Qashqai are a conglomeration of clans of different ethnic origins, mostly nomadic
Turkic, but also Arab, Kurdish, and Luri. They mainly live in the Iranian
provinces of Fars, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Chaharmahal
and Bakhtiari Province, Bushehr and southern Isfahan, especially around the
city of Shiraz and Firuzabad in Fars. After assimilation politics since
Pahlavi, almost all of them are bilingual, speaking the Qashqai language
- which is a member of the Turkic family of languages and which they call Turki -
as well as the Persian language. Majority of Qashqai people were
originally nomadic pastoralists and some remain so today. The traditional nomadic
Qashqai travelled with their flocks each year from the summer highland pastures
north of Shiraz roughly 480 km or 300 miles south to the winter pastures on
lower lands near the Persian Gulf, to the southwest of Shiraz. The majority,
however, have now become partially or wholly sedentary. The trend towards
settlement has been increasing markedly since the 1960s.
The Qashqai are made up of a number of tribes and sub-tribes including the
Amele, Derre-Shuri/Dere-Shorlu, Kashkyoli, ShishBaluki/Shishbeyli,
Farsimadan/Eymur, Qaracha, Rahimli and Safi -Khanli.
History Historically, the Turkic languages are
believed to have arrived in Iran from Central Asia from the 11th or 12th
centuries onwards. "To survive, nomads have always been
obliged to fight. They lead a wandering life and do not accumulate documents and
archives. But in the evenings, around fires that
are burning low, the elders will relate striking events, deeds of valour in
which the tribes pride themselves. Thus the epic tale is told from father to
son, down through the ages. The tribes of Central Asia were forced
by wars, strife, upheavals, to abandon their steppes and seek new pasture
grounds...so the Huns, the Visigoths, and before them the Aryans, had invaded
India, Iran, Europe. The Turks, forsaking the regions where
they had dwelt for centuries, started moving down through the Altai Mountains
and Caspian depressions, establishing themselves eventually on the frontiers
of the Iranian Empire and in Asia Minor. We are of Turkish language and race;
some say that we are descendants of the Turkish Oghuz Tribe, known for its
cruelty and fierceness, and that our name is derived from the Turkish
"Kashka" meaning "a horse with a white star on its forehead". Others think this
name indicates that we came from Kashgar in the wake of Hulagu. Others still that
it means "fugitive". Though these versions differ, we believe
that the arrival of our Tribes in Iran coincided with the conquests of Jengis
Khan, in the thirteenth century. Soon after, our ancestors established
themselves on the slopes of the Caucasus. We are descendants of the
"Tribe of the Ak Koyunlu" the "Tribe of the White Sheep" famed for being the
only tribe in history capable of inflicting a defeat on Tamerlane. For
centuries we dwelt on the lands surrounding Ardebil, but, in the first
half of the sixteenth century we settled in southern Persia, Shah Ismail having
asked our warriors to defend this part of the country against the intrusions of
the Portuguese. Thus, our Tribes came to the Province of Fars, near the Persian
Gulf, and are still only separated from it by a ridge of mountains, the Makran.
The yearly migrations of the Kashkai, seeking fresh pastures, drive them from
the south to the north, where they move to their summer quarters "Yailaq" in the
high mountains; and from the north to the south, to their winter quarters,
"Qishlaq". In summer, the Kashkai flocks graze on
the slopes of the Kuh-è-Dinar; a group of mountains from 12,000 to 15,000 feet,
that are part of the Zagros chain. In autumn the Kashkai break camp, and by
stages leave the highlands. They winter in the warmer regions near Firuzabad,
Kazerun, Jerrè, Farashband, on the banks of the river Mound, till, in April, they
start once more on their yearly trek. The migration is organised and
controlled by the Kashkai Chief. The Tribes carefully avoid villages and
towns such as Shiraz and Isfahan, lest their flocks, estimated at seven million
head, might cause serious damage. The annual migration is the largest of any
Persian tribe. It is difficult to give exact
statistics, but we believe that the Tribes now number 400,000 men, women and
children." Told to Marie-Tèrése Ullens de Schooten by the 'Il Begh' Malek
Mansur, brother of the 'Il Khan', Nasser Khan, Chief of the Kashkai Tribes, in
1953. The Qashqai were a significant political
force in Iran during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During World War I
they were influenced by the German consular official Wilhelm Wassmuss and
sided with the Germans. During World War II the Qashgais attempted to organize
resistance against the British and Soviet occupation forces and received
some ineffectual help from the Germans in 1943 by the means of Operation ANTON,
which proved a complete failure. In 1945–1946 there was a major rebellion of
a number of tribal confederacies, including the Qashgais, who fought
valiantly until the invading Russians were repelled. The Qashgais revolted
during 1962–1964 due to the land reforms of the White Revolution. The revolt was
put down and within a few years many Qashqais had settled. Most of the tribal
leaders were sent to exile. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979 the living
leader, Khosrow Khan Qashqai, returned to Iran from exile in the United States
and Germany. He was soon arrested and executed publicly in Shiraz in 1982 for
promoting an uprising against the government.
Major Tribes of the Qashqai Tribal Confederation
Qashqai tribal confederation consist of five major tribes including Dareshuri,
Farsimadan, Sheshboluki, Amaleh, and Kashkuli.
