The Tazi

About 10,000 years ago in Persia there was a tribe called Taziha. It is known that they where fast, light, and athletic. There is one word to describe these three attributes - "Tazi." (In some Kurdish dialects it is pronounced Tanji.)

In Persia there was a dog that fitted these three words. Even though the Taziha and the dog had nothing to do with each other, the dog was called Tazi because of its body structure, shape, and energy. Throughout most of the world today the Tazi is known as Saluki.

It is not clear where the name came from, nor is the meaning of Saluki clear. But we know Saluki is an Arab word. Perhaps the name was first used when Europeans brought oriental Sighthounds to Europe in the late 19th and beginning of the twentieth century.

But they did not bring only Tazis to Europe. They brought also the Azawakh and the Sloughi. These dogs where all shown together in the conformation ring because they where all oriental Sighthounds and were not recognized as single breeds.

Because they where shown in the same ring, and because they were oriental dogs, it is possible that breeders began to mix these different breeds. Maybe that's why they came up with the name Saluki.

But there are strong differences between these breeds. The Azawakh and Sloughi come from North African countries; the Tazi comes from Persia. And if you consider the different climates of the countries, it is clear that they are single breeds.

In the middle of the 20th century the three breeds got separated and accepted as single breeds. It is possible that an Arab who owned a Tazi had bought the dog from nomads (for Cher: travelling tribes) who travelled throughout the orient. It is also possible that the nomads had stolen the dog to hunt for food and were selling them to get good money.