Hujjah from 1934 of desert-bred mare imported to the UK
The British Arab Horse Society (AHS) celebrated its centennary in 2018. For this occasion, it curated an exhibition in Newmarket, England, where it showcased three hujaj of desert-bred mares imported to the UK, among other original documents. Kina Murray, who was then WAHO Secretary, had asked me to translate these for AHS.
Below is the translation of the first hujjah.
“Testimonial paper
We, the undersigned from the tribe of al-Ghurayr, testify by God concerning the bay mare, a stripe in her forehead, named Nuha Khanum, the daughter of Salma, her origin is Kuhaylat Aba Snun al-Nawwakah, her sire is the Saqlawi of Ibn Mahmud, she belongs to Hazza’ al-Rashed of the tribe of al-Ghurayr; for this [reason] we composed this testimonial paper concerning the origin of the mare; God is a witness to and a trustee of what we say.
About the sire of her dam he is the Hamdani, and the sire of her maternal grand-dam is the ‘Ubayyan al-Suhayli.
Ubayd al-Jammagh
One of the heads of the tribe of al-Ghurayr ‘Abdallah al-Rumman
The head of the tribe of al-Masalihah Ibrahim al-Muhammad
One of the heads of the tribe of Qartan Aswad al-Salbuh [uncertain reading]
One of the heads of the tribe of al-Ghurayr Mudhi al-Jassem [Fingerprint]
The head of the tribe of al-Bu-Hamdan Fayad al-Isma’il”
The head of the tribe of al-Shurayfat ‘Alwan al-Rashed
Witness: Muhammad Jassim [signature]
19 Nissan [April] 1934, [written on an Iraqi 40 fils stamp featuring King Faysal I]
I had written to Kina at the time that the tribe of al-Ghurayr from which the mare in the document came from was a branch of the Shammar Toqa that had settled in the areas of al-Mahmudiyah and al-‘Aziziyah south of Bagdad. As to the strain of the mare, Kuhaylan Nawaq Abu Snun, it still existed in Syria before the the war there.
The strain of the sire, Saqlawi [Dari] Ibn Mahmud, and that of the maternal great-grandsire, Ubayyan Suhayli, indicate a mare of good Shammar breeding, as both are authentic Shammar strains. I am not sure who the mare is. I cannot find a suitable candidate in the list of desert bred mares imported to the UK around this time. The 1927 bay Kuhaylah mare Jamila I, sired by a Saqlawi, is a farfetched candidate, but the name of the breeder or last owner do not match.
The Journals of the Arab Horse Society, 1938, lists the following horses as imports in the AHSB Vol V (up to 1938):
Dali Bey
Dschami
Enigma
Jellaby
Kadschar
Karaba
Kismet
Kunfund
Majdan
Dafina
Gara
Gayza
Jamila
Mandilah
Zoglamar Zarad
Warda Al Badia
It also has a list of horses for the AHSB Vol VI (up to 1939), which had yet to be published:
Khaibar
Manak
Kasim
Surgan
Faras
Tarfa
Bahrein
Tarfa, I think, may be Turfa, based on the comment:
“The most recent importations include several stallions and mares from the Stud of His Majesty King Ibn Saoud of Nejd, Arabia, and from that of His Highness the Sheikh of Bahrein, which were presented to the Royalty of our country.”
I am squinting a little at Mandilah, who was a bay imported in November 1934, by Stanbridge Earls Stud. The 1935 Journal has this to say about her:
“In November last I imported another Arab mare, a bay, MANDILAH, out of a Ju’aithniyah mare by a Kuhailan Nawaq stallion. She stands 14.3 and has seven and a half inches of bone; her action and carriage are very pleasing.”
Wrong strain, however, as the sire is the Kuhaylan al-Nawaq, not the dam.
Tarfa is indeed *Turfa. Khaibar, Manak, Kasim and Faras were gifts from King Ibn Saoud. Some to the Earl of Athlone and his wife, a relative of the British King; some to the British King directly. Bahrein was also a gift to the same Earl of Athlone but from the Bahrainis. Gara and Gayza came from the USA. Dafina we covered. Jamila I, Mandilah, and Warda Al Badia all came from Iraq. The others I don’t know.