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.
Atlass is by Adjar out of Aram. Photo through Jens Sannek. Not sure who took the picture. A foundation mare of the Iranian lines that came to Europe, although she did not come to Europe herself.
Jens Sannek again shared with me a photo of the stallion Haddad (Selim x Arezoo), an important sire in Iran, and the full brother of Khamseh that went to Europe. Haddad and Khamseh are of the Hamdani strain of the Sh. Hajat of the Al Katheer Bedouin tribe.
Linking out to Gudrun’s Waiditschka’s informative article on the Arabian horses of Iran, which she republished on her website after Germany’s Asil Club accepted some 300 foundation horses from Iran.
Stephan Eberhardt shared with me these photos from a book he has: from top to bottom: Hamza (chestnut Nesman stallion), Jallad (grey Wadnan stallion) and Palmira and Bint Palmirah (the two chestnut Wadnah mares, out of three in the bottom photo). 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.“
Jens Sannek shared with me this rare photo, which purports to show the Iranian foundation stallion Karoun, a Jilfan Jarjari by strain, tracking to the horses of the Bani Malik tribe. He’s had it for 30-35 years, but does not know its source. Hopefully a reader can point to its origin. 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…
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.
Wilton posted these two photos of Jezabel a few years ago. I believe that he got them from a German magazine. 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).
I found online traces of the Shaykh Hanash Mojadami that Mary Gharazoglu writes about as one of the foremost breeders of Arabian horses in Iran. Accordingto her, the clan he led bred several strains: 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…
Yet another movie recommendation from Kina Murray is the 1925 silent movie “Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life” on the migration of the Bakhtiari tribes of Iran. It’s an hour long. 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.
The stallion Karoun, a Jilfan Jarjari from the strain of the Bani Malek tribe of Khuzestan born ca. 1942, is the main sireline progenitor for Iranian Arabian horses. Genetic Y-DNA studies have found this sire line to fall under the most common Arabian male haplogroup (Ao-aA1a). Below is a table from Kate McLachlan’s recent Khamsat article featuring male progenitors of the Karoun sire line: Ardeshir, Insiatur, Jassem, and the unnamed Wadnan Khursan stallion who may or may not be Karoun’s paternal grandfather. 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…
Lately, I have been digging into the origins of Iranian Arabian horses. Using authoritative works in the Arabic language such as ‘Abbas al-‘Azzawi’s monumental “Tribes of Iraq” in four volumes and other sources, I was able to identify several of the older, original horse breeders mentioned in the first studbook of the Asil Stud of Khuzestan (ASK), excerpts of which Jens Sannek shared with me. This is the precursor of the Iranian Arabian horse studbook. 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…
Jens Sannek continues to gratify me with photos of desert Arabian imports to Europe and their progeny. 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.
Jens Sannek also shared with me this beautiful picture of Jezabel (Arras x Atlass by Adjar), a 1976 black Wadnah Khursan of the Mir strain, bred by the Asil Stud of Khuzestan. Jezabel was also imported to Austria in 1979, along with Jallad and several other young mares and stallions.
You may be wondering about the reason for the series of recent blog entries on the Iranian Arabian horses. That’s because of Jasminah, a 2017 Wadhnat al-Khursan mare from the breeding program of the late Ulrike Marcik in Spain. Wilton had already written about Jasminah on this blog, a few years back. Jasminah traces twice (including in the tf) to Jezabel, perhaps the most beautiful Iranian mare to come to Europe.
Quoting from her article on the Asil Horse of Khuzestan (full article here on the WAHO website), a good starting point for information on this topic: 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…
The following are excerpts from a precious article, Introducing the Asil Horse Of Khuzestan, written by the late Mary Gharagozlu and published on the WAHO website. This is one of those rare informative articles that lets Arab voices speak about what features to look for in an Arabian horse. The Bedouin quoted here is a leader from the Aal Kathir, a large branch of the Bani Lam Bedouins settled in Khuzestan (ex-Arabestan) in Southwestern Iran since the 1600s. Mary Gharagozlu (photo below) is the narrator. The foreign words used are in farsi, her native language. Read on, and savor the description of a good horse according to a Bedouin authority, all the way down to what he thinks of the “dish” and the flat croup. There. Sheikh Hajat of the Al Kathir, said to be one of the most authoritative men on the dispersal and fame of the strains of Khuzestan, lived not more than forty kilometers away. It was at the risk of becoming stuck in the mud that we decided to attempt to go to him. We had a fantastic drive which was more like sailing on a sea of mud than driving, but we eventually got there,…
Jens Sannek recently shared this video screenshot of the Iranian stallion Jallad (Arras x Atlassi) a Wadnan Khursan born 1976, bred by the Equestrian Federation of Iran, exported to Austria to Gustl Eutermoser in 1979 and later to Spain.
