Tracing the Harqan strain to 1650
Another Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz strain from the sharif. The below account of the Kuhaylan Harqan strain in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript offers some of the clearest indications for dating an Arabian horse strain.
The accounts of Kuhaylat al-Ru’ail and her name is al-Harqah:
Those present at the gathering of Ha’il were queried about al-Ru’ail, “as it is said it is yours, O Shammar”. Talal Ibn Ramal and ‘Ubayd ibn Rashid reported:
“The accounts we have heard from the forebears were that, in early times, al-Suwayt was in the home area [dirah] of al-Jabal [Jabal Shammar]. He [al-Suwayt] would raid the people of Najd each time one of the ashraaf from the people of Mecca took over power [in Najd]. When the Sharif Muhammad al-Harith, the leader of the ashraaf at the time, took over power [in Najd], he [i.e., al-Suwayt] raided Najd [again].
Muhammad al-Tulay’, a son of ‘Abdah, of the Fdayl of the Shammar, unhorsed the Sharif Muhammad al-Harith and took him prisoner. He made many demands over his release. Among his demands was the Kuhaylah.
And she [i.e., a mare from that line, not the ransom mare herself] went to Abu Utait, the Shaykh of the Faddaghah [section] of the Shammar. She foaled a filly in broad daylight at Abu Utait the Shammari. Her ear was slit, but the knife sliced through it [i.e., the ear] and the shaft of her ear dangled. She was named al-Ru’ail, because what is foaled during daylight among the Bedouins, they slit his ear.
A filly was stolen from Abu Utait from [the line of] al-Ru’ail […]. When she became at al-‘Ajman, she had a filly. […] The filly […] burnt her flanks. She [the filly] was named al-Harqah in accordance with this. From that day onwards, they named her [the line] al-Harqah. The origin is Kuhaylat ‘Ajuz of the Sharif Muhammad al-Harith. She [then] passed to Muhammad ibn Qarmalah, and there became many horses from her. This is what we have heard from the forebears. She is among the dearest of the Kahaayil, of the ancient times [mubtiat].
1/ al-Suwayt: the paramount leading clan of the Dhafeer.
2/ dirah: a tribal home area. The dirah of al-Suwayt and his Dhafeer at the time this account was recorded was in present North East Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq. In earlier times, when the story unfolded, their dirah was in Jabal Shammar. The tribe migrated eastwards under the combined of famine and the attacks of the Sharif.
3/ al-Jabal: “The Mountain”, i.e., Jabal Shammar, as opposed to Najd, the area further south.
4/ “take over power”: in the Arabic, yataqallat, which is likely a distortion of yataqallad, “to assume power” (cf. Arabic yataqallad maraasim al-hukm, “to take over the reins of government/power”). What is implied here is that the ashraaf‘s takeover of Najd caused al-Suwayt to raid Najd. Najdi and Hijazi chronicles occasionally mention the ruling of Najd by a junior Sharif from the ruling house of Mecca — the title of “Sharif of Najd” is even used in some cases. See this episode in the chronicle of Ibn Bishr: “In the year 1078 [hijri], the sharif of Najd at the time was Ahmad al-Harq and the government of Mecca was to [the ashraaf] clan of Yazid.” The phrase “take over power” certainly does not refer to the ascent of a new Sharif in Mecca — why would Najd be raided as a result of this? — but to the Sharif’s conquest of Najd.
5/ al-Tulay’: a clan of warriors from the Fdayl clan of the Yahya sub-section of the ‘Abdah tribe of the Shammar confederation. The correct pronunciation is al-Tulay’ah. Shammar oral stories recorded a Tulay’ah warrior unhorsing the Sharif Muhammad al-Harith in war, but his named is Mas’ad al-Tulay’ah, not Muhammad. Muhammad (not a common Bedouin name) may be a typo from the scribe.
6/ “A son of ‘Abdah”: ‘Ubaid ibn Rashid, also from ‘Abdah expressed pride in his fellow tribesman.
7/ Her ear was slit: Cuttin the tip of a foal’s ear was a Bedouin tradition when the newborn was foaled during the day.
8/ al-Ru’ail: “the one that is slit”. From the verb ra’ala, to slit, to gash.
9/ al-Harqah: “the one that is burnt”. From the verb haraqa, to burn. Hariq: fire.
9/ Abu Utait: the right spelling for the leading clan of the Faddagha of the Shammar is Abu Wutaid.
