Saqlawi

*Bint Rajwa to be submitted to the Al Khamsa Roster

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[November 1 2010, update from Edouard: The last two otherwise Al Khamsa eligible descendents of *Bint Rajwa have died. There is no point proposing *Bint Rajwa for inclusion in the Al Khamsa Roster] I want to submit a proposal to include the mare *Rajwa and the stallion Karawane in the Al Khamsa Roster before this coming November. … Read more

Photo of the Day: *Euphrates, Saqlawi al-‘Abd imported to the USA in 1906

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This beautiful 1905 desert-bred stallion was imported from Northern Arabia to the USA by Homer Davenport in 1906. He is a son of the mare *Urfa, a Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd from the horses of Didhan al-‘Awaji of the Wuld Sulayman Bedouins’ ruling clan. His sire is the “Great Hamdani” Simri stallion, apparently a major sire among the … Read more

Photo of the Day: desert bred Saqlawi Jadran stallion, Syria

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This photo was sent by a horse merchant in Syria to one of the Tahawi clan leaders in Egypt, bto probe his interest in purchasing the horse. Here is what figures on the back of the photo: “Photo of the Saqlawi Jadrani horse, his sire is ‘Ubayyan of the horses of Ibn Samdan and his … Read more

Hujjah of Saqlawi Jadran stallion from Tay, bought by the Tahawis, c. 1936

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This hujjah comes from the Tahawi tribe website and is very interesting, because of the place of origin of the horse: unlike most of the Tahawi hujaj I saw, this one comes from the Upper Mesopotamia area (al-Jazirah) while the others came from Western Syria. I hope the horse referenced in this hujjah document left some … Read more

Hijab, asil Saqlawiyah Ibn Amoud mare from Syria, now in France

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Below is a photo of Hijab (Ward Al Mayel x Nisreen by Mubarak), an asil Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah now in France, with Chantal Chekroun, who sent me this picture. Chantal also owns the black Kuhaylan al-Krush stallion Mokhtar. Note the similarity between this photo of Hijab and some of the Priztlaff horses of Rabanna bloodlines (especially … Read more

The horses of the elusive Ahmad Ibish

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My research project about Syrian horse-racer Ahmad Ibish is progressing well, but I am not ready to share the results on this blog yet. Ibish, of Damascus, Syria, was on the top of my list of influential urban Middle Eastern horsemen of the twentieth century, along with Henri Pharaon of Beirut, Lebanon, Iskandar Qassis of … Read more

A detailed look at *Urfah’s hujjah

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[This article, first published on April 16th, 2010, was just updated and expanded, and is being reposted now]

The inquiry on the “Davenport Arabian” hujaj begins with *Urfah, who is present in the pedigree of our “case study” mare Jauhar El-Khala 75 times. My own Wisteria has a 151 crosses to *Urfah, and her newborn daughter Wadhah traces to *Urfah a stunning 219 times (!)

Click here for what the reference book Al Khamsa Arabians III has to say about *Urfah. Most of the information is essentially extracted from the hujjah itself, a translation of which is below (translation mine, adapted from the version I did for Al Khamsa Arabians III in 2005, which was a word-to-word translation):

“I, Dhidan, testify by God that she came from [the clan of ] ‘Abdah from the tribe of Shammar; they [i.e, the clan of ‘Abdah] testified to my father Jar Allah al-‘Awaji, the father of Dhidan al-‘Awaji; they testified to my father that she is the Saqlawiah from the horses of al-‘Abd;

I testify by God on the testimony of my father that she is Saqlawiah from the horses of al-‘Abd; I swear by God, I o Dhidan al-‘Awaji that she is Saqlawiah al-‘Abd; she is to be mated and we have mated her; she is Saqlawiah al-‘Abd, protected, with us for forty years.

Dhidan al-‘Awaji Sheykh of Wuld Sulayman, the owner of the stud [seal],
Mishrif ibn Huraymis Sheykh of al-‘Ajajirah [seal]

I, Malik ibn Fardh (illegible word, maybe al-Buhi), testify on the testimony of Dhidan al-‘Awaji: I testify by God

The witnesses of the situation: Nahar al-Haj Sheikh of Shammar

We testify on the testimony of Dhidan al-Awaji that she is Saqlawiah al-‘Abd and that she is to be mated: Mohammad Aal Hamad and Uthman Aal Hamad from the village of Khirbat Kayar, Uqlah al-Dhul’ubab, Haj Umar ibn Haj Makki [from] Halab, Haj Ahmad Bat-hish from the village of al-Bab, Mohammad ibn Haj Ahmad (illegible word) Halab

That was the front page of the hujjah document; there is more writing on the back of the hujjah:

As for the two stallions, the first is bay, his age two years and the second is chestnut his age is one year and a half, I swear by God that they are the sons of the bay mare referred to on the inside of this [document] and she is Saqlawiah, protected, her strain was not hit [with accusations of impurity] and I testify that the [persons] referred to are just and that their testimony is acceptable.
Ahmad Hafez [seal]

I will use two methods to read this text: first text analysis, and second, context analysis. The first focuses solely on what is written in the document; the second, on how what is written in the document relates to other things we may know from other sources.