Dareshuri: The Dareshuri are said to have joined the Qashqai tribal
confederation during the reign of Karim Khan Zand. According to Persian
government statistics, there were about 5,169 Dareshuri families, or 27,396
individuals, in 1360 sh./1981. The Dareshuri were “the greatest
horse-breeders and owners among the Qashqai”. The policy of forced
sedentarization of the nomadic tribes pursued by Reza Shah Pahlavi resulted in
the loss of 80-90 percent of the Dareshuri horses , but, the tribe made a
recovery after World War II. Farsimadan: The Farsimadan claim that
they are of Ḵhalaj origin, and that, before moving to southern Persia, they
dwelled in Ḵalajestan, a region southwest of Tehran. The tribe was
already in Fars by the late 16th century, for it is known that in October
1590 their leader, Abul-Qasem Beyg and some of his followers were punished for
having sided with Yaqub Khan the Zul-Qadr governor of Fars, in a revolt
against Shah Abbas I. The population of the Farsimadan was estimated by
Afshaar-Sistaani at 2,715 families or 12,394 individuals, in 1982.
Sheshboluki: Amaleh: People of the Amaleh tribe were
originally warriors and workmen attached to the household of the Ilkhani, or
paramount chief; recruited from all the Qashqai tribes they constituted the
Ilkhani’s bodyguard and retinue. By 1956, the Amaleh tribe comprised as many
as 6,000 families. Kashkuli: During World War I, the
Kashkuli khans supported the British in their struggle against Ṣowlat-al-Dowla
and the German agent, Wilhelm Wassmuss. After the war, Ṣowlat-al-Dowla punished
the Kashkuli. He dismissed the Kaškuli leaders who had opposed him and
“deliberately set out to break up and impoverish the Kashkuli tribe”. Two
sections of the tribe, which consisted of elements which had been loyal to
Ṣowlat-al-Dowla, were then separated from the main body of the tribe and
given the status of independent tribes, becoming the Kashkuli Kuchak and
Qarachahi tribes. The remaining tribe became known as the Kashkuli Bozorg
tribe. The Kashkuli Bozorg tribe comprised 4,862 households in 1963. As
Oliver Garrod observed, the Kashkuli Bozorg are “especially noted for their
Jajims, or tartan woolen blankets, and for the fine quality of their rugs and
trappings”. Qashqai carpets and weavings
The Qashqai are renowned for their pile carpets and other woven wool products.
They are sometimes referred to as "Shiraz" because Shiraz was the major
marketplace for them in the past. The wool produced in the mountains and
valleys near Shiraz is exceptionally soft and beautiful and takes a deeper
color than wool from other parts of Iran.
"No wool in all Persia takes such a rich and deep colour as the Shiraz wool. The
deep blue and the dark ruby red are equally extraordinary, and that is due
to the brilliancy of the wool, which is firmer and, so to say, more transparent
than silk, and makes one think of translucent enamel".
Qashqai carpets have been said to be "probably the most famous of all Persian
tribal weavings". Qashqai saddlebags, adorned with colorful geometric designs,
"are superior to any others made". Cultural references
Nissan Motors have introduced a small SUV named Qashqai. In 2006, Nissan named
its new European model after the Qashqai people. The designers believe that the
buyers "will be nomadic in nature too". The new unconventional name was however
met with surprise and even skepticism. In Philip Kerr's political fiction
novel, Hitler's Peace, Qashqai fighters are used by the Abwehr in an operation
aimed at assassinating the three Allied leaders convened in the Tehran
Conference. Betrayed to the Soviets, they are then executed by the NKVD. This
is pure fiction, as is the legend of Operation Long Jump, concocted and
promulgated into the 21st century by Soviet security to inflate their
contribution to pre-emptive security measures at the Big Three conference.
Images See also
Qashqai language Yaylag
Iranian Turks Bichaghchi
Footnotes References
Beck, Lois. 1986. The Qashqa'i of Iran. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN
0-300-03212-9 Hawley, Walter A. 1913. Oriental Rugs:
Antique and Modern. Reprint: Dover Publications, New York. 1970. ISBN
0-486-22366-3. Kiani, M. 1999. Departing for the
Anemone: Art in Gashgai Tribe. Kian nashr Publications, Shiraz. ISBN
964-91200-0-9.(This beautiful book has hundreds of photos, both black and white
and colored, illustrating daily life of the Qashqai people, their rugs and
weaving. The text is in Persian but the color photos also have English
captions). O'Sullivan, Adrian. 2014. Nazi Secret
Warfare in Occupied Persia: The Failure of the German Intelligence Services,
1939-45. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137427892.
Ullens de Schooten, Marie-Tèrése.. Lords of the Mountains: Southern Persia & the
Kashkai Tribe. Chatto and Windus Ltd. Reprint: The Travel Book Club. London.
Ure, John.. In Search of Nomads: An English Obsession from Hester Stanhope
to Bruce Chatwin, pp. 51–71. John Ure. Robinson. London.
Further reading Beck, Lois. 1991. Nomad: A Year in the
Life of a Qashqa’i Tribesman in Iran. University of California. Berkeley, Los
Angeles. ISBN 0-520-07003-8; ISBN 0-520-07495-5.
Oberling, Pierre. Qašqāʾi tribal confederacy. History at Encyclopædia
Iranica Shahbazi, Mohammad. 2001. "The Qashqa'i
Nomads of Iran: Formal Education." Nomadic Peoples NS Vol. 5. Issue 1, pp.
37–64. Shahbazi, Mohammad. 2002. "The Qashqa'i
Nomads of Iran: State-supported Literacy and Ethnic Identity." Nomadic Peoples NS
Vol. 6. Issue 1, pp. 95–123. Federal Research Division. Iran A
Country Study. Kessinger Publishing. p. 340.
External links www.qashqai.net(An excellent site
containing information on the history, woven arts, poetry, society and an
extensive bibliography). A personal site on the Qashqai
"Qashqai" on the Encyclopedia Iranica A detailed and authoritative entry on this
tribe and their history Guide to Qashqai rugs A guide to Qashqai
rugs with many useful links and references.
Archeo: website of an American gallery dealing in Qashqai rugs including images
of rugs and Qashqai people Joshua Project on People Groups: about
Qashqai