglawi Djadrani, and Nesman (branch of the Koheilan), the latter for the Hamdani Semri, Saglawi Djadran, Wadne and a Wadne branch known as the Zaghieh.

The Kaab, under whose name General Tweedie recognizes the Arab of Iran, are a large tribe divided into sub-tribes. Those best known for certain strains are the Jassemi for the Hetli (a Koheilan derivative) and the Sofferieh (a Saglawi sub-strain); the Mojadami known for a branch of the Hamdani, the Sobeili and Beaiyreh (Wadne Koheili).

There are the Bani Khalid famous for Soffeirieh and Djelfe (Julfa to Layard); the Seyyids of Hosseini with the Maanghieh (Maneghi); the Seyyids of Tefagh with the Koheilan Adjuz, the Nesman and the Djelfe; and the Ziareh are best known for their Saglawis.

However, the strain whose stallion is accepted by everybody as faal (worthy for breeding ) is the Wadnan Khersan of the Mir tribe, who also own the best considered Obayan Sharak.

Mary Gharagozlou riding her black Ubayyan Sharrak stallion Arras, from her obituary on the WAHO website. Her obituary in the Guardian reads like a script for the best movie Hollywood never made.

“Some Europeans make a big distinction between a Syrian, or desert and Najd horse; etc. All these horses are from the same origin ….. I am often amused to read about horse lovers who have had to deal with Arab horses; they seem to be quite convinced that the best horses are from this or that tribe. But I say this: There are good horses in all the tribes; Arabs are neighbours and warriors, they fight often between themselves and the conqueror takes all the best stock from the other. In this way good horses are taken from one tribe to another, and it is, therefore, more accurate to say that the strongest tribe gets the best.”

The text cites Dynamite II as one of three Arabian stallions brought from Egypt for the Tunisian stud of Sidi Thabet in 1928. The other two are Nasr and Ibn Fayda. Nasr and Dynamite II were purchased, and Ibn Fayda was gifted by Prince Kemal El Dine Hussein. On Dynamite II:

Etalon Dynamite II. de la lignée Hamdani et de la famille simrie, né en 1920, bai, 1,50 m. File de la jument Rayarra [sic] appartenant a l’Emir Hadissi. On ne vendait jamais les produits de cette jument renommée dans toute l’Arabie. Mais ce poulain avait été enlevé dans une razzia opérée par une tribu ennemie qui s’empressa de vendre les chevaux de prise, par crainte de représailles. Le poulain a pu ainsi être acheté a l’âge de trois ans, par un riche banquier libanais, M. Elie Bey Sursock, qui le paya 500 L.E. [Livres Egyptiennes] et le mit aussitôt a l’entrainement. Dynamite II a gagné quatre courses importantes en 1925, deux autres en 1926, et il est arrivé huit fois second en deux ans ayant rapporté a son propriétaire 776 L.E. soit plus de 100,000 francs. Malheureusement, il a été arrêté dans sa brillante carrière de course par un accident au tendon. Ce cheval est devenu un très bon étalon.

Some reactions:

1/ The L.E. currency confirms that the horse was raced in Egypt and bought there by the Tunisians.

2/ It is likely that the horse’s strain in Hamdani Simri. Tunisian records have him by a Hamdani Simri out of Tayyara, but that’s because Tunisians horse people at the time did not know that the strain was transmitted through the dam, not through the sire.

3/ The dam is spelled Rayarra here, and Tarraya in another place.

4/ I wonder who that Emir Hadissi was. Hadithah is a city in Iraq on the Euphrates.

Thanks to Kate for finding it.

Belisarius is a Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz from the Nufoud mare line. While his pedigree is predominantly Davenport, he has Doyle blood from his sire’s dam Jadiba, as well as a line to the Reverend Francis Furse Vidal’s Garaveen (Kismet x Kushdil), and through Garaveen to Roger Upton’s imports Yataghan and Haidee.

His dam goes back to the mare Tarrla, a daughter of Henry Babson’s stallion Tarff, so bringing in another Sa’udi-bred mare, Turfa, to complement Nufoud.

Belisarius also traces to five horses who each have only a handful of living Al Khamsa descendants. These are the three Hamidie Society imports Mannaky, Galfia and Pride, the Davenport import El Bulad, and Nejdran, the last-mentioned a chestnut Saqlawi Ubayri bought in Beirut by Captain W. I. Gaisford, who imported him to England, where he apparently used Nejdran as a polo pony, before selling him to a Harvard student, who imported him to the U.S..

