Iran: Land of various ethnicities

Hope you’ll enjoy it and it will help you get familiar with various cultural aspects of different ethnicities scattered in every corner of Iran.

The Iranian people, since old times, have undergone countless developments and have benefited from these developments though these ups and downs have cost them dearly from time to time. The lifestyle of these ethnic groups, especially the ways they have dealt with the nature have been affected by industrialization and urbanization. However, the remains of all these lifestyles and old traditions have always attracted tourists from all over the world.

There are various ethnicities and sub-cultures in Iran among which one can mention: Bakhtiyari, Qashqai, Kurd, Lor, Turk, Arab, Turkmen, Sistani, Baluch, Malekshahi, Taleshi, Sangsari, Ammarlu, Bichaqchi, Boyer Ahmadi, Mamasani, Shahsavan and so on. Each of these peoples has its special culture, traditions and national customs. They hold special ceremonies for marriage. They have their local sports, songs, music and so forth which draw the lovers of diverse cultures.

Iran enjoys particularities with regard to traditions, and subcultural interactions. Performance of national and religious rituals, feasts, marriage, mourning ceremonies, and other cultural actions have been shaped on the basis of religious beliefs and national and regional attachments.

Iranian ethnicities include brave, hardworking, righteous, resolute, hospitable, patriotic, kind and free-thinking people.

The study of folklore is of great importance from the ethnographic point of view because the great bulk of the culture and literature of every nation exists in the oral memory of that nation much more than what is preserved in the books and written record of the past. There are a big number of stories, fables, parables, adages and songs on the tongue and in the heart of people which contain admonitions and lessons of life.

Today the people of the world are interested in studying and seeing the lifestyle of other ethnicities. Thus, the historical, political and social fame of different ethnicities have made Iran attractive for the lovers of ethnic variety. We hope that this series of programs will open a new vista of subcultures and beautiful attractions of Iran.

The topic of this episode will be the way of arrival of different ethnicities and peoples to Iran.

The Iran Plateau due to the existence of diverse climates has been a suitable place for settlement of different ethnic groups and races. Therefore, since the dawn of history troglodytes or cave dwellers began their amicable coexistence with the nature in this land. Scientific research indicates that since the BC millennia various tribes and ethnicities had had their specific civilization and culture. But since the arrival of the Arians in the thirds millennium BC, the native peoples, due to inability to comply with the lifestyle of the new-comers, either were absorbed in their culture and way of life or were forced to emigrate. Lullubies, Gotis and Elamites, who constituted the most important of these ethnicities, set up their specific cultures and civilization which would serve as rich sources for the peoples coming in later centuries and millennia. Lullubies and Gotis were settled in Zagros Mountains while the Elamites lived in the southwest of the Iranian Plateau, modern Khuzestan. The Lullubies and Gotis used to live on mountains but being neighbor with the regions such as Mesopotamia caused them to show inclination toward economic and commercial activities such as agriculture and trade.

The Elamites were one of the ethnicities which left behind many cultural and spiritual manifestations. The city of Shush (Susa as it is called in the Latin texts) is a small city in the north of Khuzestan province. As the Elamite capital it was the place of communication with other ethnicities living at the borders of Iran. The communication of these ethnicities with the Mesopotamian, (especially the Sumerian civilization) and adopting immensely from the cultural and urban features of the neighboring powers, made them prepared for hosting the peoples which were much more capable of acquiring new ways of living. From the third millennium BC onwards, a group of people had to migrate in three phases from Eurasia (the region adjacent to the Siberian plain) due to harsh cold that occurred in the region. They called the new land Iran Vij. These first entrees to the Iranian Plateau were the Aryans.

The Aryans, unlike the aboriginal Iranian ethnicities who were sedentary peoples, were mobile and migrating people. Thus, they succeeded in subjugating all inhabitants of the new land. The settlement of this group of people in special geographical regions set the ground for formation of government in Iran and as a result the Median, Achaemenid and Parthian dynasties emerged. After the lapse of first stage of the Iranian history and when the new ideological culture replaced the ruling thought of the ancient Iran, new ethnicities arrived and gradually solidified their foothold in this land. With the arrival of Islam in Iran, a group of Arab tribes headed toward Iran and were settled in the southwest of the country.

Another group entered Iran, as per the order of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs in the third century AH (9th century AD). They were the Turkic peoples of Transoxiana which were the sole rulers of political scene in Iran for a few junctures of history. The Ghaznavid, Seljuqid, Kharazmshahi and Qajarid dynasties had been shaped mostly by the Turks who arrived in Iran in the 3rd century AH.

In general, the influx of various ethnicities to the Iranian Plateau caused the formation of a dynasty in every period which ruled the country for a while whose impact remained after its demise.

As a reminder, we discussed the time and place of convergence and formation of Iranian ethnicities. Today we are going to point to some of the factors affecting the settlement of ethnic groups in the Iranian Plateau.

The ethnicities that had arrived in Iran, due to special conditions, chose certain regions for residence. Geographical and climatic conditions were among the factors for such selections. Every ethnicity would look for fertile land which enjoyed favorable climate and ample water. Geographically speaking, the regions of the north, west, northwest and southwest enjoyed such features more than other regions. This is evident in the current scattering of population, too. For sure, weather conditions and existence of pastures for animal husbandry were pivotal in choosing these regions. This caused different ethnic groups to pay less attention to settlement in the east, northeast, southeast and central parts of the country.

Another important factor for settlement of Iranian ethnicities was the effective relation of governments and rulers with these peoples. Political skirmishes, wars, hostilities and security were other factors which had their share in this regard.

