The gun held by 35-year-old Fatima was a wedding present from her husband. Families of Iran’s nomadic Bakhtiari tribe may possess a number of weapons, which are used to defend themselves and their livestock against thieves and wild animals. Fatima is known for his shooting and riding skills.
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The gun held by 35-year-old Fatima was a wedding present from her husband. Families of Iran’s nomadic Bakhtiari tribe may possess a number of weapons, which are used to defend themselves and their livestock against thieves and wild animals. Fatima is known for his shooting and riding skills.
Enayat Asadi for NPR
No one knows exactly where the Bakhtiari people came from before settling in the Zagros Mountains. But over the past few thousand years, their origins have grown deep into this land – in what is now western and southwestern Iran – along with native oaks considered an important food source. their. Faced with modern forces, they still stand their ground.
Fereshteh, 14, was photographed in the mountains of central Zagros, where her tribe spends spring and summer. They travel long hours on rough roads throughout the year, from pasture to pasture – and then make the annual 10-hour journey from their summer home to their winter home. She said she disliked the nomadic lifestyle but felt she had no choice but to accept and endure it.
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Fereshteh, 14, was photographed in the mountains of central Zagros, where her tribe spends spring and summer. They travel long hours on rough roads throughout the year, from pasture to pasture – and then make the annual 10-hour journey from their summer home to their winter home. She said she disliked the nomadic lifestyle but felt she had no choice but to accept and endure it.
Enayat Asadi for NPR
Urbanization began in the area a century ago, and over the years, most of the Bakhtiari have assimilated. Many have joined the Iranian elite, becoming scholars, actors, ambassadors and athletes. There is even a National Football League player with Bakhtiari roots: David Bakhtiari of the Green Bay Packers.
And yet, some tribes in Bakhtiari continue to herd, grow barley and migrate among the grasslands seasonally, just as they have for generations, said Alam Saleh, of the Center for Islamic and Arab Studies Arab of the Australian National University, explained. “Their habits, ways of dressing and lifestyle are still maintained,” he said. “If they don’t live this way, they won’t exist anymore. For those who continue – the numbers are dwindling – they persist in maintaining their identity.”
Jamileh, 50, stands on a mountainside near where she lives.
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Jamileh, 50, stands on a mountainside near where she lives.
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Rostam, a Bakhtiari who knows only his name and says he is 40 years old, notes: “I’m used to this lifestyle, I can’t live any other way. Traveling in these mountains, grazing cattle and hearing the bells of the goats is a joy for me. It’s the only thing I’ve done since I was a kid and I’m going to teach these things [ways] for my children too. ”
Rostam, 40, and Farzaneh, 37. She is seven months pregnant and was expecting the birth of their sixth child when this photo was taken in June 2021. The couple used binoculars to track their 95 goats – and Keep an eye out for wildlife that might threaten them.
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Rostam, 40, and Farzaneh, 37. She is seven months pregnant and was expecting the birth of their sixth child when this photo was taken in June 2021. The couple used binoculars to track their 95 goats – and Keep an eye out for wildlife that might threaten them.
Enayat Asadi for NPR
Women play a more important role in this community, carrying out customs and keeping families together. “Due to their rough lifestyle, structures force women to participate in all aspects of life,” says Saleh. Women engage in combat and physical work, while also acting as mothers and wife”. “She needs to be strong.” This has been true throughout the group’s history, with such revered figures as Sardar Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari, a revolutionary military commander who helped tribal forces capture Tehran in 1909.
Bakhtiari women boil goat’s milk over an oak fire. They use milk to make yogurt, butter, and cheese. To the right, a woman makes bread in a hillside village of the Central Zagros Mountains.
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Bakhtiari women boil goat’s milk over an oak fire. They use milk to make yogurt, butter, and cheese. To the right, a woman makes bread in a hillside village of the Central Zagros Mountains.
Enayat Asadi for NPR
But the name Bakhtiari, which means “lucky bearer”, does not reflect the current situation of these women, who also have to deal with child marriage, domestic violence and poverty.
The heart was not carved – it was formed when a truck transporting flour collided with a tree. It’s this Bakhtiari girl’s favorite tree, standing in front of it on the right.
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The heart was not carved – it was formed when a truck transporting flour collided with a tree. It’s this Bakhtiari girl’s favorite tree, standing in front of it on the right.
Enayat Asadi for NPR
And their lives don’t grow any easier. Most of the remaining nomadic tribes have limited access to medical facilities and education. Dry winds and dust, combined with a lack of water for their livestock, force them to travel longer distances during their annual migration from the plains to higher, cooler pastures. Wildfires caused by heat and drought burn their grazing land.
Bakhtiari young people enjoy a happy moment. One of the children is wearing a lion mask that his parents bought him during a trip to a city. Bakhtiari children usually finish secondary school but not high school.
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Bakhtiari young people enjoy a happy moment. One of the children is wearing a lion mask that his parents bought him during a trip to a city. Bakhtiari children usually finish secondary school but not high school.
Enayat Asadi for NPR
This photo collection, taken in 2020 and 2021, shows the world of the three Bakhtiari tribes and the women who raise children and continue agricultural traditions – even as 21st-century realities may which means their nomadic days were numbered.
An old oak tree stands along the ancient path of the nomadic Bakhtiari people. In the areas where they travel, trees have fallen victim to drought and fires – and are cut down for fuel.
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An old oak tree stands along the ancient path of the nomadic Bakhtiari people. In the areas where they travel, trees have fallen victim to drought and fires – and are cut down for fuel.
Enayat Asadi for NPR
From right: 22-year-old Marzieh, 25-year-old Golgol and 60-year-old Sangi Jan harvest barley from their fields. They will use it as fodder in the coming winter months. Marzieh, who is eight months pregnant in this photo, told the photographer she felt nauseous during her pregnancy but still worked on the farm while her husband worked in the city.
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From right: 22-year-old Marzieh, 25-year-old Golgol and 60-year-old Sangi Jan harvest barley from their fields. They will use it as fodder in the coming winter months. Marzieh, who is eight months pregnant in this photo, told the photographer she felt nauseous during her pregnancy but still worked on the farm while her husband worked in the city.
Enayat Asadi for NPR
This story has been supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Enayat Asadi is a photojournalist based in Iran. In 2020, he started a project he calls “Hard Land”, the Bakhtiari nomads of southern Iran. He lived with the nomads for a month in 2020 and three months in the spring and summer of 2021, aiming to “capture their strength and rich culture in the face of the hardships they endured.” contain.” His new project is called “Survivors of Death Row” and chronicles of murderers sentenced to death.
Vicky Hallett is a freelance writer who regularly contributes to NPR.
