Brief mention has been made of the ethnic composition of the pastoral nomads who inhabit the Zagros: the Kurds in; the north, the Lurs in the center, and the Qashqa’i and Khamseh in the south. Although all of these tribes are pastoral nomadic there are significant differences and similarities between them as the result of variations in their ecology, political organization, […]
The migration of nomadic tribes across arid and rugged wastelands— especially the Arabs, the Turkic tribes of Central Asia, and, in Iran, the Bakhtiyari— has long captured the romantic imagination of the West. Travelers, historians, and social scientists have focused their attention upon the nomad’s mobility, his predatory and destructive relations with sedentary agriculturalists and urban centers, and upon the romance
This migratory quest for pastures indicates the central economic role of sheep and goats, the largest and most important group of animals owned by the tribesmen. Sheep and goats provide the pastoralists not only with food and wool for their own subsistence but with products for economic exchange with sedentary society. It has been suggested by Predrik Barth in his study
The Bakhtiyari (the term refers not only to the people but also to the territory they occupy) itself encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles of which 12,000 miles consist of the rugged southwestern Zagros mountains whose peaks in this area are more than ll).,000 feet above sea level. Here are the headwaters of three of Iran’s more important rivers: the Zayandeh
The Physical Geography of the Bakhtiyari trible in Fars Read More »
The Bakhtiyari are a confederation of tribes of pastoral nomads who live in the Zagros mountains in an area west of Isfahan to the plains of Khuzistan and south from Golpayegan to Ram Hormoz (31 N to 3^4- N and I4.9 E to $1 E). Their immediate neighbors to the north are the pastoral nomadic Lurs of Bala Gariveh, Pusht-e
The Social Geography of the Bakhtiyari trible in the Zagros Read More »
During the First Settlement Period 1934 – 1941 This period of history is considered by the majority of the nomadic population as one of the most difficult ever experienced by the tribal people of Iran. The forced settlement left an everlasting scar on these people, for it brought the nomadic tribes to the brink of annihilation. The Turkish nomads refer to
During the First Settlement Period 1934 – 1941 Reza Shah’s government mobilized its army, police, and gendarmes to block migration, to disarm nomads, and to break their political organization. To achieve its purpose, the government also pitted various tribal people against one another. They developed mutual hostilities and attacked each other. These hostilities continued into post forced settlement times. For example,
Government Settlement Methods Used for nomads in Iran Read More »
What were the government’s goals to be achieved by settlement of nomads in Iran ? During the First Settlement Period 1934 – 1941 The forced settlement process during this period was planned in the name of modernization, development, political centralization, and national unification. The government wanted to replace tribal leaders and political system with its own political apparatus by killing
Government’s Goals for Settlement of nomads in Iran Read More »
During the First Settlement Period 1934 – 1941 : Reza Shah hated and distrusted the nomads and their whole culture and life style. He was repelled by tribal attire and by everything about them that was not Persian* Aside from his personal aversion for nomads, the causes for the government sponsored settlement of 1934-1941 were mostly political. The autonomous nomads with
1. Settlement Period One (1934 – 1941) The first settlement period was characterized by Reza Shah’s belief that nomads were alien and disloyal to the country, his desire for a centralized government and Persianized population, his goal of modernization of Iran, and his use of force to bring this about. 2. Settlement Period Two (1941 – 1962)