Some of the Iranian ethnicities, due to the pressure of the government, were forced to leave their main place of residence and migrate to other places. Therefore, this compulsory emigration would affect the customs and traditions of the ethnicities on the one hand and would have their specific impact on the new region of migration on the other hand. Thus, a new culture would emerge. Sometimes various ethnicities would choose arduous mountainous regions for settlement to avoid being absorbed by the culture of rivals and enemies.

In general, the west of the Zagros Mountains was one of the most important realms of migrating life in Iran. The major realm of nomadic settlement in the west of Iran includes a vast region extending from the Turkish and Iraqi borders covering parts of Kurdistan, Lorestan, Ilam, Kermanshah and Khuzestan Provinces. Oraman, Marivan, Kamyaran and the area in the neighborhood of Sanandaj are the regions of the western nomads. In the northwest, however, the mountains of Arasbaran and Sabalan up to the south of Moghan Plain and around Qara Chay River, in addition to the highlands of Ahar and Meshkin Shahr, are the realm of Arasbaran nomads. Moreover, the banks of Aras River to the Russian border and the rivers Siyah Cheshmeh and Qotur on the Turkish border build up the realm of the Shahsavan nomads. Coming to the south and southwest, the nomads of Fars province are more important than others in terms of the area of settlement and migrate. The area covered by the Qashqai nomads extends from the cold regions of fars province including Abadeh and Eqlid till warm parts of Firuzabad and Kazerun. The Mamasani nomads live in a vast region extended from Kohgiluye in the north up to Kazerun in the south. The realm of the Bakhtiyari nomads is the smallest among Iran’s nomads although it includes regions of Isfahan, Fars, Khuzestan and Lorestan. Arab nomads mostly live along the coastlines of the Persian Gulf especially Khuzestan province.

The area extending from the southeast of the Caspian Sea up to the east of Gorgan Plain and the north of Khorasan belongs to the Turkmen nomads. The southeast of Iran is the place of settlement of the Baluch nomads which covers vast regions of Baluchestan Province and some parts of Kerman and South Khorasan provinces.

As for the sedentary peoples, who mostly live in villages or cities, it can be said that this way of life is directly related with the geographical conditions of the region. The existence of water and the way of using and expanding it is a very important cause of sedentarism. The dispersion of water resources in Iran shows that the peoples of the regions such as Gilan, Mazandaran, Kermanshahan and to some extent Khuzestan use river water; while the peoples of other regions like Fars, Khorasan, Kerman, Isfahan and central Iran rely on the main sources of water to live.

If you remember, it was said that the vast country of Iran enjoys a big variety of ethnicities each of which has its specific culture, customs and traditions.

Furthermore, the old history of this country has made it rich in terms of culture and civilization. This time we are going to make you familiar with the folk literature of Iran. 

Folklore songs and melodies are part of the popular or folk literature and comprise all musical works which are common among people in the form of songs, folktales, parables, allegories, riddles, work songs, religious songs, epic songs, lullabies, nursery rhymes, play rhymes, wedding songs and childish songs. The vocabulary and expressions of these songs are usually colloquial. The compilation and registration of folklore has an old record in Iran. But the first recorded works on folklore belong to the Safavid era (1501-1736 AD). Jamal Khansari, a scholar from the Safavid era, was the first person to collect the beliefs and traditions common among the women of his time. His book “Kolsum nameh” or “Aqayed al-Nisa” was indeed the first book on the folkloric works of Iran. After that, no considerable work was done on the Iranian folklore till the Qajar era (1794-1925 AD). At the time of Naser-edDin Shah Mirza Habib-ullah Isfahani embarked on collecting and registering the folk vocabulary and terminology. Among his famous works is the translation of the book “The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan” by British diplomat and author James Justinian Morier. The book was published in 1900.

After Mirza Habib-ullah Isfahani, Mirza Ali Akbar Dehkhoda authored a book titled “Amsal-o-Hekam” in four volumes in 1932. During the Pahlavi era (1926-1979) also the trend of folklore literature continued. Sadeq Hedayat was one of the pioneers of this trend in those years. Sometimes he is considered as the founder of ethnology in Iran. He started to collect folk songs, lullabies, childish games and popular beliefs. In 1932 he authored “Osaneh” which is a national treasure of folk songs and in 1934 he wrote and published “Neirangestan”. Influenced by western nihilist writers and literary figures like Franz Kafka, Sadeq Hedayat committed suicide in 1951.

According to ethnology, songs are examined in two ways, namely, material culture and spiritual culture. Clothes, food, housing, work, engagement and martial issues indicate material elements of songs. But religion, mortality of this world, purity of heart, enthusiasm toward congregation, communion with the beloved, alienation, gratitude, ingratitude, sympathy, self-esteem, nostalgia, sentimental complaints, self-reliance etc. imply spiritual culture.

Vocabulary is not complicated and pompous in songs. The vocabulary of songs is mostly affected by the environment and life. The simple rhythms of songs sometimes make the plainness and authenticity of the singer’ thought.

At any rate, it shouldn’t be forgotten that a number of these thoughts and customs are not only pleasant but they are also reminiscent of the memories of the proud days of Iran. Comparing the stories of different nations in the entire lands of Indo-Europeans and the black, yellow and Amerindian races reveals that most of these stories exist with little changes in all these regions. This shows that different ethnicities and racial groups had once lived together and the core of these stories, beliefs, customs, poems, songs, etc. had been the same. The Iranian folk literature has a very wide variety due to the historical record and different conditions and diverse climates.