Major-General Sir William Tweedie (1836-1914) was a Scottish diplomat, soldier, linguist and enthusiast of Arabia. He is noted for a definitive work on Arabian horses in his book, "The Arabian Horse" (1894). An unprecedented study - the first of its kind in the English-language, and highly regarded to this day. The work is divided into several sections; notes on the country of Arabia, the breeders and trade of Arabian horses, and of course, an in-depth study of the Arabian horse and its pasture land.




This map shows a very good understanding of the country's geography, marking the local settlements, and with a remarkable knowledge of the areas frequented by the Bedouin tribes and their desert-bred Arabian horses. Topographical features such as mountain and rivers are expanded on with annotations and English translations.



The map encompasses Arabia, the borders of surrounding Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait. It also provides the sketch coastlines of the Levant, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, Ethiopia and Turkey. With regards to the Arabian horse; the names of breeds, their trade routes (to be read in a 'coast-ward' direction), as well as their pasture circles (Dî'ra) shown in red.



Journeys illustrated on the map include;



- Famous English priest, soldier, explorer and Arabist William Palgrave (1826-1888). His route between Gaza, Riyadh and Al Hofuf from 1862-63 is marked with a laddered black line.



- Lieutenant General Sir Lewis Pelly (1825-1892), an English MP and East India Company officer who in 1865 travelled to Riyadh.



- Lady Anne Blunt (1837-1917) also known as the "noble lady of the horses", an artist, explorer and, most importantly for this work, breeder of Arabian horses. She travelled with her husband, the poet Wilfrid Blunt and shows their routes from Beirut to İskenderun and Baghdad (1877-78) and Beirut (Lebanon), to Baghdad (Iraq) and east to Bandar Bushehr (Iran) during 1879 and are shown with dashed and dotted blue lines respectively.



The knowledge from other explorer's journeys has assisted in providing geography for the parts of Arabia that Tweedie did not traverse. This is joined together with an intricate network of the pasture circles of the Bedouin desert-bred Arabian horses and their subsequent export routes.



Prior to his admiration and involvement with Arabian horses, Tweedie was a military man. In his early twenties, Tweedie joined the army of the East India Company, seeing action during the Indian Mutiny (1857), the Siege of Lucknow (1857), serving as Lord Robert Napier's Political Secretary during the Abyssinian Expedition (1867) and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80), amongst other conflicts.



After rising through the ranks, he became the Resident of Turkish Arabia, a role which relocated him to Baghdad in 1881. This appointment allowed him unreserved access to local life - including an insight into the trade of Arabian horses. He continued his Residence until 1891.


Between 1886-88, he undertook a highly adventurous, official Residential tour of Babylonia, Assyria and Mesopotamia. This is the most densely detailed part of the map, illustrated with a red route. There is unusually no record of the nature of Tweedie's responsibilities in Dispatches.



It is also interesting to note that sometime in 1891, a year when the Al-Rashid family ruled the country, and the Al-Saud family were exiled to Kuwait - Tweedie was promoted to the position of Major-General. He returned to England the same year, and with him, he transported his beloved desert-bred grey Arab stallion named Rashid.




Tweedie died in 1914 not long after the outbreak of the First World War. Amongst a long and unusual listing of his final wishes, a request to be laid to rest in traditional Arabian dress.


Printed colour. [MEAST4887]