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Marine Corps Intelligence Activity |
(U) Customs and Practices
Schwarz Kathryn(U) Roles and Relationships Among the Bakhtiari
This section describes relationships, specifically marriages, among the Bakhtiari.(U) The Bakhtiari believe their men should be brave and courageous. To die in battle is a particular honor, and the grave of such a man is commemorated with a gravestone. All around the Zagros mountain range are small, isolated Bakhtiari graveyards with lions carved out of stone resting over the body of a fallen warrior. These lions symbolize bravery, manliness, and male prowess in riding, hunting, or fighting, and are a permanent visible symbol of the most highly prized male features. They remind everyone what Bakhtiari men aspire to be.
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(U) These stone lions are a sign of manliness and are believed to cure infertility. On a night of a full moon, the friends take the supposedly cowardly man to a stone lion to help him become a better, more courageous Bakhtiari man. The man says prayers to the dead hero and passes seven times under the stone lion, then crouches under it and prays for bravery.
(U) Fertility is highly valued among the Bakhtiari; being childless brings shame. To be barren or to miscarry is a personal tragedy for the woman and a disaster for her husband. Infertile women often visit a stone lion and pour oil on it, expecting to become pregnant after this ritual. To be the mother of sons is the goal for every woman, and a man must have children—preferably sons—to be a complete man.
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(U) Marriages typically affirm tribal alliances. The khans daughters are offered in marriage to the sons of rival tribes and clans to create a blood connection between the two groups. The bride was obliged to move from her father’s to her husband’s home or to the husband’s father’s home if he still lived with his parents.
(U) Some marriages have made existing rivalry between two tribes worse by complicating and diluting the expected inheritance.
(U) Marriages that form alliances are now less common. Parts of tribes now reside in villages while other parts of the tribe remain nomadic; this disintegration of tribal society created fewer patterns among marriages.
Schwarz Kathryn(U) Greetings Among the Lur
This section describes greetings of the Lur people.(U) Greetings among Lurs illustrate the importance of geography to a person’s identity and the difficulty of drawing familiar connections within a tribal network. When Lurs meet a person in unfamiliar territory, the question “Where do you come from?” is heard more frequently than “Who are you?” The answer comes in one of two forms, either “I am from the direction of...” to explain where his home is in relation to known areas or “My home is in...” to explain the location in known terms, such as Luristan or Bakhtiari Province.
(U) When a Lur tribesman greets a stranger and inquires of the stranger’s home, the Lur is probing for information as to the strangers position in the tribe. For example, when the stranger replies that he is from a broad area of Luristan, the Lur begins to attach a nomadic identity, family tree, and a certain amount of power or influence to the stranger. If a stranger replies with a specific town within a region, the Lur can assign this person a vocation, a family identity, and relative power and influence. The Lur can do this because of his intimate familiarity with the region.
Schwarz Kathryn(U) Clothing of the Lur and Bakhtiari
This section illustrates the traditional clothing of the nomads.(U) Bakhtiari men wear a Western-style clothing of a shirt and jacket, a cloth belt, wide trousers, and rope-soled shoes. Often they wear a chuga (knee-length, sleeveless jacket), common to many tribes. The trousers are very wide and often cover a thinner pair of pants or pajamas. The wide trousers are an important symbol to the Bakhtiari: anyone not belonging to their tribe wears straight trousers, which are seen as lower-class attire. All men wear a kola (cap), though young men prefer the shaw-kola (night cap) and older men prefer the cylindrical, black kola-khosrawi. The kolas are used as drinking cups, a place to keep money, or to attract people from long distances.
(U) A beard and mustache are part of the Bakhtiari cultural identity and their dress. Shaving is a relatively new fashion and one that is mainly found among younger men.
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(U) Bakhtiari women do not wear the chador (long veil covering a woman’s entire body) that is common in urban areas and imposed on women by the Islamic regime. They refuse to wear it except when they go into areas where it is imposed. Even then, they are not careful to keep their hair tucked behind the veil. Bakhtiari women see the chador as impractical to their nomadic lifestyle, even though they have their own idea of feminine modesty.
(U) Women in the Bakhtiari wear a headdress that is made up of two parts. The lachak (decorated velvet headband) covers the back of a woman’s head and ears and is held in place by ribbons under her chin; the meyna (veil) is four to six feet long, made of bright material, and covers her upper body. Unlike the chador, the veil does not hide her face and hair. A woman who is temporarily in mourning replaces these two pieces with a square of black material with a red or green border, fastened under her chin like a scarf.
(U) Bakhtiari women wear a long-sleeve blouse which reaches below the knee; beneath the blouse is a full skirt that is gathered at the waist. During the winter a sleeveless coat or velvet jacket complete the outfit.
