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 their own political hierarchy were a threat to the Shah’s authoritarian government that he could not tolerate.
On the part of the nomads there was very little motivation to settle voluntarily, although during this period a small number of nomads migrated to the oil fields to work in well paid jobs and achieve stability.
During the Second Settlement Period 1941 – 1962 :
When Reza Shah abdicated and his son took over the monarchy, forced settlement methods were abandoned. The young Shah had no official policy toward nomads. However, tribes have always been seen as a source of instability to the government. In fact, when Reza Shah abdicated, a series of uprisings took place. Uprisings are traditional for nomads during transitional periods to show their displeasure toward the central government and settled life. Therefore, Mohammed Reza Shah’s main interests regarding nomads concerned ensuring stability and authority over them.
However, during this period, many nomads settled, for a variety of reasons:
1. At the beginning of this period most of the tribal people resumed nomadic life, many without sufficient means. The poor and impoverished began migration aided by other tribal members or with resources borrowed from local merchants. The interest paid to these merchants normally was between fifty and a hundred percent. Those who returned to nomadism under such conditions were among the first to resettle for the simple economic fact that they were not able to continue because they could not pay high interest rates and continue to maintain their nomadic existence.
They settled in villages— on the routes of tribal migrations—and joined the landless peasants, finding such employment as harvesting and guarding of crops or shepherding flocks for the villagers. A few settled in cities and found odd jobs, and some migrated to the oil fields in the Southwest.
2. In addition to these first settlers, other nomads in the following years gravitated toward settled life. After several years of rebellion and uproar, a momentum for settlement began among some groups. It was a gradual process, and one contribution to this was a favorable political climate. The revolt, after abdication, of the masses of nomads to alter the inhuman conditions imposed upon by the government brought about the desired result. The government retreated from the political stand it had previously taken. Because of the new conditions which lasted from the mid-1940’s to the mid-1950’s, some nomads added agricultural activities to their herding practices. These activities were limited and rather rudimentary, mostly in the form of dry farming. Those involved continued their migratory practices. Qashqa’i farming mostly took place in winter camps with some in summer camps.
They often sowed the seeds in the fall at the start of the migration to one of the camps and harvested the crop on their return. In other cases some men remained for harvesting after migration to the summer camp began in the spring. Occasionally certain families remained in one of the campgrounds, living in tents rather than in mud houses for several years, tending their flocks and their crops. This practice took place mostly in the winter campgrounds of mid zones where climate was favorable.
3. Another group of nomads who became attracted to agricultural activity as a result of the achievement of a relatively stable political situation in tribal areas, were some of those who during the forced settlement had planted gardens and created farmlands. These people returned to claim these lands and plantations. Some of these projects were left unharmed during the years of rebellion. Not all these people made a sudden transition. Transition came gradually.
4. In some circumstances increase in the wealth of the settled tribal members served to attract the nomads to the sedentary life. Many wealthy nomads converted part of their wealth to landed property. This process, however, was not unique to this period. It provided them with economic advantages; by becoming petty landlords they entered the land owning class, which has considerable privileges. As these people gradually increased their property, their desire for settlement grew. At a certain point, they quit their tribe and their pastoral pursuits permanently.
5. Population growth was another factor pushing for settlement. In the years that tribal communities enjoyed stability and harmony, when they were not at conflict and had a chance to enjoy a certain degree of prosperity, and with the coming of modern medicine to urban centers {which marginally benefited nomads) their population increased. This growth forced some to settle due to the unavailability of sufficient pastures to provide for the increased population. When the numbers grow, the demand for pasture also grows. Traditionally in Iran, members of one tribe do not migrate from their own region in search of grassland. They may mix with neighboring tribes but rarely migrate away in search of grass. It is very rare to find a Kurd in Baluchestan or a Baluchi living among the Qashqa’i tribe. The pressure from population growth ordinarily forces the poor and the landless to settle.
