Gheshlagh with Kerman, Ghashghaei(Qashqai), Bakhtiari and Kurdish nomads - 17 Days

Qashqai or Qashqai Nomads is one of the tribal unions of Iran, that like many later Iranian tribal unions is a mixture of tribes with different ethnic origins Lor, Kurdish, Arab and Turkish, but most Qashqai have Turkish roots and almost all of them speak a dialect of Turkish.

It is the main center of nomadic life of Qashqai tribe in Fars province. But due to the vastness of lands and territories, they also live in other provinces. These include the provinces of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari (Junqan, Beldaji, Borujen, Saman, Shahrakian, Taghanak), Khuzestan (Haftkol), Isfahan (parts of Semirom, Shahreza, Dehaghan, Faridan, different parts of Lenjan, especially Markazi of this city around Zarrinshahr, Bistegan, Babashikhali and Chamha), Qom, Markazi, and Bushehr (Dashtestan and Dashti). The Qashqais gradually migrated and settled in this land in different periods. Turkic-speaking nomads are scattered throughout Iran. The establishment of Turkish tribes in various parts of Iran intensified during the Seljuk, Timurid and Safavid eras. The population of the Qashqai tribe is half a million (estimated in 1986) and is currently estimated at more than 1,000,000.

Etymology of the names of Qashqai tribes

The etymology of the Qashqai name is many. The most plausible view of this is the view first given by Vasily Barthold. According to Barthold, the name Qashqai comes from the Turkish word Qashqa meaning “white-fronted horse”.

Origin of Qashqai nomads

The Qashqais generally believe that their ancestors came to Iran from Turkestan as guards of Lashkar-e Holakukhan and Timur. While their arrival is more likely during the great migrations of the 11th century tribes. All speculations agree that he was present in northwestern Iran for some time before his arrival in Persia. Until recently, there was a tribe called Moghanlu among the Qashqais that certainly took its name from the Moghan plain north of Ardabil. It is also possible that the past Aq Quyunlu, Qaraquyunlu, Bigdeli and Mosul tribes are related to northwestern Iran. Apart from these, the Qashqais often refer to Ardabil as their land of the past.

It seems that in a period there was a close connection between the Khalajis and the Qashqais. Some writers, including Hassan Fasaei, have gone so far as to consider the Qashqai as a branch of the Khalaj. Minorsky believes that the migration of the Gulfs to Persia and their integration with the Qashqais created this hypothesis. The remnants of the Gulfs are recognizable among the Qashqais. In addition, there are monogamous bays on the Dehbid Plateau, which are thought to have been nomadic and once part of the Qashqai tribe. The names of the Qashqai tribes indicate that in addition to the Khalajas, a group of Afshar, Bayat, Qajar, Qaraguzlu, Shamloo, and Igdar tribes also joined this tribal union.

History of Qashqai tribes

The Qashqai chiefs have always belonged to the Shahilu clan of the Qashqai clan. The first known head of the tribe, Amir Ghazi Shahilo, lived in the 16th century and his tomb is in the village of Darvish in Gandman. Apparently he was a holy man, so people go to visit his grave. According to legends, he helped Shah Ismail Safavid to establish the Shiite religion in Iran.

However, it is only at the beginning of the eighteenth century that the significant role of the Qashqais in Persian history begins. At that time, the Qashqais were headed by a person named Jan Mohammad Agha, better known as Jani Agha. According to legend, the sons of Jani Agha, Ismail Khan (the next chief of the tribe) and Hassan Khan played an influential role in the conquest of India by Nader Shah. But the truth is that they are angered by Khan Afshar and Nader blinds Ismail Khan and kills Hassan Khan. The Qashqais are then forced to migrate to the Gaz Valley, Kalat Naderi and Sarakhs in Khorasan.

Qashqai nomadic customs

The Qashqais are a happy people. They are interested in celebration and happiness. In celebrations and weddings, group dance of Qashqai men and women and dancing with a stick is very beautiful and interesting. In celebrations and weddings, Qashqai men and women have a very beautiful and interesting dance. In these celebrations, men and women each hold two handkerchiefs and stand around a large circle, shaking the handkerchiefs to the tune of horns and drums and moving forward in rhythmic movements. In the dance of “Dermaro” or wood playing, men dance and fight with each other in pairs, with short and long sticks in their hands. Qashqais are very fond of drinking tea. Qashqais are very interested in smoking hookah. Men of the Shuri Valley tribe also use chapak.