“The mare Sawannah pictured above was identified by Fatis, the old studmaster of H.H. Shaikh Issa bin Salman Al Khalifa, as a Dahmah, belonging to Shaykh Khalifa bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, (chief of Police). Dahmeh was bred by Shaykh Salman, Ruler of Bahrain at the time, out of one of his mares of the Dahman strain, and sired by one of his stud stallions serving at the time.”

The Facebook page “The Old Bahrain” recently posted the below photo of this Sheikh, initially published in 1946 edition of National Geographic Magazine. The photo has this caption:

1946: “The American-educated Chief of Police at Manama – Bahrein’s turbaned police are under the direction of Sheik Khalifa bin Mohammed al Khalifa. Educated at the American University of Beirut, he breeds Arabian horses and gets exercise by cultivating his fertile garden set in coral sand.”

خيرُ الخيلِ الأدهَمُ الأقرَحُ الأرثَمُ ، ثمَّ الأقرَحُ المُحجَّلُ طَلقُ اليمينِ ، فإن لم يَكُن أدهَمُ فكُمَيْتٌ علَى هذِهِ الشِّيَةِ

which roughly translates as:

The best of horses is black, with a small star and a snip, then that with a small star and three white leg markings except for the right foreleg, and if not black then dark bay with these same markings.

This is Sierra Sandarac, a 1974 Saqlawi Jadran of Ibn Sudan, of half Doyle, half Babson lines, who fits these markings. Photos Bev Davison.

Solomon was the first foal of his dam. In 1952, he was exported to Italy along with his half-brother Sennacherib, by Joseph. Neither horse left offspring at the Courthouse Stud.

Solomon’s sire Atesh was a chestnut Ma’naqi Sbayli, bred by the Gomussa Sba’ah, while his dam, Somra II, was by Fedaan, a grey Saqlawi Jadran, bred by Ibn Zubaynah of the Fed’aan. Atesh was imported to England circa 1922 and bought by Bill Musgrave Clark by 1925, while Fedaan was imported in 1926 and acquired by Clark the following year.

Somra II’s dam was the Blunt-bred Safarjal, a brown mare by Berk out of the Daoud daughter Somra. Safarjal was Lady Wentworth’s peace offering to Clark, after she roused his ire by using an agent, claiming to be acting on behalf of a group of Americans, to buy Skowronek from him. She came to the Clarks carrying Sainfoin (by Rasim), who would go on to be a successful show horse in hand and under saddle, as well as a winning racehorse. In the tail female, Safarjal goes back to the Hamdaniyah Simriyah mare Sobha, bought by Lady Anne Blunt from Mahmud Bey in Cairo.

Le fameux el-Mesenneh el-Wehabi, acheté à Abd el-Aziz, prince des Wehabis… vient de mourir à Kuzmin
dans mon haras. Il m’a laissé six poulains et trois pouliches avec mes juments du désert, et a sailli en
1822 mes quatorze juments Nejdiehs Kocheilans, qui sont toutes pleines.

In English: “The famous el-Mesenneh el-Wehabi, purchased from Abd el-Aziz, prince of the Wehabis… has just died at Kuzmin in my stud farm. He left me six colts and three fillies with my desert mares, and in
1822 he covered my fourteen Nejdiehs Kocheilans mares, all of which are now in foal.

Abd al-Aziz (1720–1803) was the second ruler of the House of Saud, and the son of its founder. The House of Saud was famously associated with the strain of Kuhaylan al-Musinn, or Musannan for a long time, which gives credence to Rzewuski’s account.

Rzewuski went horse-shopping in Arabia between 1817 and 1819, which provides the earliest dating for the Musannan strain in Western sources.

In English: “Woznah: The foundation mare of this strain renowned for its qualities in warfare was, in the era called Jahiliyyah (paganism), dedicated to the star that precedes, along with another, the rising of Canopus. A very ancient and precious strain. Anti-prophetic. Extremely rare. Big boned. Originating from the vicinity of Mecca.”

The “rising of Canopus” refers to the annual reappearance in the late summer of the star Canopus (Suhayl in Arabic, the second brightest star in the sky). In Arabia and the Middle East in general, the pre-sunrise rising of Canopus signaled the end of intense summer heat and the beginning of cooler weather. This annual event was a major cultural marker for Bedouin and farmers. 

