  Qashqai traditional market(top) Qashqai boy wearing a traditional hat(bottom) | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 300,000-2,000,000[1][2][3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Southern Iran,Central Iran | |
| Languages | |
| Qashqai,Persian | |
| Religion | |
| Shia Islam[4] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lurs,Kurds,Arabs,[5] OtherTurkic peoples EspeciallyChaharmahali Turks |
Qashqai people[a] (/ˌkæʃˈkaɪ/kash-KY;Persian:قشقایی[ˌɢæʃɢɒːˈjiː]) are aTurkic tribal people indigenous to southernIran. Almost all of them speakQashqai, anOghuz language they callTurki, as well asPersian in formal use. The Qashqai mainly live in the provinces ofFars,Khuzestan,Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad,Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari,Bushehr and southernIsfahan.
The majority of Qashqai people were originallynomadicpastoralists and some remain so today. The traditional nomadic Qashqai traveled with their flocks twice yearly between the summer highland pastures north of Shiraz roughly 480 km or 300 miles south and the winter pastures on lower (and warmer) lands near thePersian Gulf, to the southwest of Shiraz. The majority, however, have now become partially or whollysedentary. The trend towards settlement has been increasing markedly since the 1960s under government pressure, and encouragement, which has built housing for those willing to settle, starting in the early 20th century during the reign of thePahlavi dynasty. However, for those who continue their migratory lifestyle, the Iranian government maintains and controls travel corridors for the Qashqai and theirlivestock, and other populations practicing pastoral migrations.[6]
The Qashqai are made up of five major tribes: theAmale (Qashqai) /Amaleh (Persian), theDere-Shorlu / Darreh-Shuri, theKashkollu / Kashkuli, theShishbeyli / Sheshboluki and theEymur / Farsimadan.[7] Smaller tribes include theQaracha / Qarache'i,Rahimli / Rahimi andSafi-Khanli / Safi-Khani.
Historically, the Turkic-speaking people are believed to have arrived in Iran fromCentral Asia from the 11th or 12th century onwards.
Told toMarie-Tèrése Ullens by theIlbeg Malek Mansur, brother of theIlkhan, Nasser Khan, Chief of the Qashqa'i, in 1953:
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 theHuns, theVisigoths, and before them theAryans, had invaded India, Iran, Europe. The Turks, forsaking the regions where they had dwelt for centuries, started moving down through theAltai Mountains andCaspian depressions, establishing themselves eventually on the frontiers of the Iranian Empire and in Asia Minor. Though these versions differ, we believe that the arrival of our Tribes in Iran coincided with the conquests ofGenghis 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 onTamerlane. For centuries we dwelt on the lands surroundingArdebil, 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 ofFars, near the Persian Gulf, and are still only separated from it by a ridge of mountains, theMakran.
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 theZagros 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.[8]
The Qashqai were a significant political force inQajar Iran during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During World War I, they were influenced by the German consular officialWilhelm Wassmuss and sided with theGerman Empire.[9] During World War II, the Qashgais attempted to organize resistance against theAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, receiving some ineffectual assistance fromNazi Germany in 1943 by the means ofOperation Anton, which (along withOperation François) proved a complete failure.[10]
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 theWhite Revolution.[11] The revolt was put down and within a few years many Qashqais had settled.[11] Most of the tribal leaders were sent to exile. After theIranian revolution of 1979, the living leader, Khosrow Khan Qashqai, returned to Iran from exile in the United States and Germany.
The Qashqai tribal confederation consists of five major tribes, including the Dareshuri, Farsimadan, Sheshboluki, Amaleh, and Kashkuli.[12]
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.[13] By 1956, the Amaleh tribe comprised as many as 6,000 families.[14]
The Dareshuri are said to have joined the Qashqai tribal confederation during the reign of Karim Khan Zand (1163-93/1750-79).[15] According to Persian government statistics, there were about 5,169 Dareshuri families, or 27,396 individuals, in 1360 sh./1981.[16] 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 (1304–20 SH./1925-41) resulted in the loss of 80–90 percent of the Dareshuri horses, but the tribe made a recovery after World War II.[17] Reza Shah Pahlavi also executed Hossein khan Darehshouri the head of Darehshouri family in order to take back the control of the Fars province which was controlled by Darehshouri tribe during Ghajar empire.
During World War I, the Kashkuli khans supported the British in their struggle against Ṣowlat-al-Dowla (Iyl-khan) and the German agent, Wilhelm Wassmuss. After the war, Ṣowlat-al-Dowla punished the Kashkuli. He dismissed the Kashkuli leaders who had opposed him and "deliberately set out to break up and impoverish the Kashkuli tribe".[18] 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 ("Little Kashkuli") and Qarachahi tribes. The remaining tribe became known as the Kashkuli Bozorg ("Big Kashkuli") tribe.[19] The Kashkuli Bozorg tribe comprised 4,862 households in 1963. As Oliver Garrod observed, the Kashkuli Bozorg are "especially noted for theirJajims, or tartan woolen blankets, and for the fine quality of their rugs and trappings".[20]
The Farsimadan claim that they are ofḴhalaj origin, and that, before moving to southern Persia, they dwelled in Ḵalajestan, a region southwest of Tehran.[21] 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 againstShah Abbas I.[22] The population of the Farsimadan was estimated by Afshaar-Sistaani at 2,715 families or 12,394 individuals, in 1982.[23]
The Qashqai are pastoral nomads who rely on small-scale cultivation and shepherding. Traditional dress includes the use of decorated short tunics, wide-legged pants, and headscarves worn by women.[24]
The Qashqai are renowned for their pile carpets and other woven wool products. They are sometimes referred to as "Shiraz" becauseShiraz 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.
Qashqai carpets have been said to be "probably the most famous of all Persian tribal weavings".[26] Qashqai saddlebags, adorned with colorful geometric designs, "are superior to any others made".[27]
The main body of the Iranian Turkophone mass generally consists of two parts: proper Turkic groups—the Turkmen (from 0,5 to 1 million), partially the Qashqays (around 300,000), as well as Khalajes (currently Persian-speakers living in Save, near Tehran); and the Turkic-speaking population of the Iranian origin, predominantly the Azaris, inhabiting the north-west provinces of Iran roughly covering historical Aturpātakān.
the Qashqa'i are members of a tribal confederacy of some 800,000 individuals
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