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Asil Crabbet damlines one hundred years later

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Recently, I have been re-reading a lot of the old articles RJ wrote for Arabian Visions magazine, to refresh my memory as I start working on an Al Khamsa project on rare lines (more on this later). One of my favorite RJ articles is “The Blunts and Crabbet Stud: An Abbreviated History and Description of the … Read more

Misconceptions in Straight Egyptian pedigrees are harder to dispel

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I recently saw in the online brochure of a well known stud that breeds “Straight Egyptians” that the Saqlawi Jadran descendents of Roga El Beda (i.e., the tail female line represented by Moniet El Nefous and El Bataa in modern pedigrees, among others) was made to trace back to the desert-bred mare Ghazieh through Bint … Read more

Ghuzayyil’s entry in the Aldahdah Index

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Ghuzayyil was a famous desert-bred horses from Syria, whose bloodlines are present today in a number of modern pedigrees from Syria, including that of the stallion Hussam al-Shimal now in France. This is his entry in the Aldahdah Index: GHUZAYYIL: a grey desert-bred stallion, born c. 1952; [no picture available] Strain: Saqlawi Nijm al-Subh, of … Read more

Ghaddar’s entry in the Aldahdah Index

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Ghaddar is another desert-bred race-horse mentioned in the newspaper clipping below. He was racing at the same time as Mawj al-Athir. The Aldahdah Index happens to have an entry on him as well, with all of the information coming from old horse merchant Abd al-Qadir Hammami. GHADDAR: a gray desert-bred asil stallion;  Strain: Hamdani Simri … Read more

Mawj al-Athir’s entry in the Aldahdah Index

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If you follow this blog regularly, then you must have already heard about the chestnut desert-bred stallion Mawj al-Athir: he is in the pedigree of the bay stallion from Syria, Hussam al-Shimal, now in France. He is also the sire of the pretty mare below, whose photo you have already seen before. Joe Achcar also … Read more

Horse photos from France under the snow

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This morning I woke up to find these two pictures of horses from snowed-in France in my inbox.. the first one is from Clothilde Nollet of Maarena Arabians, and features her new acquisition Bint Fay Amy (Mahrouf x Fay Amy by Ibn Fa-Serr), a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah born in 1995 at the Babson Farm. The second … Read more

Photo of the Day: Malek, Saqlawi Jadran from Lebanon

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My father took these two photos of the grey Lebanese stallion Malek in the mid 1980s, at the farm of Husayn Nasir in Rayak, Lebanon. Malek (Achchal x Bint Ghazwane by Ghazwane) was the last stallion of Lebanese breeding that did not trace to the infamous Iraqi-born part-bred Arabian racehorses thath flooded the Beirut racetrack in … Read more

Photo of the day: Malakah, Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah of Ibn Zubayni from Syria

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I took this photo of the venerable Malakah in 1990, at the stables of Syrian breeder Salih Khaddam al-Sruji, south of Damascus.  She was more than 30 years of age, which explain why her croup and legs look the way they do. Malakah was bred by the Mudarris family, an old Alepine  – ie, from … Read more

Two new proposals to add horses to the Al Khamsa Roster

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These have been quite busy days for me, and I have not been able to write as often as I wanted to. That said, I wanted to quick highlight the fact that two new proposals to add new horses to the Al Khamsa Roster have been sent to the Al Khamsa Board of Directors. The first … Read more

Photo of the Day: Popinjay, Hamdani Simri in the USA

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This is Popinjay (Banter CF x Persimmon by Brimstone), a 1992 Hamdani Simri tracing to Schilla, and at Maria Wallis’ in Texas.  On these horses being Hamdani Simri as opposed to Saqlawi al-Abd, read here. I am trying to organize a breeding that involves him, and will tell you all about this exciting venture once … Read more

Two asil Kuhaylat al-Hayf mares now in the United Arab Emirates

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I just got word that two asil mares of the Kuhaylan Hayfi strain, from the horses tracing to the desert-breds imported by Homer Davenport to the USA in 1906, were exported to the United Arab Emirates. Both are now owned by Mohammed Bin Humooda of Al-‘Ain, UAE. They are Affinity CF (Javera Thadrian x Audacity) bred … Read more