The annual “rising of Canopus” is preceded by the rising of Sirius (in Arabic al-Shi’ra al-Yamaniyyah, the brightest star in the sky), itself preceded by the rise of Procyon (al-Sh’ira al-Shamiyyah, or al-Ghumaysa’).

Rzewuski, who was in Arabia in 1817-19, associated the foundation mare of the Wadhnan strain to either one of these two stars, but he did not say why. It is possible — me speculating here — that this association had to do with the ancient Bedouin cultural practice of slitting a foal’s ears if it was born at a particular time of the day (or the year, e.g., the yearly rising of a bright star). One of the stories about how the Wadhnan strain got its name is that the eartips of a Kuhaylah mare were slit at birth, and because of that she was named “Wadhnah” (in Arabic “that of the ear”).

Photo Deb Mackie

El Hamdan above and below

El-Haml

Aja

“The Bedouins inhabit a great part of the province. The remainder is mountainous, full of cities and villages, and parcelled out among so many petty sovereigns, that almost every little town has its own Schiech (i.e., Shaykh). Formerly, when the power of the Sherriffes was at its height, many of these Schiech, who were situate in the vicinity of Hedsjas, were obliged to pay tribute to the Sherriffe of Mecca. At present, they pay nothing”.

Source: TRAVELS THROUGH ARABIA,AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE EAST, PERFORMED BY M. NIEBUHR, NOW A CAPTAIN OF ENGINEERS IN THE SERVICE OF THE KING OF DENMARK. TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY ROBERT HERON WITH NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR; AND ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS AND MAPS. IN TWO VOLUMES. EDIMBURGH, 1792.

The account can be safely dated to 1765-1766, when Niebhur was crossing Mesopotamia, Syria and Anatolia on his way back from India to Constantinople:

“On sait, que les Arabes font grand cas de leurs chevaux; on pourrait dire, qu’il les divisent en deux espèces. Ils nomment l’une Kadischi, c. à. d. chevaux de race inconnue, lesquels ne font pas plus estimés en Arabie que les chevaux ordinaires ne le sont en Europe ; ils servent à porter les fardeaux & à tous les autres ouvrages. La seconde espèce s’appelle Kochlâni ou Koheyle, c. a. d. chevaux dont on a écrit la généalogie depuis deux mille ans. On veut qu’originairement ils soient venus du haras de Salomon-, aussi sont-ils très chers […]. Les Kôchlâni sont principalement élevés par les Bédouins entre Bâsra, Merdin & la Syrie, ou les grands Seigneurs ne veulent point monter d’autres chevaux. Toute cette race se divise encore en plusieurs familles. On trouve près de Mosùl les familles Dsjùlfa, Mânaki, Dehâlemîe , Seklaui, Sâade, Hamdâni & Fràdsje; celles d’autour de Hâleb font Dsjùlfa, Mânaki, Toreifi, Seklaui; à Hâma, Challaùi; à Orfa, Daâdsjani; à Damâsk, Nédsjedi. Je n’ai pas entendu parler de ces Kôcblâni fur la côte occidentale de l’Arabie; mais je crois, qu’il y en a surtout dans Hedsjâs. Quelques-unes de ces familles font préférées aux autres, & bien que l’on soit assuré , que les Kôcblâni sont quelquefois inférieurs à quelques Kadischi, on estime beaucoup plus les premiers, surtout les jumens, dans l’espérance d’en avoir de belle race.

Niebhur makes a good faith effort at spelling the strain names right, and while some in his list appear in the masculine form and others in the feminine, it’s a relatively easy correspondance with the modern Arabic spelling:

Dsjùlfa = Jilfa / Djulfa (masculine: Jilfan or Djulfan) in the Mosul and Aleppo areas

Mânaki = Ma’naqi (already in the masculine) in the Mosul and Aleppo areas

Dehâlemîe = Duhaymi (diminutive of Dahman) in the Mosul area

Seklaui = Saqlawi (already in the masculine) in the Mosul and Aleppo areas

Sâade = Saada (masculine Saadan) in the Mosul area

Hamdâni = Hamdani (already in the masculine) in the Mosul area

Fràdsje = Frayja (masculine Frayji or Frayjan) in the Mosul area

Toreifi = Trayfi in the Aleppo area

Challaùi = Khallawi in the Hama area

Daâdsjani = Da’jani in the Orfah/Urfa area

Nédsjedi = Najdi, i.e., from Najd, a region but not a strain, in the Damascus area.

