Ant 101

Basseri: Pastoral Nomads of Iran

Jon Does

ANT101

Prof. Carman Diaz

September 17, 2012

Basseri: Pastoral Nomads of Iran

The Basseri are a nomadic people found today in the southern regions of Iran. They are a tent dwelling people descended from a myriad of cultures including Turkish, Arabic, and Persian with a primary subsistence as pastoral; herding goats and sheep. Despite their primitive culture, we learn from the research of Amanolahi (2003), that the Basseri have been incorporated into the Iranian state. “They numbered about 16,000 in the 1950s, when research for the classic ethnography, Nomads of South Persia by Frederik Barth was conducted,” (Amanolahi, 2003). Here we will explore the various aspects of the Basseri culture which may include beliefs and values, economic organization, gender relations, kinship, political organization, sickness and healing, social change, and social organization.

“For most pastoralists, descent is traced through the male (‘patrilinial’) unlike horticulturalists, where matrilineal or matrilocal kinship patterns are common,” (Nowak & Laird, 2010). The Basseri are organized through tribal kinship relations. Divided into thirteen tirehs, each tireh divided again into multiple oulads. “This type of tribal kinship pattern is typical of a segmentary lineage system, in which sub-groups were ideally arranged in a complex structure of complementary opposition and alliances by various groups and sub-groups, though real life often strayed from this ideal,” (Lindholm, 1986).

The Basseri are seasonally migratory, more nomadic during the winter, in spring and summer will settle and cultivate generally a single pastoral area, planting and harvesting wheat and grain. This cycle of nomadic and seasonal settling requires a versatile social organizational structure. A family unit or “tent” is the primary subunit of the Basseri. These family units or “tents” are represented by a male head of the family who holds all rights to the...