Which horses the term “Nedjdi” applied to?
A thought had in passing the other day: one notices a significant increase in the use by French and other European horsemen of the term “Nedjdi” (among other spellings) in the first decades of the XIXth century, to refer to some Arabian horses. I believe this increase was probably associated with the influx of Bedouin tribes, mostly ‘Anazah, from Central Arabia (Najd/Nejd/Nedjd) to Northern Arabia that was taking place around the same time.
The first decades of the nineteenth century were indeed the time when the Ruwalah, under al-Dray’i ibn Sha’lan, the Fad’aan and other ‘Anazah tribes migrated to the north. In doing so, they came in contact with the Ottoman centers of Damascus and Baghdad, and with other Bedouin tribes already present in the area. People in these urban centers and Northern Arabian Bedouins alike must have referred to the new arrivals and their horses as “Nedjdi” — the ones from Nedjd.
What I believe this means — and here lies the crux of my argument — is that the “Nedjdi” horses are essentially the Arabian horses of the ‘Anazah gone northwards. In the North, they would have been contrasted with Arabian horses maintained by the Northern Arabian tribes like the Mawali, the Sardiyah, the Aal Issa, etc.
This early nineteenth century was also the time of the Wahhabi military-religious movement’s expansion northwards. The Wahhabis sacked Karbala in 1802, and raided the outskirts of Damascus and Aleppo soon after. These invasions are usually associated with the apparition of the “Nedjdi” horses on the Northern Arabian scene. What is less known is that the ‘Anazah Bedouins were intimately associated with these invasions, either as protagonists or because they were driven northwards by the invaders’ pressure.
I have an article on that, “Nujdee and Anezah Horses”, from the July 1870 issue of The United Service Magazine, Vol. 123, pp. 399-405, author not given.
Some quotes here:
“The terms Nujdean and Anézah, as applied to Arabian horse, has led to doubts and some confusion. It has been generally supposed they implied two separate breeds, rival breeds by some, a superior and inferior by others. Some have maintained the Nujdee or Nujdean horse to be the true Arabian, and others have considered what they termed in contra-distinction, the Anézah as a superior breed. Again, others have expressed the belief that although the Nujdee breed was the highest, yet individuals from the Anézah had been found to be superior.”
“Nujdee is the name of a certain district in Arabia, not the name of a distinct breed, but where the horse was originally domiciled, fostered and cared for, kept free from the causes of degeneracy which befel the horse in other parts of the world, or, in the words of Mr. Palgrave, ‘In Nujdee is the true birthplace of the Arab steed.’
“Any horse which comes from Nudjd may be correctly called a Nujdee, as in that country there are no others but pure Arabians; not in distinction, as generally supposed, to an Anézah horse, but certainly in opposition to those bred near Bagdad, which are of mixed blood, and also to those bred by the migrated Bedouins now located in Syria and Mesopotamia, although these latter have pure bred horses, and of the same blood as those in Nudjd.
“The horses of the great Anézah and other Bedouin tribes of of Nudjd, of which there are several—Mr. Palgrave enumerates twelve, are essentially Nudjean horses.”
“The royal stables at Reeadh in Nudjd are recruited from time to time from the Bedouins, horses being received either as tribute or as free gifts. The frequent exactions made by the Sawood family were among the causes which led to the numerous emigrations that have taken place from Central Arabia; tribes and families would not put up with being continually deprived of their choicest horses.”
“My correspondent also informs me that he has been ten years in constant and friendly intercourse with the Anézah, and knows, as a positive fact, that Feysul, the late Iman of Nudjd, obtained his best horses and mares from the Anézah. The Sawood family is of Anezah origin. The first of the Ban Sawoods was a Sheikh of the Seba’a.