What I found most interesting is Niebhur’s assigning specific strains to certain geographical areas of Syria and Mesopotamia, presumably the dwelling areas of different Bedouin tribes. My next step is figuring out which tribes lived in these areas at the time of his journey. That will provide a rough assignment of the strains to these tribes. Some strains like Jilfan, Ma’naqi and Saqlawi are associated with more than one area, which means that they were already spread among different tribes.

There were no Shammar in the Mosul area just yet. They were still further south in Arabia around 1765. The main Bedouin tribes around Mosul in Niebhur’s time were the Tai, which he mentioned, as well as the Jubur and the Ubayd (both of these being offshoot of the larger Zubayd tribe). They were displaced by the Shammar when these moved north towards the end of the 18th century.

The association of the Khallawi strain in particular with the Hama area is worth mentioning. Khallawi is a strain that originated with the Mawali tribe, which nomadizes around Hama. Niebhur is spot on here.

Not a day—perhaps not even an hour—passes without seeing a post on Facebook or Instagram praising a specific stallion or mare. In all these posts, the publisher always admires the horse championship, and dazzling beauty. Naturally, this is accompanied by photos and videos displaying “lavish beauty,” exquisite type, and a breathtaking presence—at least, as seen through the eyes of the poster.

However, I feel a sense of sorrow because, in most of these cases, I do not share the same appreciation or admiration for the majority of these horses. It appears that the standards of taste and the criteria for beauty have diverged significantly between “Fundamentalists” (like myself) and our brethren whom I call the “Modernists.” Beauty of the Arabian horse has become a completely relative concept with big divergence between the two factions and two very distinct perceptions.

What is the standard type of the Arabian horse, if any? Or rather, what are its most typical and most desirable traits? And what are the morphological (visual) traits upon which we build our appreciation of beauty? This is a question that occupies everyone, yet there seems to be no consensus among enthusiasts.

The one thing I can assert with certainty is that the prevailing references for Arabian horse specifications today are not Arab. It is largely Western, rooted in Western writings and paintings, or in Western organizations concerned with competitions or registration. This prevails despite the attempts by some to invoke ancient Arabic texts to demonstrate an alleged congruence between them and the modernist standards formulated by the Western Orientalism.

The specifications of the Arabian horse can be divided into several main aspects, which I can summarize generally under four categories:

* Morphology: The seeable traits divided into form and motion, falling under the judging terms of Conformation and Movement (or what Modernists abbreviate as Type).

* Psychological and Mental Traits: Falling under the term Disposition.

* Functional and Athletic Traits: Falling under the term Performance.

* Biological and Genetic Traits: Summarized under the term Genotype.

Another way of categorization would be Phenotype (the first three categories together) versus Genotype. However, distinction is needed between Morphology as a narrow concept of “seeable” traits, and Phenotype as a broader concept of all “observable” traits, and how morphology is assessed within the context of the more comprehensive phenotype.

Throughout the history of horse in general, and the Arabian horse in particular (noting the recent discovery of the fourth category of genetics), all these groups of traits were completely integrated, representing faces of a single coin. It was inconceivable to separate them or evaluate one in isolation from the others. Morphological traits generally served functional needs, and psychological/mental traits reflected functional and performance values.

This is particularly evident in the Arabian horse, which represents the pinnacle of nature’s and man’s creativity in shaping a domesticated breed. A domesticated breed differs from wild species in that it has adapted over long epochs to the life conditions and needs of its owners, the characteristics they selected, and the functions they desired. Unlike wild species, which are adapted only to their environment, the adaptation of the Arabian horse as a distinct domesticated breed, occurred over no less than three thousand years of partnership with man—whereas the age of other breeds is measured in merely a few centuries.

The Arabic concept of ‘Itq/’atiq (freedom/nobility/ancientness) and the authenticity of the Arabian breed represent a foundational pillar for the Fundamentalist views and standards of the breed.

As for what I call Modernity and the Modernists here, it refers to what has become common in the last half-century: the separation of the first type of traits (Morphology/Appearance) from the rest, focusing on it independently. This is done while setting the standards is derived primarily from a romantic artistic Orientalist perspective!

To understand how it started, the Orientalist view, at the beginning of Western orientalism three to two centuries ago, exaggerated the contrast between the Arabian horse—refined in structure, graceful in movement, fine-limbed, and generally hot-blooded—and the Western horse—heavy, coarse-limbed, rough-featured, and cold-blooded.

