Is it a difficult question to know since when did Arabs practice falconry? Yes and no. For sure we don’t have certain kind of evidence, such as images of birds of prey in painting or sculptural decoration. Nevertheless there exist sufficient written evidence to believe that the origin of Arabic falconry as ancient as the kingdom of Kindah. The most famous, late representative of this tribe, Imru’l-Qays, mentions falconry in some of his poetry associated to Ayyam as-Sayd label, but overall what fascinates him most is not the falcon; it’s the Arabian horse (besides, evidently, the women). Nevertheless, al-Mas’udi attributes the invention of falconry to an earlier Kindah king, Harith ibn Muawiyah ibn Tawr. Supposedly, he had taken to his tent an accidentally trapped and injured falcon which, after a certain time, became tamed. This must have happened about the end of the 4th century, when the Kindah still lived in Hadramawt, participating in the Himyari confederation. Seemingly these circumstances don’t point to a cultural importation.
Al-Mas’udi refers also to a reliable source for this piece of information, because he affirms to have found it in the writings of the 8th c. falconer, Adam ibn Muhriz, who, by the way, being a descendant of the Lakhmids, seemingly had no personal interest in attributing the origin of the falconry tradition to the Kindah.