“The names of the families of the horses among the Nomadic Anézah, and those of the Wahabees of Nudjd, are identical, and their pedigrees are constantly intermingled. The wealthy Wahabees have large studs, and the horses they breed are rared in comparative luxury; whereas those bred by the Bedouin tribes of Nudjd are always on the move, which is considered by some to bring out the perfections of the horse to a greater extent. The same things I heard from a Sheikh of the Anézah; he admitted the goodness of the Wahabees’ horses, but preferred those bred by the Anézah.”
“It is also to be clearly understood that pure Arabians are to be found among most of the Bedouin tribes, that there is no difference between the blood of the horses of the Wahabees and the Bedouins. That Nudjd is the part of Arabia where the best horses are to be found; of the tribes in Nudjd—that the Anézah have the greatest number and choicest horses, as the Gomassa, a branch of the S’bah, are considered to have the finest in the world.
“In describing a horse as an Anézah, or a Gomassa, it is not implied that he is not Nujdeen, but he is particularized as a Nujdean horse, of the great Anézah tribe, of the S’bah division, of the Gomassa family; in the same way as Saunterer for instance, in male descent, might be described of the Darley Arabian line, of the Waxy family, of the Birdcatcher branch.”
That’s a dandy find, Kate. Thank you!
Both Guarmani and Rzewuski, who were traveling a generation before the Blunts, were also clearly talking about Nejdi Arabians to indicate the purest breed – not necessarily linked to the Anazeh but I guess the Anazeh – and perhaps part of the Shammar – were the only bedu tribes to which westerners & ottomans could get in contact with.
Rzwewuski wrote about Saud pushing the Anazeh & other tribes north, he made a distinction betwein their “Nejdi Koheilans” which he considered the purest, original Arabian and the “Koheilans” of the north (pre-Anazeh/Shammar north era) which were pure breds in our current meaning (and which he already compared with the purebred breeding in Poland then – meaning the dameline was not always pure and although they looked almost the same as the Nejdi Koheilan, they would always need Nejdi Koheilan blood to keep the characteristics of the original Arabian).
Contrary to Blunt & Guarmani Rzewuski apparently did venture in the border regions and noticed that the bedouins were selling mares (that normally would never be for sale) because they were afraid either Saud would take them (for free), either would force them to join his wars.
I remember the Blunts in their “Pilgrimage to Nejd” didn’t dare to venture beyond the territory of Ibn Rasschid and peed in their pants for the Sauds.
The bedu’s migrated large distances and the tribes/horses of the north are the same as the Nejdi or different types depending of the timetable.
More Nejdi Koheilan’s probably moved north with Lawrence’s troops when Faisal was made King of Iraq and his brother Abdullah king of (Trans)Jordan. And probably also early 20ties when Saud defeated their father Hussein Bin Ali, the Sherif of Mecca and the last of them were pushed north.
“This early nineteenth century is also the time of the Wahhabi military-religious movement’s expansion northwards. The Wahhabis sacked Karbala in 1802, attacked Damascus in 1805 and Aleppo in 1809. These invasions are usually associated with the apparition of the “Nedjdi” horses on the Northern Arabian scene. What is less known is that the ‘Anazah Bedouins were intimately associated with these invasions, either as protagonists or because they were driven northwards by the invaders’ pressure.”
““The royal stables at Reeadh in Nudjd are recruited from time to time from the Bedouins, horses being received either as tribute or as free gifts. The frequent exactions made by the Sawood family were among the causes which led to the numerous emigrations that have taken place from Central Arabia; tribes and families would not put up with being continually deprived of their choicest horses.”
In both quotes here is the truth…
And IMO there is no such thing as a Nedjdi horse for fact…not in terms of a specific “breed” or “sub-group” or any way you want to call it.
The “Nedjdi Pilgrimages” for horses (not only referring to the Blunt’s) have always been pretty much of a failure to get any local horse, unless you were looking for horses given by the Wahhabi rulers.
Horses that were not really bred by them but rather gifted to them, after which they become miraculously “Nedjdi horses”. You may also notice how interesting this is from an social and anthropological point of view…
You can easily find out how dozen of horses were gifted every year by the tribes and taken south for the Holy Pilgrimage. And it is also quite well acknowledged that not all of them were first class horses (I guess depending of who was to be gifted theses horses ^^).