This contrast was highlighted in Orientalist paintings through clear exaggerations in the proportions of the horse’s body parts: reducing the size of the head, increasing its dish (concavity) and the prominence of its bones, and emphasizing bulging eyes, while exaggerating the slenderness and arch of the neck, the fineness of the legs, and the high set of the tail.

These exaggerated measurements (see attached photos) are certainly far from realistic proportions. However, they are acceptable in an artistic context that expresses the artist’s imagination and impressions.

The problem here lies in several aspects:

First: the Western mental image that amplify the contrast between the Arabian horse and others have transformed into a reference point and an acceptable visualization for the “standard proportions” in the Arabian horse, no matter how far they are from reality or the truth of the Arabian horse throughout history.

Second: The separation of these visual traits from their performance and functional equivalents, and from their psychological and mental factors. This assumes absolute standards for these “aesthetic” traits, leading to extreme approach in defining standard proportions and pushing the limits constantly, regardless of the resulting loss or degradation of other traits.

Third: The assumption of a single standard type devoid of “faults.” This leads to a feverish demand for morphological uniformity among breeders, excluding any individuals that deviate from this standard shape—regardless of their other merits. This necessitates extreme breeding practices such as Inbreeding. This negates the concept of natural variation present in any animal breed, the balance of merits and faults it includes, and the genetic diversity it reflects which preserves the vitality of the breed as a whole.

All these aspects have led to a wide gap and a deep chasm between those who adopt the Modernist aesthetic evaluation and those who hold fast to the integration of traits in all their forms, considering the actual examples found today in the breeding community. This has led to a difference in perspective and standards between the two parties that sometimes reaches the point of contradiction!

What Modernists see as a “beautiful head”, the more the dish the more beautiful it is, Fundamentalists see as a genetic deformity, a functional deficiency in breathing, and a performance weakness in the horse’s athletic ability; they find its exaggerated appearance ugly.

What Modernists see as a “beautiful neck” the more slender it becomes, Fundamentalists see as weakness in muscular structure (especially for males) and evidence of the elimination of natural sexual dimorphism between the muscular male and the female.

While Modernists praise the elevation, setting and extreme arching of the neck (citing the Arabic terminology of “Ishraf” as proof), Fundamentalists view this as a weakness and deviation in the formation of the shoulder and a shortening of the humerus bone. This contradicts the correct triangular shape of the shoulder, meaning the “elevation” is false and comes at the expense of a steep/upright shoulder.

The more the back and croup straighten (a trait desired by Modernists) resulting in almost permanent tail carriage, Fundamentalists see this as the loss of the strong back and the rounded croup that generates the horse’s propulsion power.

The more the horse moves and jumps during the show—which Modernists consider “hot blood” and strong personality—Fundamentalists view as tension and psychological disturbance that keeps the horse in a permanent state of anxiety. True “hot blood” appears while riding; conversely, the Arabian horse should show gentleness and reassurance when being led or walking beside its owner!

In parallel with all this:

Fundamentalists look for the length of the ribs, the volume of the ribcage (heart girth), the width of the chest and back, the prominence of the withers, the strength of the coupling (loins), the size and roundness of the croup, the shortness of the cannons, the shortness and slope of the pasterns, the angle of the hock, the size of the hoof, the density of the bone and tendons, the muscular structure, the elasticity of the skeleton, overall body size, height, etc.

Yet, one barely finds a trace of these elements in the Modernists’ evaluation of equine beauty!!

Do not even ask about the remaining psychological and mental traits: intelligence, learning ability, loyalty, obedience, gentleness, calmness, courage, confidence, patience, and endurance.

Do not ask about athletic performance and physical power.

Do not ask about the efficiency of the biological systems: circulatory, respiratory, and nervous systems, energy generation, metabolic waste removal from muscles, immunity against disease, and adaptation to climatic conditions.

Do not ask about the sharpness and refinement of the senses.

And last but not least, do not ask about the strength of the genes, the richness of the gene pool, and freedom from genetic diseases.

The disparity in viewing equine aesthetics and the difference in beauty standards is a deep philosophical difference that goes beyond personal taste. It is a divergence resulting from the general frame of reference and the methodology of evaluation.

This fundamental difference makes one person consider a certain horse “lavishly beautiful,” while someone like me sees it as full of structural and internal faults, devoid of the essentials of a steed. It is closer to a caricature of a horse (in the artistic sense) suitable for the cover of a cartoon magazine than to a real horse worthy of appreciation, celebration, and acquisition.