Bedouin accounts not in the available version of th Abbas Pasha Manuscript

The Abbas Pasha Manuscript is, at its core, a compilation of Bedouin accounts of the origins and ancestry of Arabian horses purchased by Abbas Pasha.

Saudi historian Hamad al-Jassir, in his Usul al-Khayl al-Arabiyyah al-Haditha, listed the accounts featured in the version of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript he consulted. I had already pointed to discrepancies between the accounts in this version and the accounts in the version published by the King Abd al-Aziz Public Library (KAPL) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The KAPL version is a facsimile of Gulsun Sharif’s original manuscript.

I compared both lists, and there are more discrepancies that I thought. Here is, chapter by chapter and section by section, a list of the accounts that are not in the KAPL version, but which al-Jassir says are in the version he consulted:

1/ In the Dahman chapter:

On Dahmat Shahwan

• The account of Muhammad Ibn Khalifah, Ra’i of Bahrain

• The account of Faysal ibn Turki, Imam of Najd (al-Jassir mentions two accounts by Faysal Ibn Turki, of which the second one is in the KAPL version

• The account of Sayyid Sultan Ibn Sharaf the ruler of Turabah in the land of the Buqum

On Dahmat Najib:

• The account of Faysal Ibn Turki the Imam of Najd

On Dahmah ‘Adidat al-Badan

• A second account by Khalid Ibn Hashr Ibn Wurayk of the ‘Ajman

On stand-alone Duhm

• The stories of Zammam al-‘Ali of the Mashaahiir of Bani Khalid
• The account of Muhammad Ibn Qarmalah, the Shaykh of Qahtan

2/ In the Kuhaylat al-Mimrah Chapter

• The account of Muhammad Ibn Qarmalah, the Shaykh of Qahtan
• The account of Tha’lab Ibn Shari, of the leaders of ‘Abidah of Qahtan

3/ In the Saqlawiyah Chapter, all the accounts are entirely consistent in both versions

4/ In the Habda Chapter:

On Hadbat Enzahi

• The account of Talal Abu Safra of al-Rakhman of Mutayr and Nu’ayss Ibn Musaylim
• The account of Ibrahim Ibn Bassam of the people of ‘Unayzah
• The stories of Hadbat al-Munsariqah, from the accounts of Uthman Ibn San’un

On standalone Hudb:

• The account of Ibrahim Ibn Bassam and Shaybaan of Unayzah

5/ In the Hamdaniyah Chapter:

• The account of Hamad al-Jaru and al-Hamidi al-Dawish

6/ In the Ubayyah Chapter:

A full section on Ubayyan Sharrak and Ubayyan Hunaydis is missing from the KAPL account. It includes:

• The account of Zammam al-Ali of Bani Khalid
• The account of Muhammad Ibn Qarmalah the Shaykh of Qahtan
• The account of Shahata al-Hunaydis
• The account of Najm Ibn Zaydan al-Jarba

On Ubayyat Huwaynah, missing:

• The account of the mare of al-Jaryu of Jalawi ibn Turki
• The account of Jarwah

7/ In the Shuwaymah Chapter, all accounts are entirely consistent between both versions.

8/ In the Kuhaylah Chapter:

The accounts on Kuhaylah Tamriyah, Kuhaylat al-Nawwaq, Kuhylat Ibn ‘Aafess, Kuhaylat Ibn Rodan, Kuhaylat Ibn Waberah (which is al-Shuhaybah) are entirely consistent between both versions.

On Kuhaylat Ibn Jarshan (one of several branches of which is Kuhaylah Jallabiyah), the following accounts are missing from the KAPL version:

• The account of Sayf Ibn Ghanim Ibn Mudayyan of Harb
• The account of Shafi Ibn Shab’an of Bani Hajar of Qahtan
• The account of Muhammad Ibn Qarmalah the Shaykh of Qahtan
• The account of Baddah al-Yatim, of Aal Za’qah of Bani Haajar
• The account of Muhammad Ibn Khalifah, the Ra’i of Bahrain
• The accounts of several people from al-Jarshan of al-Buqum: Thuwayni Ibn Dumayssah, Muq’id Ibn Jarshan, Shannan al-Bishri, and Dughayyim Ibn al-Ghandur

On Kuhaylat al-Ru’ayl, which is al-Harqah, the following accounts are missing from the KAPL version:

• the account of Falah Ibn Waberah of al-Hubaysh of al-Ajman
• the account of Saalim Ibn ‘Uwaydah of Aal Murra