(U) Tattooing is another way Bakhtiaris protect themselves from illnesses and danger. Women are more often tattooed than men. A dark green-blue color is used against arthritis. Blue dots above women’s eyebrows is used for decoration to emphasize their blue-green eyes and for protection against danger. The chin, neck, ankle, and wrist are common areas to receive different designs or the word Allah.
(U) Young boys and girls wear only a jacket to cover their upper bodies. They cover their head with a bonnet or cap. Attached to the back of these items, out of reach from the children, are numerous trinkets such as a little bell, a piece of rabbit’s skin, a hawk’s talon, or beads that are supposed to protect the children from illnesses or accidents.
(U) The Lur and Bakhriari value shoes because of their frequent and ardous travel. One’s ability to wear shoes and the quality of them depend on the person’s wealth. Lurs often employ servants to help them in farming duties; they pay these servants in two ways: a salary and with two pairs of good shoes. Normally, a pair of shoes does not last longer than 3 to 4 months.
Schwarz Kathryn(U) Seasonal Migration
This section describes the migration patterns of the nomads.(U) The Bakhtiari adhere to a strict schedule of migration. The areas in which the Bakhtiari live are crowded with other nomads who shift between two extreme altitudes between the winter and summer seasons. There are less than a dozen narrow passes through which these nomads can travel; therefore, the schedule of migration for each nomadic tribe never varies.
Schwarz Kathryn(U) Cooperation of Land Use
This section describes how nomads and sedentary tribespeople cooperate on land use.(U) Nomads such as the Bakhtiari and agriculturalists have shared interests, including self-defense and land and water use, that require some coordination between encampments. Still, the Bakhtiari compete with settled farmers for access to water, so while there is always a mix of conflict and coordination between the tribes and the pastoralists.
(U) Recent developments and land reforms are changing this traditional cooperation. Nomads now own land and perceive it as personal value or wealth; if shared, this land loses some of its value and the resources that could be saved for future consumption by the family are given to others.
Schwarz Kathryn(U) Animals
This section describes how the Lur and Bakhtiari value animals.(U) Sheep and goats provide food and other aid for both the Lur and Bakhtiari, but they rarely eat the animals they raise. Instead, the animals are valued for their milk, butter, yogurt, buttermilk, cheese, wool, hair, dung, and hide. Sheep are more profitable than goats because their meat can be sold at the market. Goat hair is especially important to both the Lur and the Bakhtiari because it is essential for weaving tents and ropes. This resource is limited, however, because a goat can only give one coat of hair in its lifetime, as it would die of exposure if shorn before it died. Goats are also indispensable because of their skins, which are used to conserve milk and hold water. Still, richer members of the tribes will have more sheep, while poorer ones will have more goats.
(U) Although dogs are ever-present among the tribes and each tent owns a few, they are not considered pets. They never touch dogs directly because they consider them to be physically impure. Dogs learn to survive on the minimal food given to them by their owners and to stay away from the spaces designated for people. When dogs do not respect these boundaries, the Bakhtiari beat or stone it.
Schwarz Kathryn(U) Resistance to Modernization
This section describes how the Lur and Bakhtiari have resisted efforts to modernize.(U) The Bakhtiari consistently resist change despite the fact that most tribes in Iran modernized in the middle to late 20th century. The tribe was selective in what it took to be modern culture. It rejected the the introduction for modern clothing and better livestock, but quickly assimilated modern weaponry and saddles. The Bakhtiari bring in a new item only when it either compliments their traditions or provides immediate, positive benefits to the tribe.
Schwarz Kathryn(U) Cultural Do’s and Don’ts
This describes the things a soldier should and should not do when interacting with Lur or Bakhtiari people.(U) Do:
- (U) Do be wary of your belongings—theft is
part of a nomad’s life.
- (U) Do take note of a person’s outfit and its
condition. The cleanliness of a Bakhtiari, for example, shows whether or not
that person has the time and money to take care of himself and his clothes.
- (U) Do inquire about a person’s homeland when
meeting them. Finding out where a person is from is considered polite.
- (U) Do expect members of the Lur and Bakhtiari groups
to be skeptical of strangers, so take time to develop any relationship.
- (U) Do treat the few possessions of the Lur and Bakhtiari
with respect.
- (U) Bring shoes as a gift.
- (U) Don’t expect alliances or disinterest between
two tribes to necessarily last for a long time. Loyalty is quite fluid, and
one year’s alliance might disintegrate the following year.
- (U) Don’t destroy an open mountain pass. These
passes are the few openings that allow nomadic tribes like the Lur and Bakhtiari
to migrate from season to season.
- (U) Don’t underestimate the ability of the
Bakhtiari to use stones as weapons. They often injure, maim, or kill their
adversary with rocks.
- (U) Don’t play with dogs that linger around
the tribe’s camp. Dogs are seen as impure and are not to be touched.
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