How the Saqlawi strain got its name
In my earlier dives into the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, I had somehow missed this statement on the origin of the Saqlawi Jadran strain:
Talal Ibn Ramal [a Shammar Bedouin notable from Najd] was asked: from whom did the Jadraniyah originally reach Ibn Jadran? The aforementioned stated before the gathering that these were ancient utterances [qaalaat mubtiyah, meaning that recollections about them were faint]; but that they had heard from their first forefathers that the Jadraniyah was originally a Kuhaylat ‘Ajuz from amongst the Five [al-Khams]; that at the time of the [Prophet’s] Companions, the Kuhaylah had kicked [saqalat] another mare and injured her, and was named Saqlawi after that [incident]; that Saqlawi was a name [ie, for that Kuhaylah]; that she had originally passed to Ibn Jadran from one of two tribes, either from al-Dhafir or from al-‘Issa; that was what they had heard from the ancient ones.
It is especially hard to disentangle foundational myths and legends from historical fact. In oral cultures, it’s almost impossible. That the source of the account acknowledged upfront “that these were ancient utterances” should be in this case be taken as a disclaimer of sorts, or at least a healthy dose of distancing; the source is only relaying what it has heard from anonymous “ancient ones” and “first forefathers”. It does not even attribute the account to a specific “first forefather”.
What interests me here is how the mare got her name. In the Arabic language (my reference is Ibn Manzur’s early (ca. 1290 CE) dictionary Lisan al-‘Arab) the primary meaning of the verb saqala is “to hone”; the verb is mostly used for swords and blades, much in the same way as in English: “to hone” is “to smooth and sharpen (a blade)”, according to the Oxford Languages Dictionary.
By extension, the meaning of the Arabic verb saqala was also applied to horses undergoing training and conditioning to become fit, firm and lean, exactly in the same way as in English. A second meaning of the verb “to hone” according to the Oxford Languages Dictionary is indeed “to give greater strength or firmness to (the body or a part of the body)“, with an example being: “she has been working hard to hone her physique“. This second meaning in English is the exact meaning of the verb saqala when applied to horses.
In Arabic, the specific part of the horse’s body where the honing (in Arabic saql) manifests itself the most is the flanks, or loins. Saqala as applied to a horse is therefore most used to mean: “to make the flanks/loins become fit, firm and lean”.
So much for primary and secondary meanings. According to the Lisan al-‘Arab, a seldom used meaning of saqala is “to kick”, presumably in the flanks/loins. This takes us back to how the Saqlawiyah got her name, by kicking another mare in the flanks or the loins.
“Qaalaat mubtiyah” makes me think of Herodotus carefully qualifying statements with “phasi” and “legousi”. Also, being English, I am tempted to do that most English of things and pinch saqala to use when getting horses into shape.
actually saqlawieh means in arabic .. saqlat, This word or this meaning is known to the horse people from the Arab tribes.. originally is Kuhila’at Alajuz saqlat “Kicking the mare and injure it or hurt it and It was named Saqlawi” acording to what Sheikh Talal bin Rimal of the Shammar tribe said in the manuscript of Abbas Pasha.
I see this meaning as very logical, and it is not something new and far from the mythical narratives that some people have created in the literature and concepts of the Arabian horse.
Because of course he transmitted what he heard from his fathers and grand father’s.
The evidence for this is an old text that I had in my hands that I read about one of the rulers of Bahrain, Barjas bin Sultan Al-Amiri.
In the year 720 hajree , Sultan Al-Nasser bin Qalawun received news of a blond horse of rare example in the country of Bahrain (including Al-Ahsa and the eastern Arabian Peninsula, not specifically the sister island of the Kingdom of Bahrain) to Barjas bin Sultan Al-Amiri.
Al-Nasir Qalawun became attached to him and sought the horse until he reached him in Egypt. Al-Jalal al-Safadi recorded this news in a poem.
The oldest text mentions (Al-Kuhila)
721 years ago
6-4-720 AH
16-5-1320 AD…
Arrival of the mare (Al-Kuhila)
And the blond horse
With Barjas bin Sultan Al Ameri
From the Arabs of Bahrain (i.e. the territory of the eastern Arabian Peninsula)
To the Mamluk Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun Stud.
Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun sought, through Sharaf al-Din Issa bin Muhanna al-Ta’i, the emir and leader of the Al-Fadl tribe, to obtain horses from the countries of the Bahrain region (Al-Ahsa and Qatif), as well as the Iraq Specifically (al Basra) .
Of course, most of strain horses he obtained from thos countries are certain to have the Saqlawiyah strain present among them.
This was during the era of the Al-Asfour state, the princes of Banu Aqeel bin Ka’b bin Amer bin Sa’saa (Bani Amer).
They had a strong relationship with the Mamluk Sultan Al-Nasir bin Muhammad bin Qalawun, and they presented to him purebred horse foals and pearl.
They were often used to fight Issa bin Muhanna al-Ta’i and his tribe in Iraq, specifically in Basra… as their cousins from the Banu Amer were there in Basra.
It is known that Banu Amer possesses the best breeds of horses from Al-Duham and was in the possession of Dhiyab bin Ghanem bin Musa Al-Zoghbi Al-Hilali، It is called the dahmah Amer.
look it here to this website.
https://www.alriyadh.com/5610
The texts agree with the events, dates, facts, personalities, and geographical areas from which these horses emerged. We conclude from this that it is not strange and it is not unlikely that Al-Dahma and Al-Saqlawiyah are a trick and emerged from the belly of that .
.ancient tribe, which is Bani Amer
First: The saying of Muhammad bin Hadi bin Qarmalah From Obaida from Qahtan : in the manuscript of Abbas Pasha (Al-Kahila was called Al-Dahma because it was dark in color, and Al-Kahila is the kohl of the eyes.
second : Sayings of Hizam bin Hathlin, the sheikh of Ajman, Hizam Al-Sayfi of al Habeesh al Ajman, Muhammad bin Salem, the sheikh of Al Hadi of Al Ajman, Muhammad Al-Ghawi or Al-Qawi of al Misra from Al Ajman, Rashid bin Dhanbouh of the Al-Safran from Al Ajman,
And all the Shayban of Ajman (elderly people from Ajman)
They reported it dahmah’t Shahwan To Qahtan There is no disagreement about it It belonged to Ibn Hilal, and before Hilal, it belonged to Bani Amer, and it was passed from Shahwan to Ibn Suwayd from the Otayba tribe.
This gives meaning, in addition to the previous text, that the Bani Amer tribe had Al-Dahma and Al-Saqlawiyah, both of whom were from Kahila Al-Ajouz.
Here we can link two meanings and the two attributes. .. kuhila saqlhat ” Kick and injure the mare At the same time, her color is dark and her eyes are kohl-rimmed.