Basseri of Iran - The Pastoral Nomads - Research Paper Example

?Basseri of Iran- The pastoral nomads The Middle East, the cradle of civilization, has a long-standing history of nomadic life. The life of nomads inthe vast deserts is more than often a typical example of pastoral nomadism. It is pointed out that “prior to the twentieth century, (all of) Iran’s tribes had economies based on nomadic pastoralism” (Beck, 1980). Especially, the tribal group, Basseri of Iran has been a nomadic civilization of its own, with distinct social equations of kinship, beliefs, values, and social change that is always defined by their primary mode of subsistence, that is, pastoralism. They have been described as a tribe that has values and culture based on adaptive ecology and pragmatism (Eller, 2007). One definition offered for pastoral nomads is that they are “societies specializing in animal husbandry requiring periodic movement” (Barfield, 1984). For such societies, “animal husbandry is …an ideal way of making a living” and “movement of all or part of the society is considered a normal and natural part of life” (Barfield, 1984). Another interesting aspect of this people is that in the modern context, though they may be making more income out of activities other than pastoralism, still “the concept of nomadic pastoralism remains central to their own identities” (Barfield, 1984). Generations who have remained pastoral nomads have instilled a unique culture into this people, which cannot be erased by modernity that easily. Phillips (2001) has observed that “Basseri are true nomads, sometimes moving camp nearly everyday” (p.286). Studies (Phillips, 2001) about Basseri have shown that a group of Basseris may establish and re-erect their tent on an average of “120 times a year” (p.286). As seasons change, they follow a route that take them into pastures along the valleys and also help their cattle cope with the rising temperatures (Philipps, 2001, p.286). During summer, thus they reach the high altitudes and in the autumn, commence the return journey to the valleys (Philipps, 2001, p.286). In this way, Basseri is a people constantly on the move. And the movement in their life is connected with their primary mode of subsistence. A section of these nomads have now become sedentary while another major section still remains true to their nomadic culture (Philipps, 2001, p.283). Primary mode of subsistence As discussed above, the primary mode of subsistence for Basseri tribe has been pastoralism. They have a pattern of “annual movement cycles” which make them travel according to the climate and availability of grass for their cattle (Marx, 1977, p.344). They are also seen to move around based on “subsistence units”, which are specific areas that they move into under the norm that it is their “territory” (Marx, 1977, p.344). The livelihood of Basseri tribe has been by selling meat and skin, and other pastoral products (Tapper, 1997, p.21). Anthropologists have even named the pastoral and nomadic tribes of Iran as “units of subsistence”, a nomenclature indicative of how the very mode of subsistence becomes their socio-cultural identity. Pastoralist Being pastoral does not mean that the only subsistence of a society is pastoralism. Instead such a nomenclature is just indicative that “as long as economic alternatives are insecure, and pastoralism serves as the economic base, …people are justly called pastoral nomads” (Marx, 1977, p.344). But the more important aspect, as discussed above is that pastoralism is always “the mainstay of their culture” (Marx, 1977, p. 344). Another fact is that pastoralism is found to develop only in places where “water is seasonally in short supply” (Marx, 1977, p.345). In the deserts of Middle East, every year, there are alternating dry and wet spells of weather. It is to cope with this climatic condition that Basseri tribe became nomadic and pastoral. Culture The Basseri culture is distinct with strong ties of kinship, which has resulted in the formation of independent families who inhabit a tent. Another important aspect if Basseri culture is that they are a sparsely religious and ritualistic people. The most interesting social change that has been observed among the Basseri is the tendency shown by the tribe members who have become sedentary to go back to the nomadic lifestyle. The nomadic culture can be called rightfully, a culture of adaptation. This is because for a constantly moving population, the major key to survival is the ability to adapt to the changing circumstances. The social pattern of Basseri tribe is also no exception to this. This is why there is matrilineal and patrilineal patterns of kinship inside a Basseri tribe co-existing to adapt to specific conditions. Similarly, there is dependence on Islam in certain aspects while in certain other aspects, the Basseri tribe follow the Persian folk religion. When it comes to social change also, Basseris, as a society, have shown a tendency to fluctuate between a nomadic and sedentary life. The tribe has also a hybrid social structure which is partially based on nuclear family system and partially on the group structure of the tribes (Tapper, 1997, p.23) Kinship The kinship among Basseri tribe is mostly agnastic (Khanam, 2005, p.121). This patrilineal system is convenient for a nomadic tribe because usually the man is in charge when a society is on the move. By giving head of the tent or the household head, the power to “make marriage contracts for the members of his household,” the power is centralized into a single authority, which again helps to protect the group when faced with the uncertain threats of a nomadic life (Khanam, 2005, p.122). But there is also a strong element of matrilineal kinship inherent in the tribe, “which signifies the right of each tribesman to exploit pasture and water throughout the extent of tribal territory” by his right by mother (Marx, 1977, p.354). In general, it has been observed that wherever there is a rightful territory available for the tribe, a “female eponym will appear at the apex of the tribal geneology”, but