Those who are gone, and those who are left

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In 1952, Charles Craver acquired the asil Crabbet mare *Ringlet (by Astralis x Rudeyna by Daoud), around the same time two other giants, Dr. Joseph L. Doyle, and Richard Pritzlaff were acquiring the asil mares Gulida (by Gulastra x Valida by Ghawi) and Rabanna (Rasik x Banna by *Nasr), respectively, which they bred to the stallion … Read more

Barely Surviving Lines: Saqlawi al-‘Abd line of *Wadduda through Serije

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The more I browse through the Al Khamsa Online Roster, the more I realize the importance of the desert-bred mare *Wadduda. She was a chestnut Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd, and was the war-mare of the Bedouin chieftain Hakim Ibn Mhayd of the Fad’aan tribe, before she was imported to the USA by Homer Davenport in 1906.  There is … Read more

Barely Surviving Lines: Courthouse Hamdani Simri line through Safarjal

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Don’t ask me how this ancient line made it into the 21st century. It’s a near miracle. Lady Anne Blunt imported the Hamdani Simri mare Sobha (Wazir x Selma) from Egypt in 1891, from a certain Mahmoud Bey who got her dam from the Abbas Pascha collection. Sobha’s line was one of the most represented lines … Read more

Barely Surviving Lines: Kuhaylan Rodan through Rosemary

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In an earlier post, I had written about an asil Kuhaylan Rodan line that seems to have miraculously survived in South Africa. This was the line of Rosina, tracing to Lady Anne Blunt’s Rodania through the latter’s daughter Rosemary. There is another asil line tracing to Rosemary that also survives in the USA. I stumbled … Read more

*Hamrah

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I just noticed something while clicking through Al Khamsa’s online Roster. Of course, it may be a no-brainer to many of you: the stallion *Hamrah, a Saqlawi al-Abd imported by Homer Davenport to the USA in 1906, is the maternal grand-sire of at least five of the most influential Early American Foundation Arabian horses in … Read more

Another asil line from South Africa: Rosina, a Kuhaylat Rodan

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Some time last year, this blog featured the precious asil Kuhaylan al-Mimrah line to the mare Baraka (Ibn Manial x Gamalat) which has been flourishing in South Africa. The series of postings on Baraka and her descendents attracted a lot of attention from South Africa and Namibia, and is by far the most popular thread on … Read more

Sixty years of Doyle Arabian breeding in the USA

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Sixty years ago, in 1949, a young Terry Doyle and his father, Dr. Joseph Lyman Doyle (“Doc”), hauled the asil mare Gulida (by Gulastra x Valida by Ghawi), a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah tracing to the marbat of Ibn Sudan, to their farm in Sigourney, Iowa. They bred her once to the asil stallion Nusi (Gulastra x Nusara), a … Read more

Another photo of Ruzayq, the desert bred Saqlawi stallion in Dirab, Saudi Arabia

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This magnificent white stallion is not a show horse but a desert bred stallion that took part in a halter competition organized in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His name is Ruzayq, and he was sired by Haleem, a Hamdani. Ruzayq stands at the Saudi government stud in Dirab. He traces to Saqlawi mares bred by the … Read more

Dafina, a 1921 Kuhaylat al-Krush from King Abdul Aziz Aal Saud

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A previous entry (here) on the strain of Kuhaylan Krush al-Baida mentioned the mare Dafina, a 1921 Kuhaylat al-Krush, sent by King Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Saud to Lady Wentworth of the UK in 1927, through Mr Gilbert Clayton, the British Representative in what was not yet called the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dafina was apparently … Read more

Abbas Pasha Manuscript — First page in Arabic

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This document recently appeared on one of the discussion threads below. For those of you who know the Abbas Pasha Manuscript in its English edition, this is just the first page in one of the original Arabic editions.. This is a quick and dirty translation (writing from work, gotta go home soon), without the Quran … Read more

Photo of the day: Ruzayq, a desert-bred Saqlawi stallion from Saudi Arabia

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… and this is Ruzayq (Haleem x Zahria), one of the Suwayti [May 16th correction by Edouard: Ruzayq is not Suwayti but a Saqlawi originally tracing to the horses of the tribe of Bani Sakhr] stallions at the government stud in Dirab. Those of you who have been following this blog over the recent weeks are … Read more

Query on French bloodlines in the USA

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In 1921-22, W.R. Brown imported a number of Arabian horses from France to the USA, for Army Remount purposes. Two of these horses, the mares *Kola (Latif DB x Destinee by Maksoude DB) and *Balkis II (El Hassan DB x Bedadine by Edhen DB) have left important lines in mainstream US Arabian horse breeding, *Kola through … Read more

Strain of the Week: Kuhaylan al-Wati — famous relatives

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According to the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, sometime in the first half of the nineteenth century, a Bedouin warrior by the name of Rashid ibn Jarshan, from the tribe of al-Buqum, owned a branch of the strain of Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz that was known as Kuhaylat Ibn Jarshan, after his name. His marbat was famous, and one of his mares was … Read more

