Al Khamsa History
Ancestral Elements Series: EGYPT Al Khamsa’s ‘language’ about pedigrees can seem complicated at first, but it is actually meant to be a simplification of the process of understanding the total pedigree of an Arabian horse. You need to learn two terms: Foundation Horses and Ancestral Elements. These terms are explained briefly here, but for detailed information, please see the research work, Al Khamsa Arabians III (2008). A Foundation Horse is what it sounds like: when you go back as far as you can in a pedigree, you stop with either a Bedouin tribe or with a recognized source that is believed to have stock only from the Bedouin tribes. Ancestral Elements are the Building Blocks of Al Khamsa Pedigrees An Ancestral Element refers to the country, stud farm, person or group who imported or was primarily associated with the Foundation Horses concerned. Four Foundation Horses were acquired individually and are designated by their own names. Simple parenthetical codes follow the names of Foundation horses, which help identify the Ancestral Element blocks to which they belong. Khamsat V29N1 began this series, AYERZA; V29N2: BISTANY; V29N3: BORDEN; V29N4: COBB; V30N1: BLUNT; V30N2: CRANE; V30.3: DWARKA; V30.4: DAVENPORT; V31.1: HAMIDIE; V31.2: HEARST; V31.3: HUNTINGTON. Terminology: a hujjah (hujaj, plural) is a signed and sealed document of evidence/testimony about a thing. In Al Khamsa terms, this means a testimony about the provenance of an Arabian horse. When such a document survives, it is the most important information about an Arabian horse. Unreferenced page numbers refer to Al Khamsa Arabians III.
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JALAWI Amir Sa’ud Ibn Abdullah Ibn Jalawi (Governor of the Hasa province of Saudi Arabia) and his family have reportedly bred Arabians for generations. The original Jalawi was brother to Faysul Ibn Turki al-Sa’ud, grandfather of the first King of Hijaz and Najd, later called Saudi Arabia. There has been considerable interchange of horses between the Ibn Jalawi family, the Al Khalifa family of Bahrayn, and the Ibn Sa’ud royal family. The term JALAWI (Jiluwi) applies to horses bred by the Ibn Jalawi family. • Hamdani (ARA) c1938 grey stallion • *Jalam Al Ubayan 1949 chestnut stallion • *Mahraa 1943 bay mare
Hamdani (ARA), as an aged horse.
HAMDANI (ARA) c1938 grey Hamdani stallion foaled in the possession of Ibn Jalawi, Governor of Hasa province, and presented by Ibn Jalawi to Thomas C. Barger, CEO of ARAMCO. NOTES: The above information is from a letter in AHA importation records concerning *Muhaira. This stallion was part of the Arabian horse-owning ARAMCO community in Dhahran, Hasa province, in 1952 and was known for his exceptional disposition. He was referred to by those who knew him as “The Old Hamdani.” Sire of at least one foal: ‘Abd Allah Ibn Jalawi, contemporary of King ‘Abd al-Aziz Ibn Sa’ud.
• *Muhaira 1948 bm out of *Mahraa 69
