Missed connections: Ibn Ghalabawi, Soniour and their links to the Tahawi
This entry is a follow up on an earlier entry on the Egyptian stallion Ibn Ghalabawi, sire of the 1971 mare Azeema out of Naglaa 1963 (Azeema’s photo is below, thanks Timur Hasanoglu for sharing it with me), which was exported to Germany.
While implicitly included in the Pyramid Society’s definition of a Straight Egyptian Arabian, Ibn Ghalabawi is explicitely left out of the Asil Club’s otherwise wholesale embrace of the Egyptian Agricultural Organization’s Studbook. He shares that distinction with two other stallions, Sharkasi, and Registan (Skowronek x Riz). In 1978, WAHO accepted Ibn Ghalabawi’s daughter Azeema as purebred, based on the testimony of Sayed Marei of Al Badeia Arabians.
That testimony identifies Ibn Ghalabawi as by Ghalabawi out of the mare “Bint Nabras”, by Nabras out of “Bint Soniour”. Soniour is only identified as a “desert-bred horse”.
Assuming that pedigree information is correct, further research is needed on the following four horses before the credentials of Ibn Ghalabawi can be bolstered: the three stallions “Ghalabawi”, “Nabras”, “Soniour” and the great-granddam in the tail female, about which nothing is known.
“Ghalabawi” is said to be by Balance x Bint Magboura by Ibn Rabdan, and to be bred by the RAS. I looked him up in Colin Pearson’s “The Arabian Horse Families of Egypt” but could not find him. I don’t have the EAO Studbooks, and maybe someone else can look him up there. Nabras must be the the 1921 grey Hadban Enzahi bred the tribe of the al-Aqaydat (“El Agidad”) on the Euphrates river in Syria, and later used by the RAS.
Soniour is the one on which there is “new” information: According to Syrian author and racehorse owner Ali al-Barazi in his book on the Arabian horse, Soniour (c. 1910). was a racehorse owned by Emile Pharaon who had him race in Cairo and was a son of the Dahman ‘Amer (b. 1898 – d. 1923) of Abdallah Seoud al-Tahawi. The hujjah of that Dahman ‘Amer stallion, who was also the sire of Barakat, was first displayed here. Soniour appears to have been bred by the Tahawi and his dam to be a Tahawi mare.
I used to own a copy of that Barazi, which my father gave to me, but I lost it. Basil Jadaan still has a copy, and both Joe Achcar and Hazaim Alwair have xeroxed or scanned copies of this book.
While this information is still not enough to establish the asil credentials of Ibn Ghalabawi once and for all, it represents nonetheless a first step in this direction. The maternal great-grand-dam, the one who was bred to Soniour, remains the major unknown element so far.
The stud book shows Bint Magboura as “Sold on 24th May 1935 [at age 3] to the late Ahmed Mahrei Bey.” If Ghalabawi was bred by the RAS, then his dam must have been sold in foal to Balance.
Is it likely a three-year-old filly would be sold in foal?
Is Ahmed Mahrei Bey related to Sayed Marei?
I searched EAO stud books from Vol I(second edition 1983) to Vol VI (1989) ,I could not find “Ghalabawi” nor “Ibn Ghalabawi” or “Azeema”.
But what I found that
“Bint Durra” a Dahma Shahwania dam of “Bint Bint Durra” was by:
“Eid”x”Durra”
“Durra”,bay, bought by the society on june 19th 1924 from Mr Kasdughli.
“Eid'” a race horse belonging to Mr Kasdughli,sold to the late Sayed Khashaba Pasha.
“Durra” came in foal to “Eid” as “Bint Bint Durra” was foaled
on 31st of August at the society’s Bahtim stables.
Colin Pearson about “Eid”: “Nothing certain is known of this horse,but is probable that is was the animal named “Aid” who was bred by Lady Blunt at Sheikh Obeyd.”
A very elegant,and easy, way ,to give a respectability to a pedigree “Aid” was the son of “Aida” both names meaning
“The one who returns” “Aida”being the feminine and “Aid” the masculine.
While “Eid” meaning is “Party” “Feast” or “Holiday”.
The RAS stud book keeper could not be so mistaken to write “a race horse” while the horse was
a Sheikh Obeyd horse.
Bint Bint Durra was exported to M.Babson
her gets “Durroufa” Fa Rabdan” “Fad Zarka” “Fadurra””Farrab”
“Faydalla”
As I cannot put my finger on my copy of the Al Badeia Studbook, quick email to Nasr Marei might clarify alot. I’ll write and alert him to this thread on the blog and we may yet get a response from him.