I am so intrigued by these Iranian Asils. Some eight years ago, pictures of these were a fixture on my blog. I confess always having felt uneasy about the purity credentials of Iranian Arabian horses, mostly because Iran falls outside the cradle countries of the Arab horse. Pienaar Du Plessis and I were talking about this recently, and I confessed my attitude has more to do with my ignorance of these horses’ backgrounds than anything else. Above, the Iranian stallion Gap (Charis x Yeltakin) from an Instagram thread. Strain Hamdani Simri, bred by Shirin Salartash, and owned by Harandi Kerman. He is stunning, and not unlike the good Bahraini horses.
Hussain from Iran sent me these pictures of the Arabian stallion Geysar Shah (Nasim x Fadak), a Wadnan Khursan of the strain of Hajj Shahab.
Hussain Ghasemi sent me these head shots of the 1999 Hamdani stallion Jenan (Assad x Venus by Dowran) in Iran. Many of his ancestors including the Arras, Samarquand, and Dowran have been featured here before.
Amirhossein Ghasemi sent these pictures of the stallion Babrak Bamian (Lohrasb x Fariba), a Wadnan Khursan stallion from Iran, of the marbat of Hajji Shahab.
Photos from Ghasemi in Iran. Here is Dowran I’s pedigree:
The 1975 Jilfan Jarjari stallion Samarquand (Arras x Avalin by Karoun) was bred by the late Majid Khan Bakhtiar, and later owned by his wife the late Mary Gharagozlou. He produced blacks as well as good race horses. His dam Avalin was a bay Jilfah (written Djelfe in Iran) mare, and the sire was Arras, a black Ubayyan Sharrak. Both photos are through Jens Sennek.
Photo from Amirhossein Ghasemi. The stallion is Ghare (Tarokh x Nastaran by Haddad), a Wadnan Khursan. He has one distant line to Majid Bakhtiar’s stallion Ajdar, also a Wadnan Khersan of the Mir marbat. Ajdar’s photo is below.
This black horse from Iran is the only son so far of Dowran I who was pictured before. Photo of Amirhosein Ghasemi. Don’t know his strain.
Amirhosein Ghasemi from Iran sent me this photo of his stallion Dowran I (Insiatur x Bint Dowran by Dowran), a Wadnan Khursan from Iran. Here is an extensive pedigree from allbreedpedigree.com, with the usual disclaimers about the site.
Reader Amirhosein Ghasemi from Iran is the administrator of the online Persian Horse Forum, and a breeder of asil Araiban horses, and turkmen and Kurdish horses too. He sent me these breathtaking photos of one of his asil stallions, Nasman. I am completely taken with this horse. His strain, also Nasman, is now only found in Iran, and traces back to the old Arab tribe of Bani Lam (so do the Hadban, Shuwayman and Wadnan strains).
Blog reader Francois Julien, from France, sent me a link to a photo album about equine photographer Bob Langrish’s visit to Iran in 2007. The album has nice photos of Iranian bred horses of various breeds, including Arabians (called Asil in Iran), Kurdish, Turkmen and other local breeds of horses. Check it out by clicking here.
From reader Monique in the Netherlands comes this picture of the impressive dark bay Hamdani Simri stallion Monar (Kheibar x Aaghigh by Haddad). Click here for his pedigree, which is unusually long and detailed from an Arabian from the Middle East. Below is also a picture, also from allbreedpedigree.com, of his very typey great-grandsire Arras, an Ubayyan Sharrak, with Mary Gharagozlu up.
Monique Brandenburg from the Netherlands sent me this picture of a chestnut Arabian stallion from Iran, along with some information. Before delving into discussing these extremely interesting horses, let me say a couple things upfront: first, Iran is not an Arab country; it is an ethnically diverse country populated by ethnic Persians (who speak Farsi, among other tongues), Turkmen and Azeris (who speak Turkic dialects) and Kurds (who speak Kurdish), among others. That said, Iran does have a small Arab minority of about 1 million people (who speak Arabic), mainly but not only concentrated in its south-western province of Khuzistan. Many of these Arabic speakers belong to long-settled tribal groupings like Bani Kaab and branches of Bani Lam. The latter are originally from Central Arabia way back and are well known breeders of asil Arabian horses. So in many ways Iran is like Egypt: neither are in Arabia Deserta, the homeland of the Bedouin and their desert Arabian horse, but both nonetheless have a very small population of settled peasant Arabs tribes in the parts of the country closest to Arabia Deserta (e.g., Egypt’s peasant Tahawi tribe in the Sharqiyah province). These tribe kept breeding Arabian horses, and neighboring Persian tribes like the Bakhtiaris also bred Arabians. The…