On Kuhaylat Ibn Fajri, which is Umm ‘Arqub, the following accounts are unfortunately missing from the KAPL version:

• the account of Hammad al-Dulaym of al-Subayh of Bani Khalid
• the account of Muhammad Ibn Khalifah, the Ra’i of Bahrain

On Kuhaylat al-Jaziyah, the following accounts are missing:

• the accounts of Thani al-Muqalladi of al-Qublan and Mash’aan al-Russaymi (a Mutayr clan)
• the accounts of Mithal Ibn Zurayban, Nasir al-Zurayban, Kahf Abu Safra of al-Rukhman (another Mutayr clan)
• the account of Mu’aykir al-Mihni (likely al-Muhsini) the shaykh of al-Qublan

The section on Kuhaylat al-‘Amud is entirely missing from the KAPL manuscript. This includes:

• the account of Shafi Ibn Shab’an the Shaykh of Bani Hajar of Qahtan

The section on Kuhaylat Mushayriq is also missing from the KAPL version. This includes:

• the account of Khalid Ibn Hashr Ibn Wurayk, of ‘Abdah Ibn Durrah and Mu’aykil Ibn Mudhkir, and al-Rudayni Ibn Hisham of al-‘Aasim (a Qahtan clan)

The following sections on Kuhaylat al-Kharas are missing from the KAPL version.

• the account of Khulaf ibn Kuhaymis
• the accounts of the gathering at the house of al-Hamidi al-Dawish the shaykh of Mutayr in the presnce of al-Dushan
• the account of Faysal Ibn Turki
• the account of Khalid Ibn Hashr Ibn Wuraykh the Shaykh of Aal ‘Aasim of Qahtan

The section on Kuhaylat al-Jalalah, which consists of the single account of Sultan Ibn Suwayt is consistent between both version.

The section on Kuhaylat al-Turayfiyyah is missing the following accounts:

• the account of Muhammad Ibn Khalifah the Ra’i of Bahrain
• the account of Sa’d ibn Suhub of Za’ab

The section on Kuhaylat al-Shunaynah is missing an important account by Thani al-Muqalladi in the house of al-Hamidi al-Dawish. Both are Mutayr Shaykhs. The account tells the story of how the Shunaynah trackes back to the Sharif Zaid Ibn Muhsin.

The section on Kuhaylat al-Muhssini is missing the following accounts:

• the account of Muhammad Ibn Khalifah the Ra’i of Bahrain
• the account of Jaryan al-‘Ayyash of al-Sanawat of Utaybah

The section on Kuhaylat Umm Surayyir (that’s the Bahrain strain of K. Umm Zurayr) is missing the following accounts:

• the account of al-Hamidi al-Dawish and Muslat Abu Taraabish
• the account of Zammam al-Ali of Bani Khalid

The section on Kuhaylan al-Shawafan is consistent between both version.

The accounts on Kuhaylat al-‘Ushayyir, Kuhaylat al-Bint, Kuhaylat al-Suwaytiyyah, Kuhaylat al-Sikti, Kuhaylat Muradi, Kuhaylah Furayjah, Kuhaylah Buraysan, Kuhaylat Ibn Umm Sura, Ma’naqiyah Hadrajiyah, Kuhaylat al-Shaykhan, Jilfat Jarallah, Wudayhah, the mare of Juday’, Kubayshah, the Kuhaylah of Nayif Ibn Sha’lan, Kuhaylat Abu al-Hashi, the horses of Al-Khamsa, Kuhaylat Abu Minqarah, the lone Kuhaylan Zu’ayr stallion, Kuhaylat Hazza’, Kuhaylat al-Musinnah, the grey mare of Faysal Ibn Turki, and the bay mare of Faysal Ibn Turki are consistent between both accounts.

9/ The Rabdah Chapter is the same in both versions, in all its accounts.

10/ The Wadnah Chapter is the same in both versions, in all its accounts.

11/ In the Krush Chapter

The following accounts are not in the KPAL version:

• the account of Muhammad ibn Jahil al-Makhdubi of Bani Hajar of Qahtan
• the account of Salim ibn ‘Awaydah of the Shaykh of al-Murra
• the account of Shafi Ibn Sha’baan the Shaykh of Bani Hajar of Qahtan
• the account of Dughayyim al-Ghandur, the owner of the Krushaat, from al-Buqum

Conversely, there are a few accounts in the KAPL version that are not listed by Hamad al-Jassir. I did not list those because we have them in the KAPL version, but their number is less than ten. The bottom line here is that the two versions of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, the one available and so one still to be found, are substantively different.