10/ “And she went to Abu Utait“: How and why the Kuhaylah passed from the warrior from the ‘Abdah Shammar tribe who unhorsed the Sharif, to the the Shaykh of the Faddagha Shammar tribe, raises many questions. Shammar oral histories say that the mare which al-Tulay’ah took as a ransom for the Sharif’s freedom was a Kuhaylat al-Zabi. Al-Zabi (the antelope) was a marbat of al-Tulay’ah. This could mean that Kuhaylat al-Harqah was an offshoot of al-Zabi.
There is also a small possibility that the account conflates two distinct stories: the unhorsing of the Sharif Muhammad al-Harith by al-Tulay’ah and the taking of a Kuhaylah as ransom, and the origin of al-Harqah with Abu Wutaid of the Shammar. Another account of al-Harqah’s origin, this one by the strain’s owner Muhammad Ibn Qarmalah of the Qahtan, does not trace the strain back to the Sharif, giving some credence to that hypothesis.
11/ The Sharif Muhammad al-Harith: not a ruler of Mecca, but a member of the house that ruled it. Najdi chronicles contain several mentions of his raids over Najd. A quick scan of Ibn Bishr’s chronicle alone yields the following mentions:
In the year 1056 [Hijri or 1646 CE], Muhammad al Harith, the sharif, appeared in Najd and Shaykh Muhamad ibn Isma’il rode towards him while he [the sharif] was at Tharmada.
In the year after that [so 1064 Hijri or 1653-54] the sharif Muhammad al-Harith marched on Najd and challenged/confronted Aal Mughirah over ‘Aqrabah which is well known near al-Jubaylah.
From these two accounts, it become possible to trace the birth of the specific Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz line that later became al-Ru’ail, who in turn became al-Harqah to around the year 1650.
A family tree of the ashraaf of Mecca in Gerald De Gaury’s “Rulers of Mecca” shows Muhammad al-Harith as brother to twenty five sharifs including four Sharifs of Mecca (Idris and Fuhayd and two others) and son of Hasan, Sharif of Mecca from 1553-1601 (co-ruled with his father), son of Muhammad Abu Numayy II, also Sharif of Mecca from 1512-1584. Muhammad al-Harith was also the uncle of Hamud ibn ‘Abdallah ibn Hasan, who was mentioned in previous entries.
I am really enjoying these – thank you so much for posting your research into the dates of the strains. I would love to read Muhammad Ibn Qarmalah’s account of al-Harqah as well; it certainly is striking how many of the strains so far are connected to the Sharifs of Mecca in some way or another.
Also, was there a reason for slitting the ear tips of foals born during daylight hours?
I am not of the source of this custom, it is probably pagan.. I will translate Ibn Qarmalah’s account. I am not sure if I am within copyright’s limits though!
The Abbas Pasha manuscript is a nineteenth century text, so the original Arabic text should be completely free of copyright anywhere in the world. Plus, you’re also providing your own translation, not copying a previously published one. My understanding, based on academic practices, is that no copyright would be broken by you providing a full translation of your own; the only copyright then would be your own copyright of your translation. Am not a copyright lawyer, though, but I do believe that this counts as fair use at the very least!
Thank you, that’s a relief.
Relatedly, I wanted to add here that ca. 1650 CE is not the beginning of the Harqan strain strictly speaking. It is rather the earliest date for the line of Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz from which the Harqan strain emerged later.
The Harqan strain strictly speaking started when a branch of Kuhaylaat horses were named after al-Harqah, their maternal ancestress which burnt her flanks by wallowing in the ashes and embers of the winter fire of the tent of Ibn Duqayn of al-‘Ajman.
Oh, yes, thank you for the clarification on the dating of the Harqan strain. I think I had glossed over that, and was being blurry in my thinking, so I’m grateful that you pointed it out.
I shouldn’t giggle at the idea of the poor mare burning her flanks, but I’m afraid I do. It is such a stupid horse thing to do, to roll somewhere inappropriate – dearest, darlingest Abba once succeeded in getting herself cast in a bale of hay, because she would roll just there and nowhere else would do. So I have freely imagined the Harqan mare being determined to roll next to the fire, and regretting her bad life choices a little later, but being unrepentant nonetheless once up and on her feet, having shaken the ashes out of her scorched coat.
The account includes a good three lines explaining why she did that, but I did not translate it!
I am sure Kate is correct about both a translation and the dates.
Also, if we lit a fire in the pasture (to burn up some bad hay, for instance, or a patch of weeds), the horses would all crowd around the edge and stand in the smoke, some even standing in the ash. We assumed they were using the smoke to deter insects. Perhaps this mare was bothered by some species of fly and rolled to get rid of a particularly troublesome specimen!