6. With greater involvement of nomads in agriculture, pastoral lands decreased, for it is on these pastures that nomads carried out their cultivation. For example, a few kilometers to the southwest of Shiraz where the Ghara-Ghoyonlu branch of the Qashqa’i tribe have their summer camp, much of the pasture has been turned into wheat fields and fruit gardens. This process began in the 1950’s. At the present time several tribal villages have been built there. Many members of this tribe now are settled and are heavily involved in agricultural activity rather than herding. However, herding is not completely gone; most families keep a number of sheep and goats. Mountains and hills have become the primary areas for grazing.
7. The mass settlement of the Ghara-Ghoyonlu tribe was caused by several additional factors. One was a threat of losing the land when several members of the royal family demonstrated interest in securing it.
8. One stratum of the poor was brought by wealthy tribal chiefs to work on the land and to perform various services. Where the Khans owned land and gardens, the impoverished nomads found more employment than the other landless nomads settling in villages. That is for the reason that their women also often do jobs such as carpet weaving and working with wool. However, pay for such chores is meager. Men engage in agriculture, serve in the homes of the kahns and help enforce regulations in the political territory of the kahns. These regulations may apply to tribal affairs or to affairs of the lands controlled by the khans. In certain cases these individuals receive a plot of land to cultivate.
During the Third Settlement Period 1962 – 1979
During the period 1962 to 1979 the government instituted its land reform program. With national land reform came pasture nationalization. These two elements served as powerful generators for settlement. A segment of the population merely stationed itself on its traditional pasture and undertook some agricultural exercise to prove its right, for without being stationed on the land, proving one’s right to it was a difficult task.
The government’s stated motives were modernization and improved standards of living for Iranian citizens. But, as in the other two periods, there was an absence of any real intention on the part of the government to bring the nomads into the main stream of national life in a meaningful manner. The motive behind the overt national policy has been to dissolve the nomads as an entity. In fact the Persian word for “tribe” was deleted from all official correspondence in 1962 (Oberling, 1974). All major programs have been detrimental to nomads.
Events which motivated nomads to settle during this third settlement period were as follows:
1. The dominant reason for nomads to settle other than the land reform program was the severe drought which began rather mildly during the latter years of the 1950’s and then continued through 1963 with ever increasing severity. Because the drought was more severe in southern Iran, nomads of the region suffered the greatest economic impact and as a result a massive number of them settled in the early part of this period. The prevailing desire among those who settled during these years was to return to nomadism as soon as it became possible. They viewed their new situation as temporary. The magnitude of the economic loss was so great, however, that despite their intent a majority seem to have become permanently settled. The following estimated statistics presented in Ilie Qashga1i illustrate the impact of the drought from years 1961 to 1963 on the Qashqa’i economy.
Estimated Number of Sheep and Goats of Various
Branches of the Qashqa’i Tribe
Tribe 1961 1963
Shesh Boluki 800,000 100,000
Amaleh 700,000 501,000
Darrehshuri 600,000 300,000
Keshkuli Bozorg 500,000 200,000
Farsimadan 300,000 40,000
Keshkuli Kucheck 100,000 18,000
Other branches 150,000 50,000
TOTAL; 3,150,000 1,209,000
Also the number of cows, horses and other transportation animals was greatly reduced. Production from farms cultivated by nomads diminished in these years.
2. After the Land Reform Program of 1962, most of the lands in the state of Fars which were owned by the ilkhans of the Qashqa’i and other tribes were confiscated by the government. Some were sold by the government to Persian peasants; some pastures were nationalized; some were taken by nomads. As a result of this increase in real estate activity the value of land across the nation increased. Tribal people, fearing the loss of their traditional pastures, attempted to establish officially certain traditionally accepted rights over these lands which by precedent belonged to them. Some, wishing to establish ownership rights, have actually worked the lands.
3. Some people turned to farming as a result of their prosperity; good years enabled them to purchase their own lands.