Lost asil tail females: *Abeyah

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In my opinion, *Abeyah was the best mare of the Davenport importation, and perhaps one of the best mares to come out of Arabia. She was certainly the best authenticated one. Look at my translation of her hujjah (also published in Al Khamsa Arabians III):  I, o Faris al-Jarba, witness that the bay mare which … Read more

Menjad Maram al-Baida, an asil stallion in France (part 2)

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Part 1 introduced the young stallion Menjad Maram al-Baida, whose sire and dam were imported from Syria to France. Some people would refer to this horse as a “Straight Syrian”. I don’t like this phrase, nor any term with “Straight”. Others who know more than I do don’t seem to like it either. [Incidentally I wonder whether … Read more

Menjad Maram al-Baida, a young asil stallion in France (part 1)

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Recently I became aware of the existence of a young bay stallion of desert-bred stock that was bred in France, where he is now standing at stud. The name of this young stallion is Menjad Maram al-Baida, and his strain is Saqlawi Jadran (photo below, from his owners website). Menjad was bred by Mrs. Chantal Chekroun, … Read more

Lost asil tail females: *Nedjme

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Think of this new “Lost asil tail females” series as an obituary section in a newspaper.. I know there is no point in grieving over what is lost, but it’s a good reminder of how lucky we are to have what we still have. The series starts with *Nedjme, just because “she was given the position … Read more

Strain of the Week: Mokhtar, a Krush al-Baida stallion in France

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A previous entry had discussed how the young children of Shammar Shaykh (and prominent Syrian politician) Mayzar Abd al-Muhsin al-Jarba lost the ownership of their father’s prestigious marbat of Kuhaylan Krush al-Baida strain upon the latter’s death (late 1960s? early 1970s?), and how the man Mayzar had entrusted with his assets took the horses for himself.  … Read more

Photos of the day: Burgas, Taleb

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“Excellent horse, but his grey color makes him unusable”. So the French government, prompted by the cavalry’s dislike of the color grey, sold the stallion Burgas to Poland in 1923, without using him.   Burgas, a Saqlawi Jadran by a ‘Ubayyan Sharrak, born in 1907, was one of 20 Arabian stallions imported to France in … Read more

Strain of the week: Kuhaylan al-Mimrah (final)

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Kuhaylan al-Mimrah: so where were we? In the last post about this strain, we had left it in the hands of the Muwayni’ section of the Sba’ah tribe, to which the Mimrah clan belongs. Today, the noble section of Al-Muwayni’ is split between Syria and Saudi Arabia but no longer owns horses from this famous … Read more

Photo of the day: Musette

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Musette (b. 1932), a Saqlawiyah by strain, is a good specimen of the Asil Arabians bred by the French government stud of Pompadour in the first half of the twentieth century. She reminds me of some of the first and second generation offspring of the horses imported by Homer Davenport to the USA in 1906.  … Read more

The 1909 desert imports to France

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In 1909, a French government commission led by Inspector Quinchez bought 24 desert-bred stallions from the Egyptian racetrack of Sidi Gaber in Alexandria. Of these, 17 went to Algeria (then a part of France), and the remaining 7 were distributed in government studs across mainland France. The seven were: Dahman, Meenak, Farid, Aslani, Hamdany El Samry, Latif and Maarouf. The … Read more

Photo of the day: Fabo

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A rare picture of the magnificent black Asil stallion Fabo (Fabah x Misimma by Fa Serr). Fabo, a 1962 Saqlawi Jadran, and the head sire at the late Walter Schimanski’s Masada Arabians. Photo from the collection of the late William J. Sheets (Billy). Check out another gorgeous picture of Fabo here.    

The lost Asil Arabians of Algeria

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Algeria was a French colony from 1830 to 1848, and an integral part of France from 1848 till its indepedence in 1962, following one of the bloodliest colonial wars.  The conquest of Algeria by France was extremely long and arduous, and could only completed by 1900, when the latest of the Tuareg chiefs (ethnic Berbers, not … Read more

On Kuhaylan Jellabi

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The Kuhaylan Jallabi strain as an extant female line in Egyptian bloodlines will forever be something of a curiosity. Modern evidence of MtDNA work on this line combined with interpreting Lady Anne Blunt’s notations should make people feel comfortable in choosing the Saqlawi Jidran strain for this line though it is not officially recorded as … Read more

Photo of the day

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I took this photo of the Asil stallion Khalid (Mahrous x Khalidah) in Aleppo, Syria in the mid-1990s, at the farm of Mustapha al-Jabri.  Khalid is a half-brother to the stallion Basil, the subject of an previous post by Joe Ferriss.  Both Khalid’s sire and dam are desert breds.  Notice the excellent legs and the strong sinews on … Read more

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