Brahma chicken

It is believed that it was first bred in the United States from birds imported from the Chinese port of Shanghai,[4]: 78  and was the principal American meat breed from the 1850s until about 1930.

[4]: 78  The distinctive head shape and pea comb of the Brahma probably result from cross-breeding with Grey Chittagong birds of Malay type, imported from Chittagong in eastern Bengal (now Bangladesh); these characteristics distinguish the Brahma from the Cochin, which also derives from "Shanghai" birds.

[4]: 78 Brahmas were first exported to England in December 1852, when George Burnham sent nine "Gray Shanghaes" to Queen Victoria as a gift.

[5] Both the light and the dark (pencilled) Brahma were included in the first Standard of Excellence, published by the original Poultry Club of Great Britain in 1865.

[7] The Australian Poultry Association has accepted black, blue, partridge, crele and barred varieties of Brahma in addition to the standard light, dark, and buff.

Light cock and hen, illustration from Jean Bungartz, Geflügel-Album , 1885
Dark cock and hen, illustration from Jean Bungartz, Geflügel-Album , 1885