A hujjah from 1759
This hujjah is reproduced in Richard Berenger’s 1771 The History and Art of Horsemanship pp. 116f., and was provided to him by Hugh Percy, the 1st Duke of Northumberland. The last day of Safar 1173 hijri is 21 October 1759.
The following is tranſlated from an original Arabian certificate, by the learned and ingenious Mr. Channing, eminent for his ſkill in the oriental tongues, and communicated to the author by his Grace Hugh Duke of Northumberland.
The ſhort account of his pedigree, and cauſe of ſale, are theſe.
I, the Fakir Mohammed, ſon of the Hadg Chalil, ſon of Sheich Suleiman, Sheich of the village of Alchadar, adjoining to the back of mount Sihangan, have now ſold my bay mottled horse Bik, a thorough Arabian, ſon of the bay mare Alkahila, got by Nif, of Gialf, a bay with black eyelids, a noble Arabian. The mother of the horſe (Nif) was the mare Huſſein Ali Beg. He has the full powers of generation. I, the Fakir, who ſtand in need of the mercy of the most high God, to whom be praiſe, Mohammed, ſon of Hadg Chalil, fon of Sheich Suleiman, even I have now ſold my before-mentioned horse, who is among my horſes, and in my enclosure. He is a bay mottled horſe, black eye-lidded. The witneſſes below atteſt his breed and family: the laſt of Safar, in the year 1173. At this very time, the horſe before-mentioned is fold to a ſpeedy conveyer of this trust, the Sieur — ſon of — a chief of the Britiſh company of Frank Merchants, of the Engliſh factory fettled on the confines of the deſarts of Aleppo. I have contracted with him, and have received the full price from him in good and complete payment.
Mohammed, ſon of Hadg Chalil, ſon of Sheich Suleiman, the Alchadarite.
Huſſein Abu, Suleiman.
Seid Ibrahim head Aga of the Chanat Toman.
The Seil Feſtagi, ſon of Hadg Huſſein, of Chan Toman.
The Hadg Iſa, the derwis.
Hadg Mohammed the derwis.
Othman Alcaſirah Ibrahim.
Alnaſiat.
Sid Abd’ Allah Algnaſhour of Chan Toman.
The Sheich Nachif.
Edouard has identified Chan Toman as Khan Tuman in the Aleppo Governate of Syria; he notes that Hag and Aga are Kurdish and Turkmen titles. While this may mean that Bik is not an Arabian, Dajania and Kars were Blunt horses bought from a Turkmen and Kurdish chief respectively, and Davenport’s horses included Kusof, bought from a Circassian.
The pedigree of the bay horse Bik indicates that he is out of a Kuhaylah and by a Jilfan stallion. I am wondering whether “He has the full powers of generation” is a translation of the phrase rendered by later writers as “to be mated”, i.e. shubuw. I am also struck by the reference to the black eyelids, the natural hairlessness around the eyes of the Arabian horse which gives the Kuhaylan strain its name.
Northumberland imported a number of horses from the east, all of which were dubbed Arabians in England: Northumberland’s Arabian, Northumberland’s Bay Arabian, Northumberland’s Brown Arabian, Northumberland’s Chestnut Arabian, Northumberland’s Golden Arabian and Northumberland’s Grey Arabian.
William Pick says in his 1805 The Turf Register and Sportsman & Breeder’s Stud Book pp. 47f. that Northumberland acquired at least one of his Arabians from Yemen, through the offices of a Mr Philipps:
The BROWN ARABIAN (ſire of ARIADNE) was firſt called the NORTHUMBERLAND ARABIAN; and afterwards, being diſpoſed of to Mr. LEEDES, of North Milford, Yorkshire, was diſtinguished in his Stud by the name of “THE LEEDES ARABIAN.”—He was foaled in 1755, and was purchaſed in Yemine, of the Immaum, or King of Sinna, in Arabia Felix, at a very great expenſe, and brought into England by Mr. PHILIPPS, a Gentlemanwell known for his extenſive ſkill and nice judgment in the peculiar and distinguiſhed points and qualifications neceſſary in a Race-Horſe.—Mr. PHILIPPS was ſent into Arabia by the Earl of NORTHUMBERLAND, purpoſely to ſelect and purchafe for his Lordſhip ſuch Arabian Horſes and Mares as might appear beſt calculated to improve the breed of Horſes in this country.
The Golden Arabian was imported at the same time as this horse.
Note that the Northumberland Arabian is not the famous Leedes Arabian, despite sharing the same name, but was foaled at least fifty years after him.
