The Basseri of Iran

The Basseri of Iran

ANT101

August 23, 2011

The Basseri of Iran

A native pastoralist tribe called Basseri is located in Iran. The tribe is called pastoralist because they are dependent on the animals for their food and have pastures which they use to graze sheep, goats and cattle. Every essential work of Basseri centers on their animals they posses. The culture of Basseri, how they live , their economy, their kinship system and also their leader the pastoral chiefdom, all this will be discussed in the following pages. All things in the pastoral culture revolve around the economic transactions successfully conducted with the animals they own. The same thing goes for marriages as well in the Basseri culture; however, the women are kept under control and are forced to cover their faces when in public. We’ll discuss more later in the paper about how the women are kept under control. First we’ll explain about the culture of Basseri and the area where Basseri tribe lives.

Environment

Since 1935, the Basseri tribe lives in the mountain area of Persia, which is now called Iran. Persian Gulf is also bordered by the area which is also known as “land of nomadic tribes” (Marx, 1977, p. 347). Nomadic tribes basically use Iran for its diverse birds and animals and also for it’s agriculture. With about a population of 66 million as of 2008 (http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/world_statistics_by_area.htm), Iran is the world’s 18th largest country. As of 1961, the population of Basseri tribe is between 2000 to 3000 tents which is about 16000 people. The country of Iran is quite significantly located because it is bordered by Russia, Afghanistan, turkey, Iraq and Pakistan. Iran has a lot of natural resources like oil, which is why the country produces a lot of power. Additionally, Iran is a mountain rich country, which comes as a welcome break from semi-arid and arid parts of the country. Despite having a vast difference in its landscape, Iran possesses a vast...