The Qashqais are affected by the death of the khan or sheriff, like their loved ones and children. Qashqai cemeteries are located on the way to Koch-e-Il so that they can recite Fateha for their dead during the migration. Because of their love for their homes, they build magnificent and solid tombs for them that remain for many years and are visited every year during the migration. The tombs of some of the leaders of the Qashqai tribe, especially the houses of the Kashkuli tribe, are built on the slopes with the beauty of the martyrs of Ardakan, with stones and a gable in the style of Hafez’s tomb and attract the viewer’s attention.

Most Qashqais have medium eyes, dark hair (black and brown) and a wheatish face. Among the Farsimdan (Imour) clan and the salt valley, a group of white people with yellow or blond hair can also be seen. Qashqai women never wear make-up. The only difference between women and girls is the “umbrella” of women. At the wedding, they make this umbrella for the bride’s make-up. Qashqai men usually shave their faces and have a special interest in raising their mustaches.

Qashqai nomadic clothing

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Qashqais were tribal unions with people of diverse ethnic origins, mainly nomadic herdsmen who moved between the tropical and cold regions of the Zagros. They sewed their own clothes using the goods they bought from the market, as well as the products of rural and urban artisans.

Qashqai men’s clothing

In the nineteenth century, ordinary men wore loose-fitting trousers (tanban), sleeveless shirts (qinaq), long robes (arkhalq) that were fastened with shawls, and warm felt robes (kapnak). He also wore a black felt hat (burk). Guns, knives, daggers, swords and clubs were also the most important parts of men’s grooming, while in the cities the Qashqai khas, especially their high-ranking officials, wore Qajar-like clothes: sleeveless shirts, long robes and long, round leather hats. His head was flat.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, men wore white sleeveless shirts, loose-fitting black trousers with leggings tucked in, belts that were fastened with belts, and short, felt hats. Some men also wore leather jackets and felt vests. Their shoes, like all of Iran, were made of real estate. For celebrations, hunting, and war, men wore a thin cloak called a chuga. The closure of the bullet train was also a source of pride. The men of the various Qashqai tribes were distinguished by their belts and the way their train of bullets was fastened.

From 1307, when Reza Shah banned the wearing of local clothes, to 1320, when he was forced to resign, Qashqai men were forbidden to wear their robes, belts and hats. Like all Iranians (except the clergy), they were forced to wear Western clothing. After 1320, the Qashqais began to wear their old clothes, with the difference that Arkhaleq became a party dress and fell down. At the same time, Nasir Khan Qashqa’i, who had escaped from Reza Shah prison and was seeking an effective role as the patriarch of the Qashqa’i tribe, offered a new hat (dugushi) to the Qashqa’is, which was made of pea, mazui and gray colors. The hat was quickly adopted by Qashqai men and became a symbol of Qashqai power, autonomy and identity.

Qashqai women’s clothing

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Qashqai women’s clothing was similar to that of other nomadic women in southwestern Iran. He kept this dress until 1348 and still wore it with some differences. Qashqai women’s clothing is known for its color and variety. Women wear a multi-layered skirt (shalitah, tanban), a tunic (qinaq) with slits on both sides and a short jacket (arkhalq). They also wear a scarf-like net (charqad) on their small hats. After 1320, a silk headband (Yaqlaq, Qalaq) was added to the Qashqai women’s clothing, which was wrapped around their heads (on a scarf). Jewelry (necklaces, brooches, earrings and bracelets) also represent family affiliation and wealth. Women of various Qashqai tribes are usually known for their clothing, headbands, and the colors of their clothing. Qashqai women never covered their faces. In the last century until the Revolution of 1978, they sometimes went to the cities and wore tents like the urban women of Iran. Qashqai women sewed their own clothes from fabrics they bought from cities and traveling vendors. They wear the usual handmade shoes in Iran. Special Qashqai women also wear the same clothes as ordinary Qashqai women.

Qashqai children usually wear the same clothes as their elders. Boys are sometimes dressed as girls until they are three years old to mislead Al, and they are kept out of sight.