Pick 1805:47f. provides further information about hujaj, which I presume he has compiled from other sources:
Much credit is due to the Arabians for the diſtinct manner in which they give ATTESTATIONS of the genealogy of their Horſes, when they ſell them, and which Mr. PHILIPPS procured with those he purchaſed for the Duke. Indeed they preſerve the pedigree of their horſes with great care, and for ſeveral
ages back. They know their alliances and all their genealogy; they diſtinguiſh the races by different names, and divide them into three claſſes. The firſt is that of the Nobles, the ancient breed, and unadulterated on either ſide: the second is that of the horſes of the ancient race, but adulterated; and the third is that of the common and inferior kind: the last they ſell at a low price; but those of the firſt claſs, and even of the ſecond, amongſt which are found horses of equal value to the former, are ſold extremely dear. They know, by long experience, the race of a horſe by his appearance; they can tell the name, the ſurname, the colour, and the marks properly belonging to each. When they are not poſſefſed of Stallions of the Noble Race themselves, for their Mares, they borrow from their neighbours, paying a proper price as with us, and receive a written atteſtation of the whole. In this atteſtation is contained the name of the horſe and the mare, and their respective genealogies. When the mare has produced her foal, new witneſſes are called, and a new atteſtation ſigned, in which are deſcribed the marks of the foal, and the day noted when it was brought forth. Theſe atteſtations increaſe the value of the horſe; and they are given to the person who buys him.
I have yet to learn more on Mr Philipps and his expedition to Yemen for Northumberland. I suppose it is possible that there may be papers in the possession of the current Duke, whose niece, incidentally, is married to Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, the ambassador to the UK.
You’re right, I think one can safely retranslate “black eye-lidded” by “Kuhaylan” which we already know is his strain.
You’re also right that “he has the full powers of generation” is “yushabba” or a similar concept ie, “he is to be mated”.
“in my enclosure” is likely “in my property” (ie, “in my ownership”).
the “fakir” literally means “the poor” and should have be translated as such. Of course, such “poverty” is primarily spiritual—a need for and dependence on God, rather than necessarily a state of destitution.
Thank you for the extra context! So the phrase “the Fakir, who stand in need of the mercy of the most high God” is elaborating on his spiritual poverty? It’s a pretty straightforward certificate otherwise, and doesn’t seem to have the invocation of God found in, e.g. Jean-Baptiste Rousseau’s hujjah for the bay Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah and most of Davenport’s hujaj. It reminds me a bit of Ahmad al-Hafiz’s certificate for Kusof, actually.
Yes, it’s standard religious terminology: العبد الفقير إلى الله الراجي رحمة ربه
al-faqir ila Allah al-raji rahmat rabbihi
I believe this Alchadar village is the village of al-Hadher in the Jabal Sim’aan (Mount Simeon) area west of Aleppo. An Alchadarite is a person from al-Hadher (al-Hadheri). Al-Hadher is a threen and a half hour walk south of Khan Tuman. This Mount Sihangan is likely Mount Sim’aan itself, under another name I can’t identfiy, and is likely mistranslated. Nice area, full of Byzantine sites.
I am wondering if the “mottled” color would be the roaning on the flanks we sometimes see in Davenports.
In eighteenth and some early nineteenth century texts, “mottled” as a horse colour on its own seems to mean pinto, e.g. “such Horses as are mottled, or pyed, or, according to the common phrase, are said to be Pyebald, either Black and White in spots, or Chestnut and White”, from Richard Bradley’s 1732 The Gentleman and Farme’s Guide. W. H. Pyne describes the trumpeter’s pinto horse in Wouverman’s painting Coup de Pistolet as mottled (1819, The History of the Royal Residences, Vol. 3). I’ve also come across it once where the meaning is appaloosa (“mottled like the leopard”, in the 1811 compilation The Natural History of Quadrupeds). So there is some link with white markings.
That said, “mottled grey” and “mottled bay” exist as colours as well, which I am inclined to read as dappled. George Lemon describes a dapple grey as a colour in which the “horse’s skin was mottled with round spots, like apples” (1783, English Etymology). In 1809, John Lawrence describes the Godolphin Arabian as being “in a colour a brown bay, somewhat mottled on the buttocks and crest, but with no white, excepting the off-heel behind” (The History and Delineation of the Horse). There’s a picture of the Godolphin Arabian in the 1760 Sportsman’s Pocket Companion which shows dapples on his hamstrings and crest; I am wondering if it was based on a lost original painting from life.
Of course, as the “bay mottled horse” is a translation, it would be helpful to have the Arabic as well!
I recently published an article on the Aleppo merchant Phillipo, who I have identified as the Mr. Phillips who was working for the Duke of Northumberland.
I would be interested to discuss your research if you had time.
Best wishes,
Theo
That’s very exciting! I’d love to learn more about your research on Philippo/Mr Phillips, and talk about the hujaj. He was involved in the importation of Bell’s Grey Arabian as well, a Jilfan, per the 1765 advertisement for the horse. My email is kathryn.mclachlan@uct.ac.za