Ahmed (Bey) Marei is the father of Sayed Marei, and it is not uncommon that three year old filles were sold in foal. Was Balance active as a stallion at the time?
1935 was apparently the first season Balance was used–accepting Datasource as at least an approximation, his first foal was a 1936.
7 Foals of Azeema
1975 AZEELA by Shaker El Masri
1976 IBN AZEEMA by Shaker El Masri
1977 AZEEZA by Shaker El Masri
1979 ABDALLAH by Ibn Shaker I
1980 ABDULLAH by Ibn Shaker
1981 AZEEM by Malik
1982 AZIRA by Ibn Bassima
I know this is a very old post, but as per usual I am browsing through older blog entries. I am commenting as I do have some information on this line of horses.
There are only 6 horses from what I could see in the AHA database that would qualify as asil & are carrying Ibn Ghalabawi that were born relatively recently.
Within these horses, 1 comes through Azeela (Shaker El Masri x Azeema) and the rest come through her full sister Azeeza (which is then divided between her two daughters: 1. Baba Bint Azeeza, who was sired by Ibn Magdi 2. Kayzeema, who was sired by Kaisoon).
The last horses that I found in the database are the following:
Nadir (Nasrodin x Azeela), born in 1990
Hafid Galal (Ibn Galal I-5 x Baba Bint Azeeza), born in 1991. He carries Amurath Sahib through his sire. He also carries Hanan, who I know still has contention over her pedigree as information on the Bisharat horses is frustratingly scant.
Badawi (Hamasa Kadir x Kayzeema), born in 1993. Carries Davenport, Hamidie, and Turfa through sire.
Baydir (Hamasa Kadir x Baba Bint Azeeza), born in 1993. 3/4 brother to Badawi.
Badir (Hamasa Kadir x Kayzeema), born in 1994. Full brother to Badawi. Yes, Badir and his uncle Baydir are one letter away from having the exact same name and yes that’s a little confusing haha.
Samraa (Hamasa Kadir x Baba Bint Azeeza), born in 1994. Full sister to Baydir. From what I can tell she’s the last mare to carry this line, as well as the last asil representative of Azeema’s branch of this damline.
I hate to be cynical but I don’t have much hope for this line having survived in asil form. I saw a few horses with Polish lines that are seemingly carrying it forward – at least when I last glanced at the database – in non asil form but that’s not the same. None of the horses listed reproduced, or at least they weren’t registered to have done so, and they’re all born in the early 90s.
Also just a quick correction, the Naglaa sent to Om El Arab stud (along with her young daughter Azeema & the other three mares bred by Albadeia that were sent to Germany) was actually born in 1966, not ‘63. It’s an easy mistake to make as according to the database, there was a whopping 4 mares named Naglaa born in the 1960s: Naglaa I (Sameh x Ghorra, born in 1960), Naglaa (El Sareei x Bint Badr, born in 1962. She was one of the of the Registan + Sharkasi horses that the EAO bred), Naglaa (Sameh x Samia, the one who I often see having her birthdate confused with the final Naglaa), and Naglaa (Mamdouh x Fadila, born in 1966. This one is one sent to Germany who was the dam of Azeema.). Insert a joke about how that’s too many mares named Naglaa in the same decade.
I ended up getting interested in this line because Azeema is a great x5 grand aunt to my mare who carries Naglaa (1966) through the damline via a different branch that is uncommon in the typical SE breeding I see in the US but is still going (it’s through half sister of Azeema’s that was by Shaker El Masri).
I like to research all parts of a horse’s pedigree, not just direct ancestors but also relatives, and I was quite sad to see this line is likely to die out in asil form if it hasn’t already.
I didn’t any additional information in my copy of the 1935-2003 version of the Albadeia Studbook, but I have seen older versions of the Studbook – with more photos that I haven’t seen anywhere else, and because of that I’m hoping a little more information on the horses – that I’m itching to get. I’m also on the lookout for EAO Studbooks that don’t cost an arm, a leg, and the rest of the body to buy.
Anyway that’s enough rambling, I just wanted to comment on this as I didn’t see the information provided anywhere else on this blog & I just so happened to know a little about this line.
Thank you for this Laura. I thought that line was long gone. Also, there is no “old” thread, they’re all alive, or at least can be resurrected any time!
That is very true I’ll keep it in mind for the future.
I do worry about this line, if it isn’t lost to asil breeding it likely will be soon. I had a (non Arabian) horse born in 1992 that passed recently and he’s not too much older than the horses I’ve listed. The damline is more than likely lost, but if one of the stallions has survived, it might be possible to get a descendant from this line.