An interesting trend common to both Syrian and Bahraini Arabian horses is the disappearing of the old Bedouin concept of “Shubuw” or “Yishabby”. The concept means “fit for breeding” or “good for breeding”. Before the 1980s in Bahrain, and the 2000s in Syria, there was a distinction between the strains that were considered “fit for breeding” and the strains that were not. Within Syria, there was no broad agreement on which strains were “fit for breeding” and which were not, as each region, each tribe, even each group of people had their own opinion on the issue, but the concept did exist and was part of the conversation about Arabian horses. I recall that back in the 1990s a Syrian breeder could be chided for breeding his mares to a Sa’dan, a Rishan, a Rabdan or a Da’jani stallion. Today the distinction has become moot, and all strains are being bred from in both countries — for now.
The Facebook page for the publishing house, al-Dar al-Sultaniyah lil-Dirassat wal-Watha’iq al-‘Uthmaniyah publishes documents in the Arabic language from the Ottoman imperial archives in Istanbul. The publisher’s knowledge of Arabic and his apparent lack of familiarity with Ottoman Turkish, the official language of the Ottoman Empire, means that all the documents on the page are letters to Ottoman high-ranking officials from their Arabic-speaking subjects, usually urban notables, provincial leaders, or Bedouin tribal chiefs. They generally relay grievances, concerns, requests to officials in Istanbul. Occasionally, one finds documents about Arabian horses. The document below is one of these: The Facebook post mentioned that this was a list of horses sent by the Shammar to the Ottoman Sultan or his Grand Vizir in 1891. The document’s beginning and end appear to have been cropped by the publisher. This is my translation of the published excerpt: The blonde/chestnut Kuhaylah; also, the red/bay Kuhaylah, three legs white except the left foreleg, with a blaze (sayyalah); also they yellow and she is the Tuwayssah; also, the Kuhaylah Umm ‘Arqub, light grey; also the yellow/grey Kuhaylat ‘Aafess; also the red Kuhaylah, both hindlegs white, with a blaze; also the black Kuhaylah, right hindleg white, with a…