Some occupations of the nomadic people of the Qashqai tribe

Livestock breeding

The Qashqai tribe and the nomadic community of mobile Persia is a productive community that has the highest production and efficiency with the lowest expectations and facilities. Livestock breeding (goat sheep) is one of the most important professions of the Qashqai tribe, through that thousands of tons of red meat, various dairy products, sheep wool and goat hair are produced annually. The nomads of Fars province own 7.5 million hectares (67% of the province’s rangelands).

Agricultural and horticultural products

The Qashqais engage in agriculture and horticulture in the cold and tropical. Their products are wheat, barley, rice, legumes, vegetables, citrus fruits and dates. Women cooperate with men in everything. After harvesting and paying the royalties, the women store or sell the rest of the produce in bags and sacks.

Home affairs and dairy products

All housework is done by women. Every morning, the girls and women of the tribe gather their firewood from the mountains and plains, and then from the river or spring, they fill the water tanks and take them back and bring them to the tent. Wheat and rice are then pounded in wooden mortars called “dukes” and peeled. When pounding, a special song is whispered under the lips called “rice pounding”. The flour is then kneaded and baked into bread. Bake bread on metal trays. First, the teak is placed on the stove in front of a warm tent, and then the dough chins are spread on the “bread pan” and placed on the teak to be cooked. All the other dishes are prepared on the same stoves in front of the tent. Women make milk from dairy products including butter, yogurt, curd, cranberries, buttermilk and more. The yogurt is hung in jars attached to a wooden tripod and shaken until butter and buttermilk are obtained.

Leather industry

Tribal people use sheepskin as utensils and other works. Sheep skins are used, such as water musk, oil musk, yogurt muskt, and bean bags and buttermilk musk. To prepare musk, after cleaning the skin and sewing the required parts, it is then soaked in a pair or oak bark to get a firm smell. To make buttermilk musk, that is harder than water musk, after cleaning her hair, it is soaked in salt water and buttermilk, and then a little layer is shaved on it and it is smoked.

Handicrafts

Among the most important handicrafts of the Qashqai people, we can mention carpet weaving, kilim weaving, jajim weaving, gabbe weaving, as well as rand weaves and “wheel” weaves. In general, the production of handicrafts from the initial stage to the last stage is done by women. In addition, other handicrafts such as rope weaving, chiq weaving, etc. (for the production of consumables) are also performed by the Qashqai, which were mentioned in the discussion of the professions of the Qashqai people.

The tribal tents, called “bohun”, are woven from goat hair and are black in color. These tents are rectangular in shape and consist of several different parts, including the roof, the edges around the tent, the beams, a few pieces of “kamaj” or “kamjeh”, the straps, the long wooden pegs, the small wooden pegs called “shish” and the wrapper or “Chiq” or “Ni Chi” is formed around the tent. The legs are woven from the roof in black. The width of the lattice is one meter and its length is indefinite and sometimes up to ten meters.

The slats are attached to the ceiling with small wooden “glass” nails. Beams and joists support the roof of the tent. The ends of the beams are placed under the roof, in the hole of the joints. The shape of the tent is different in summer and winter. In winter, most of the beams are placed in the middle and all over the tent and the roof is shaped into a cone so that when it rains, water falls from the edge of the roof to the ground. A small atmosphere is dug around the tent where rainwater flows, but in summer and spring the beams are placed around the tent so that the roof is smooth. In summer, the tent has a wall only in the part where the furniture and beds are located.

In winter and late autumn, the three sides of the tents are covered with lattice and the only way in and out is one side of the width of the tent. “Ni Chi” or “Chiq” is a mat from a woman that is placed inside, around the lower part of the tent, to protect the tent from outside, rain and cold. It should be noted that most living items, food, bedding, clothing, and other items are placed in pockets, pouches, dormitories, or suitcases, and are stacked along the length of a regular tent, and sometimes a large, beautiful, tassel-shaped jajim is all over them.

In this trip, we intend to accompany the Qashqai and Bakhtiari tribes and the Kurdish people. Get to know the people of these tribes. Travel with them to experience their beautiful life. Talk to them at night in the tent and enjoy their funny stories. Let’s try the special and delicious foods of this tribe. This trip is planned focusing on the Qashqai and Bakhtiari nomadic tribes, along with historical and beautiful monuments of Iran.