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MUHAMMAD ALI of Egypt, who coveted the "Horse of God" and
made his favorite son, Tussun, and his adopted son, Ibrahim, drain Arabia
of its best brood mares and colts, and such an insatiate desire for worldly
possessions and political power that his greed finally became his undoing.
Eleven hundred of the most beautiful and perfect Arabian horses were
assembled in Muhammad Ali's country estate, a magnificent layout of marble
palaces and Oriental stables. Never before had there been such a celebrated
collection of elegant horses against a background of splendour and refined
luxury. From the far ends of Asia and Europe artists and horse lovers made
pilgrimages to Muhammad Ali's stud to pay homage to these graceful animals
whose intelligence and gentle manners were mentioned by contemporary writers.
French, German, and Polish artists of that period (1816-1848) have
left us many lifelike and exquisite paintings of Muhammad Ali's horses.
Horse breeders in Europe and America still study these pictures to acquaint
themselves intimately with those true Arabian characteristics of the classic
Kuhaylan and Saqlawi types--the superb strains of strength and beauty.
In 1819, Ibrahim Pasha, adopted son of Muhammad Ali, returned from
Arabia to Egypt, and took over other military duties for his father in
Africa and later in Syria. Ibrahim Pasha's nephew, Abbas, infant child
of Tussun, grew up with an undying passion for the "steeds of Ishmael,"
the "Drinkers of the Wind." Abbas loved the horses of the desert
so much that in his later years he "deserted" men. The memory
of that tragic autumn day in 1816 never left him. Abbas, it is said, always
bore in mind that picture of the blood-stained bodies of the dying Jallabiyah
mare and her son. He became morose and lived alone, shut off from the world,
except for a handful of the most beautiful and perfect Bedouin horses.
Abbas helped his uncle in the Syrian campaign for a short time. Returning
to Cairo, he lived a secluded life with a few friends and his small, but
choice, collection of Arabian horses.
Conditions in Arabia during the next twenty-three years--from the
date of Ibrahim Pasha's victory over Abdullah in 1818, until Ibrahim Pasha's
evacuation of Syria (1841)--turned in favour of the children of Abdullah
Ibn Saud and their Wahhabiyyin.
After Abdullah's capture in Arabia and his execution in Constantinople,
his son Turki, came to power in Arabia. For some time he revolted against
the Egyptian army and authorities which Ibrahim Pasha had left in Arabia.
Later Turki reconciled himself with the Egyptians, paying tribute to Muhammad
Ali in Egypt, including several shipments of Bedouin horses to appease
the still insatiate desire of Muhammad Ali for more Arabian steeds. In
1834 Turki was killed by Mishari, a cousin.
Faisal, Turki's son, succeeded his father as Prince of Arabia and
leader of the Wahhabis. Faisal set out at once to revenge the plunder of
his grandfather's stud of precious horses at the hands of "the other
Feysul" (Ibn Dauwish, the Bedouin chief), who in 1819 had joined Ibrahim
Pasha of Egypt. Fifteen years later, Faisal gathered his camel riders and
cavalry, and fell upon his old enemy. Feysul (the Bedouin) lost a great
number of his war horses, and thus most of his brood mares.
In a last desperate move, Feysul tried to save his priceless little
stud of Jallabiyat by sending them off to Ibn Hithlayn (Chieftain of the
Ajman tribe, of the Bahreyn islands), the original breeder of the Jallabiyah
strain. But Feysul's Jallabiyah horses were in pasture near the Persian
Gulf. On the spur of the moment, he decided to dispatch his Jallabiyah
mares and colts by boat to Ibn Khalifa in the Bahreyn islands, as the latter
had not only been an old friend of the family, but had always held a rather
neutral attitude toward the arguments of the princes of Arabia and the
tribes on the mainland.
In 1836, when Muhammad Ali of Egypt and his adopted son, Ibrahim
Pasha, were engaged against the Turks of Syria, Faisal and his Wahhabis
revolted against the Egyptians. But the young Prince of Arabia was ambushed
by an Egyptian force and brought across the Red Sea to Cairo. Faisal's
followers in Arabia felt that their Prince would meet his end at the hand
of Muhammad Ali in the citadel of Cairo, or in the quarries of the Mokattam
hills--like the hundreds of Mamelukes, and other "undesirables,"
who had been murdered by Muhammad Ali and his henchmen. However, Muhammad
Ali's power was already on the decline and his mind diseased. Nobody paid
much attention to his crazy ideas and sadistic orders. Thus the life of
Prince Faisal of Arabia was spared. Though held a prisoner for years, he
was eventually allowed to visit Cairo and enjoy other liberties.
Thus it happened that Prince Faisal of Arabia and Abbas (now also
a Pasha) met and the two befriended each other. Only their love for Arabian
horses exceeded their affection for each other. Abbas was a youth in his
middle twenties when he first met Faisal. The two men "traded"
their knowledge and experience in the breeding and pedigrees of Bedouin
horses. Scribes of the Arabian Prince and the Egyptian Pasha kept records
of their master's conversations and findings. Faisal and Abbas invited
Bedouin chiefs to Egypt, men whom Faisal had known in desert Arabia and
who were able to provide information concerning the ancestors and the breeding
of Arabian horses in Egypt, originating among the tribes of the desert.
Though a captive, Prince Faisal was treated with increasing consideration,
partly out of respect of this exalted spiritual and religious position
as head of the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, and also for his lovable personality
and intelligent mind. During their meetings in Cairo (which extended over
years), Abbas and Faisal often discussed Feysul's Jallabiyah horses. Faisal
admitted deep regrets concerning his revengeful raid against "the-other-Feysul,"
and the loss in priceless horses suffered on both sides. Faisal offered
to make amends--to make any reparation if ever again authority were given
him in Arabia. As we shall hear later, he kept his word to his friend,
Abbas Pasha.
Abbas had related to Faisal the story of his childhood, the tragic
events connected with Feysul's Jallabiyah, and the old slave, Srur, who
had been such an inspiration to him. The "imprisoned" Prince
Faisal of Arabia, listened attentively to his "brother," Abbas,
grandson of the "Pasha of Egypt," the cruel, insane Albanian,
who had wrecked his homeland and wasted thousands of irreplaceable horses.
Their discussions brought to light again not only the story of Feysul's
Jallabiyah, but the remarkable personality of the old slave, Srur. To the
believing Moslem, race and color do not make a difference in their state
of dignity as brothers of all men and as children of God.
Together, Faisal and Abbas, composed a message to Srur, slave of
Feysul, the Bedouin chief in central Arabia. Abbas wrote not just as an
old friend of the slave, but he took the role of the "little-child"
again, the "infant boy, still cradled and protected in the arms of
the faithful old Negro. Abbas offered to be a conciliator between the two
hostile "Feysuls."
Abbas Pasha succeeded not only in getting in touch with Srur, but
also in winning over the Master ("uncle") himself. Thus, with
the help of Srur, the former enemies (Faisal, Prince of Arabia, and Feysul,
chief of the Mutayr Bedouin tribe) became friends.
Faisal, in Cairo, then ordered his stud manager in distant Nejd to
return to Feysul any brood mares and foals which had been captured by his
raiders from Feysul and his people--and any colts and fillies that had
been born since.
Muhammad Ali's damage to horsebreeding in Arabia (draining Arabia
of the choicest Bedouin steeds and setting the Nomadic tribes against each
other and against their ruling Prince of Nejd) was partly mended by Abbas
Pasha's good services.
The last great act of friendship by Abbas Pasha for the captive Prince
of Arabia came in the same year (1842), when he helped Prince Faisal escape
to his homeland in Nejd.
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