Al Khamsa
The modern definition of an Arabian as Al Khamsa usually refers to a horse that can be verified in every line of its pedigree to trace to specific named desert-bred Arabians with documentation that their breeding was attested to by a Bedouin seller who had sworn a formal oath (generally invoking Allah) that the animal was asil or pure of blood.
Such horses included the desert-bred imports of the Crabbet Arabian Stud, the imports from Syria of Homer Davenport, many of the horses imported from Egypt that were originally bred by Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Abbas Pasha, Ali Pasha Sherif, or the Royal Agricultural Society and its successor organizations, and other desert-bred horses obtained throughout the Middle East by buyers such as Carl Raswan who were familiar with bloodlines and the formal sales procedures of the Bedouin to properly document animals of Asil bloodlines.
While there are several variants on the tale, a common version states that after a long journey through the desert, Muhammad turned his herd of horses loose at an oasis for a desperately needed drink of water.
Because they faithfully returned to their master, though desperate with thirst, these mares became his favorites and were called Al Khamsa, and became the legendary founders of the five "strains" of the Arabian horse.
[1][2] Although the Al Khamsa are generally considered fictional horses of legend,[3] some breeders today claim the modern Bedouin Arabian actually descended from these mares.
[5][6] Modern horses that are thought trace all of their bloodlines to documented Bedouin strains are designated by organizations that track these lines as "Al Khamsa Arabians".
[9] The five primary strains, attributed to have descended from the Al Khamsa were known as the Keheilan, Seglawi, Abeyan or Obeyan, Hamdani, and Hadban or Hedban.
[10] Carl Raswan, a promoter and writer about Arabian horses from the middle of the 20th century, held the belief that there were only three strains, Kehilan, Seglawi and Muniqi or Maanagi.
Raswan felt that these strains represented body "types" of the breed, with the Kehilan being "masculine", the Seglawi being "feminine" and the Muniqi being "speedy".
The Koheilan line was widely exported to Central and Eastern Europe, as well as to Russia, where it influenced numerous breeds such as the Najd and Tersk.
[15] According to a study published in the USSR in 1989, the Koheilan type is distinguished by "prominent body mass, large size, solid construction and the ability to thrive regardless of management conditions".
[29] His notebook also includes numerous linguistic notes on the Arabic language,[30] and ten pages of genealogical lists of these horses.
[46] The Saklawi (Arabic: صقلاوي, ṣaqlāwiyy), Seglawi or Siglavy in Central Europe, was bred by the Ruwallah and Anizah tribes of the Arabian Desert.
[49] This strain is said to have been developed by Ibn el Derre of the Ruwallah tribe whose territory covers present-day Syria, northern Saudi Arabia and part of Jordan, and to be descended from Koheilat Ajuz.
[51] It seems that Abbas I Hilmi of Egypt paid over £3,000 in the 1850s (representing between £289,300 and £10 million today[52]) to acquire a mare of Saglawi Jedran lineage in present-day Saudi Arabia.
[54] In general, several written sources indicate that Saklawi horses were brought to Egypt in the 19th and 20th centuries, including Ghazieh, a Ruwallah mare too weak to cross the desert, who was transported by cart to Cairo,[55] and Gamil-el-Kebir, ancestor of the famous Arabian stallion Dahman-el-Azrak, and its son Rabdan.
[67] The Borike stud farm in Croatia was home to Siglavy Arabians,[68] the horses generally originating from the Turkish invasions.