wherever the tribes have to look for new pastures, patriarchy will be strongly present (Marx, 1977, p.353). This is in view of the possibility of conflicts with other tribes involved with attaining new pastures. It can be seen that all the rules of kinship inside a nomadic pastoral tribe are based on the awareness that the organization of the tribe has to be preserved at any cost so that a constant access to sufficient pastures can be maintained through collective action (Marx, 1977, p.353). Another important aspect of the life of Basseri tribe is the presence of nuclear family. In a Basseri tribe, each tent will be owned and inhabited by a nuclear family and each tent is a unit of “production and consumption” (Khanam, 2005, p.122). The members who share a tent, are the coherent social unit that build the Basseri society (Khanam, 2005, p.122). Each tent has a male head and the members of the tent have complete property rights over the “movable property including flocks” (Khanam, 2005, p.122). This pattern has been observed to have value in terms of efficient herding of the cattle (Khanam, 2005, p.122). Again, two to five tents are placed in close proximity and the members of these tents work together based on simple functional necessity of herding (Khanam, 2005, p.122). Here it can be seen that the key value that leads these behavioral and social patterns is “expediency rather than kinship” (Khanam, 2005, p.122). Beliefs and values Though being Shia Muslims, Basseris are not in the habit of celebrating Islamic feast days, which again might be because of the difficulties associated with a constantly shifting habitat (Khanam, 2005, p.123). It is occasions like “birth, marriage and death” that Basseris often celebrate (Khanam, 2005, p.123). It is notable that “they have no religious or ritual specialists in the tribe” (Philipps, 2001, p.286). The Basseris are known for having lot of confusion about the Islamic calendar, praying in an erratic pattern individually and not in groups, and also not observing Ramadan (Philipps, 2001, p.286). The reason for this can be found in the fact that they plan their migrations based on Persian solar calendar rather than the Islamic calendar and hence are more concerned with the climate change patterns depicted by the Persian calendar, which is directly connected with their nomadic life (Philipps, 2001, p.286). Basseris also have this concept of conscious envy and harmless unconscious envy, which derives form a belief in evil eye (Philipps, 2001, p.287). There are objects like “salt, mirrors, and objects tied to a child or animal” that are believed to have the power to turn conscious envy into the unconscious, harmless type (Philipps, 2001, p.287). It could be again the uncertainties involved with a pastoral nomadic life that prompts the Basseris to view their misfortunes as caused by an evil eye. The values of Basseris are observed to be more based on ecological adaptation rather than religion (Eller, 2007, p.264). Barth (1961) who has first studied the lives of Basseris extensively, had suggested that this might be because of the self-fulfilling nature of their vocation (qtd. in Eller, 2007, p.264). This is inferred based on the general presumption that if the secular life is satisfactory for a population, they will have less interest in religion. Social Change The social changes among nomads of Iran in general and Basseris in particular are mainly caused by three factors- dwindling of resources, changing local economic relations and the political interventions of the mainstream society and its government (Barfield, 1984). It is basically pastoralism, the very mode of their primary subsistence that has become a restrictive factor for this tribe, which is loosing its grazing grounds to the mainstream society outside. The shifting of this tribe from one pasture to another had been harmonized with the rhythm of natural growth of the pastures in earlier periods. This is evident from the fact that, “among the Basseri in Iran, pasture was periodically redistributed by a chiefly khan to bring herd population and size of pasture into line” (Barfield, 1984). This was reflective of the inherent awareness they had about the importance of conserving nature, at least to ensure the availability of pastures throughout the year. But now the outside influences have changed their attitudes towards nature as well as the nature of the pastures. This is caused by general environmental pollution as well as by growing consumerism. Hence, the existence of this tribe as a “sociopolitical response to state pressure” is under threat (Beck, 1980). Given the adaptive skills of Basseri tribe and also its adherence to pastoral identity, it can be concluded that the Basseri culture is capable of surviving the changes in the lives of the Basseri people. But it is a surprise of history that a people so negligent of religion could continue to exist as a profound cultural entity. The cultural habits imparted to this tribe by its primary mode of subsistence, that is pastoralism, is to stay among these people even as they are in the process of becoming sedentary. References Barfield, T., (1984). Nomads: stopped in their tracks? Retrieved from http:// www.culuralsurvival.org. Beck, L. (May 1980). Revolutionary Iran and its tribal people. Meril Reports No. 87, Iran Revolutionary the Rural Dimension. pp 14-20. Retrieved from http:// www.jstor.org. Eller, J.D. (2007) Introducing anthropology of religion: culture to the ultimate, London: Taylor & Francis. Khanam, R. (2005) Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: A-I, Volume 1, New Delhi: Global Vision Publishing House. Marx, E. (June 1977) The tribe as a unit of subsistence: Nomadic pastoralism in the Middle East, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol.79, No.2, pp.343-363. Philipps, D.J. (2001) Peoples on the move: introducing the nomads of the world, California: William Carey Library. Tapper, R. (1997) Frontier nomads of Iran: a political and social history of the Shahsevan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More