Also if you want to know their possible tribe origins, you may want to look for the specific tribes that where “elected” to convoy and watch after the pilgrimage. A highly beneficial income that was very much sought after by most tribes…and funny enough on the other hand was also providing reasons for left over tribes to raid the “defenders” as a revenge.
This is the only reason I can see for having almost always a lack of strain and tribe origins when it comes to horses recorded as “Nedjdi”. Whereas on the other hand you will find a lot of details on the strains of horses obtained directly from the Anazeh.
So taking an overall view of the greater Arabian area we know- Horses really could not live in a wild state in most of Arabia cuz-no water…They were symbiotically joined to their humans for their very existence. Most Tribes of Bedouin made their living such as it was stealing from other Bedouin, pasturing their livestock, or selling same when in contact with outside buyers. In order to do the above activities Bedouin had to wander around looking for grass. Sometimes they were in central Arabia, sometimes in the north, and sometimes in the south. The Point being they wandered into and out of the Nejd( central arabia)depending on where the grass was, or where there might be lucrative caravans to guard or despoil depending on which side they were currently on. The European concept of naming their horses after the geographic area where they were bred comes to mind as a possible way to frame the discussion- Hanoverians from Hanover- Trakheners from the area in East Prussia near Trakhenen, Holsteiners from you guessed it. Calling a horse Nedjy or a Sham is very like the European system. My point is since the Bedouin wandered all over the place trying to keep body and soul together differentiating between Horses that were from Central Arabia versus those of the, for example, Dahman Shahwan strain from Yemen dating back to 1279, and subsequently traipsed all over greater Arabia- really is an inaccurate way of looking at the horses history. Thats probably why the Bedouin did not refer to their horses as Nedji, or Sham, or Yemeny but rather as Seglawy, or Hadban, etc.
best
Bruce Peek
There, I feel vindicated. All those writers (all the way until Hans Nagel recently) pontificating about the Southern Nedjdi horses and the Northern Anazah horses. Thank you Kate.
Yes, Bruce, in general, we need to look beyond today’s borders, and think of the Arabian desert as one entity, spanning much of today’s Saudi, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and the smaller Gulf states. A little bit like the Rockies in the USA span many states.
In reading this post and the reactions to it I thought of a few things.
1. Edouard’s original post makes a lot of sense to me. The term “Nedjdi” is used to simply describe the horses of a Bedouin tribe that came from Nadjid.
2. As a Westerner, my entire knowledge of the Arabian horse is through the eyes of other Westerners. Mainly because their works were written in English or translated to English, and that’s the language I speak. This includes all the various European and American travelers to the Middle East starting in the 1800s to the present day. This is a problem for me. I wish more Arab literature on the Arabian horse was widely available and translated into English. Basing one’s entire knowledge of the Arabian horse which is essentially a foreign cultural construct on the the writings of non Arabs is a bit like watching shadows on the wall of a cave and mistaking them for reality.
3. Guarmani and Rzewuski’s works probably deserve a “Book Review” on this blog so we see what they actually wrote and analyze their work in light of what we know today. But these guys are of secondary importance to the writings of actual Arabs in my mind.
Amen Lyman !!
This blog entry is not so original after all. I opened the khamsat of July 2019, and I read this excerpt from Lady Anne’s “A Pilgrimage to Najd” (1881):
“To the present day in the North, the Anazeh distinguish the descendants of the mares brought with them from Nejd as “Nejdi” while they call the descendants of the mares captured from the tribes of the North, “Shimali” or Northerners.”
and:
“The Anazeh have disappeared from Nejd. They began to move northwards about two hundred years ago, and have ever since continued moving by successive migrations till all have abandoned their original homes. It may ben that the great name which Nejd horses undoubtedly have in the East, was due mainly to these very Anazeh, with whose horses they are now contrasted.”