The following passages on the imperial Ottoman stud during the reign of Abdülhamid II are taken from Frederick Wrench’s article, ‘The Sultan and his Horses’, pp. 782-85 in the 15 December 1900 issue of Country Life Illustrated. Abdülhamid II’s reign from 1876 to 1909 spanned the Blunts’ expeditions, the gifting of Leopard and Linden Tree to Ulysses S. Grant, the export of the Hamidie Society horses, and Homer Davenport’s expedition. WHEN I wrote from Tiflis to our ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Nicholas O’Conor, to ask if he could obtain permission for me to see one of the Sultan’s best studs, I had no idea that I was making a request with which it might not be too easy to comply. As it happens, these State Departments in the Sultan’s dominions are jealously guarded against all intrusion, and no Englishman before this had expressed a desire to see His Majesty’s haras.Fortunately for me, Colonel Ponsonby, the military attaché at Constantinople, had conceived the same wish, and through his friendship with the Minister of War had just obtained a special permit when my letter to the ambassador arrived; so Colonel Ponsonby kindly decided to postpone his visit until wecould go together. Our…
The Polish author Stefan Bojanowski writes in his 1906 book, Sylwetki koni orientalnych i ich hodowców, that in 1864 Sultan Abdülaziz purchased 92 horses from the Białacerkiew estates of the Branicki family, and incorporated them into his stud (p. 73): Bez przesady powiedzieć można, że obok „sanguszkowskich“ koni — konie „białocerkiewskie“ wychowywane na bujnych stepach żyznej Ukrainy w stadach hr. Branickich, były w Europie do niedawna najbardziej poszukiwanymi końmi krwi wschodniej, czego dowodzi fakt, że Sułtan Abdul-Azis, chcąc założyć dla siebie pod Konstantynopolem prywatne stado silnych i rosłych, a przytem szlachetnych oryentalnych koni, wysłał w r. 1864 na Ukrainę do stad białocerkiewskich swych koniuszych i weterynarza, którzy zakupili: 2 stadne ogiery, „Jarzmę“ i Inaka“, obydwa po wywodowym Indyaninie, 8 koni wierzchowych, 6 zaprzęgowych, 48 matek, 17 trzyletnich, 21 dwuletnich i 4 rocznych klaczek. Jeżeli odliczymy 14 koni wierzchowych i powozowych, które jako konie użytkowe nie poszły do stada, to pozostała jeszcze poważna liczba 92 koni, które hr. Braniccy oddali jako cenny materyał hodowlany do „sułtańskiego stada“,—a to wystawiło Białocerkwi bezsprzecznie najchlubniejsze świadectwo naszej polskiej hodowli. The horses bought for breeding were two stallions, Jarzmo and Inak, both sons of Indjanin, 48 broodmares, 17 three‑year‑olds, 21 two‑year‑olds and four yearling fillies.…
I am cross-posting this here from another place that I had written this, and would love to pick everyone’s brains on their thoughts. Full disclosure: this was jumpstarted by reading Teymur’s posts here on DOTW and by reading and re-reading Michael Bowling’s three part series on Leopard and Linden Tree (…and perhaps by some personal spite re: the long-dead Randolph Huntington. I ended up not overly caring for his theories on breeding.) ~~~ ^ Source: The Illustrated Stock Doctor by J. Russell Manning, published 1890, pg 66.
Jenny Krieg just send me the link to this amazing photo collection. Here is the intro text, from the website of the US library of Congress: “This monumental collection portrays the Ottoman Empire during the reign of one of its last sultans, Abdul-Hamid II. The 1,819 photographs in 51 large-format albums date from about 1880 to 1893. They highlight the modernization of numerous aspects of the Ottoman Empire, featuring images of educational facilities and students; well-equipped army and navy personnel and facilities; technologically advanced lifesaving and fire fighting brigades; factories; mines; harbors; hospitals; and government buildings. Most of the places depicted are within the boundaries of modern-day Turkey, but buildings and sites in Iraq, Lebanon, Greece and other countries are also included.” When you check the link out, try the keyword “horses” in the search box and see what that yields.. Below is one of the photos from this search:
This mare is one of my all-time favorites. I had featured her earlier on this blog, here. Her name is Reem al-Oud [see correction below, actually this is Reem’s daughter Bint al-Oud], she is a Ubayyah Suhayliyah (a branch of the Sharrakiyah) from the tribe of Shammar in Syria. She is currently owned by Shaykh Mayzar al-Ajeel al-Abd al-Karim al-Jarba. Shaykh Mayzar is a direct descendant of the famous Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karim al-Jarba, who led a bloody rebellion against the Ottoman Turks. The Turks quelled the rebellion, hung ‘Abd al-Karim on a bridge in Mossul, Iraq, in 1874. They put his half-brother Farhan in charge of the Shammar in North Arabia. ‘Abd al-Karim’s mother, Amsheh al-Husayn (a daughter of Husayn al-Assaf, the Shaykh of Tayy) then fled North Arabia with her younger son, Faris, and sought refuge with Ibn Rashid, the ruler of Hail in Central Arabia, and the leader of the Shammar there. Years later, Lady Anne Blunt met both Amsheh and Faris. Faris became Wilfrid Blunt’s “blood brother”. Back to Reem al-Oud. She is from the marbat of Maskawi al-Ju’aydan al-Shammari, whose clan, al-Ju’aydan, breeds some of the best Ubayyan Suhayli horses among the Shammar. Maskawi’s father Madfaa…
(See the comments section below for a translation of this blog entry to English) A l’origine, en tant qu’améliorateurs des races locales, essentiellement en vue de fournir des produits pour le service de la guerre. La base de nombreux élevages a été les animaux pris dans les combats contre l’Empire Ottoman. Il en est résulté dans de nombreux pays une jumenterie plus ou moins pure que l’on a tenté de conserver par l’achat d’étalons importés d’Orient. La Hongrie avec la race Shagya a été éminemment honnête. La France, avec deux variétés régionales, le Tarbais et le cheval du Limousin a eu la même démarche. A partir de Napoléon III, le pays a cherché à se constituer une jumenterie pure (Asil) afin de pouvoir disposer de reproducteurs pour améliorer la race Barbe en Afrique du nord et perfectionner l’Anglo-arabe naissant. Les établissements les plus remarquables ont été Tiaret en Algérie, Sidi Thabet en Tunisie et Pompadour en France. C’est à partir de cette époque que l’on s’est rendu compte de la différence de qualité entre les produits de la métropole et ceux des deux autres établissements (dégénérescence rapide sous l’influence des sols et du climat). Entre les deux guerres et surtout…