Rug Origins

Nomadic society in Iran comprised about 25% of the population in the early 20th century. In the 21st Century, nomadism has been minimized to a great extent and most previously nomadic peoples have been encouraged to settle, usually somewhere along their migration routes. Prior to settlement, nomads exercised considerable autonomy and influence until Shah Reza(1925-1941) forced settlement as part of his program to consolidate his power through the use of aircraft. Tribes have been the been the source of leadership in Iran for most of Iran’s history. The Achaemenids and the Medes were tribes which had migrated from the Central Asian plateau sometime between 2000-1000 BCE. The Turkoman tribes of Northwest Iran and Eastern Anatolia under the leadership of presumed demigod Shah Ismail established the Safavid state in the early 1500s. Afshar tribesman under the leadership of Nadir Shah re-established territorial sovereignty during his brutal, brilliant, and thankfully brief reign in the 2nd quarter of the 18th century. The Kajars, another part of the Kizilbash (twelve-gored red hats) ruled Iran during the 19th century and spent the majority of their rule fighting off British and Russian Imperialism. During the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911, the Bakhtiari tribe under the leadership of Samsam al Sultaneh and Sardar Asad marched on the capital in support of the Constitutionalists against the Qajar Shah. in 1861, in his attempts to lessen the extent of political influence by the Ghashgai’, a Turkic tribe which probably arrived with the Seljuks in the 11th century and occupy Fars province, Nasr ed-Din Shah with the help of the British formed a confederation of tribes called the Khamseh which was composed of five different disparate nomadic peoples in Fars province. The nomadic tribes are often comprised of a number of different ethnic groups: Turkic, Balouch, Kurd, Turkoman, and Persian speaking peoples and often a combination of each within each tribe. Most of the nomadic tribes were confederacies with open memberships and developed in response to the rising authority of the state. The most well known nomadic tribes were pastoral nomads who would have a semi-annual seasonal migration pattern in winter to warmer pastures and in the summer to cooler pastures in order to continue to raise their large numbers of livestock, mostly sheep. Small tracts of land would sometimes be cultivated to supply produce for consumption by the tribe. The wealth of the tribe, the livestock would often be sold off in towns along the way on migration trips in exchange for material goods which they could not produce for themselves. “Grass” an early 20th century documentary format film directed by Marion Cooper, director of the original King King, in the late 1920’s, follows the Bakhtiari tribe which reputedly has its origins in 14th century Syria documenting their migration to sardsir or cold territory as the land on the lower plains heats up and becomes inhospitable in the spring. Numerous rivers are traversed implementing remarkable ingenuity; the fortitude and resolve of nomad culture is demonstrated as they cross the biggest impediment, the Yellow Mountain, Zardeh Kuh in their bare feet in the snow.

Nomads typically have used marginal land which is not good for farming and exploited it with their wandering herds who would feed on the annual vegetal and scrub which would be available. It is a very strict hierarchical society with a high status placed on which tribe you come from and exercising your abilities as designated.

Most nomad activity takes place in the Zagros mountains in Southeast Iran. Prior to the 20th century there was nomad activity in the Talesh region which used to be part of Iran by Turkomen and Kurds. The Balouchi are located in the Seistan and Balouchistan along the Afghanistan border. They trace their tribal origins to Hamzeh, the prophet’s uncle and many are Sunni. There have been a number of incidents in Seistan and Balouchistan province targeting the Islamic government which may have traces of Sunni and Shia hostilities. Lois Beck has two great books, Nomad and The Ghasghai’ of Iran that are fascinating reads.