Prince Puckler Muskau on a Sa’adan Tuqan stallion sent to Abbas Pasha

Kate found another Western source citing early Arabian horse strains: Prince Hermann Puckler Muskau (1785-1871), in the 1830 . Kate did the research for this entry.

“Amongst the thousand tribes that inhabit Arabia and the desert, almost every one has its race and its particular denominations, and, naturally, their opinion differs as to their value ; nevertheless, all agree in according the first rank to two races. The first is that of the real Nedschdis, that is to say, those bred in the province of that name ; for, as it is supposed, that all the noble horses of Arabia originally came from thence, the term Nedschdi is a general name for all horses of pure Arab blood ; a difference which should be remarked, for it has already led many foreigners into error. There are five races of these real Nedschdis : 1st, Sada – Tokan ; 2nd, Touesse-al-Hamié ; 3rd, Schouahi – emAnhoub ; 4th, Hamdanije-Symra; 5th, Souat- Hije-Aeden-Sachra. The first of these names is that of the mare, from which they derive their origin ; the second, that of the proprietor.

“The second excellent race is that of Kachel. I only know four kinds 1st, Kaehel el Adschouss ; 2nd, Kaehel Moussoumé ; 3rd, Kaehel Moussalsal ; 4th, Kaehel Wednan. They principally inhabit the desert En- Bassora and Bagdad.

“The Nedschdis are generally the finest and fleetest, and the Kaehel the strongest and most valuable for warriors and travellers. This latter race is that which, in Europe, they have changed the name of to Kaylan, a name of which the Arabs are completely ignorant. It every day becomes more difficult to procure true descendants of these two races ; and I have only seen two real Sada-Tokans, who, amongst the Nedschdis, are distinguished by their height and strength of bone. One of these is now in my possession ; the other accompanied the Scheriff of Mecca to Cairo, where he was presented to Abbas Pacha, the grandson of Mehemet Ali. This horse was more than eighteen years old, yet he was valued at Cairo at 400/.”

Almost all strains cited are recognizably written in the feminine form: 1/ Sa’dah al-Tuqan; 2/ Tuwayssah Alqami; 3/ Um ‘Arqub Shuwayhah; 4/ Hamdaniyah Simri; 5/ Suwaytiyah [?]. The latter’s branch is unclear to me. I also confess that I am still not able to tell whether, in the main branch of Tuwayssan, the “Al” is part of the name, or just an article, so Alqami or ‘Alqami, versus al-Qami. I have never heard it pronounced by a Bedouin or a knowledgeable Arab breeder. As to the second batch, the first strain is Kuhayl/Kuhaylah al-‘Ajuz (the “dsch” is a “j”, as in Nedschi for “Nedj”); the second is most probably Kuhayl/Kuhaylan al-Musinnah; the third I have never heard of before; and the fourth is Kuhaylah Wadnah.