7/29/2019 Learning About Bakhtiyari
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March 2006 Anthropology New
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K N O W L E D G E E X C H A N G E
Through Their Material and OralStructures of Death and Dying
PEDRAM KHOSRONEJADU OXFORD
In September 2000 I was first introduced to J PLuft in Bristol,
England, during a conference onreligion and society during the
Qajar dynastyfrom 1781 to 1925 in Persia, or what is now
Iran.Together with Luft, a scholar in Iranian studies, Idecided to
work on a field research project in theLali Plain of Khuzestan,
Iran, well known for twooil fields and the Bakhtiari nomads.
With some nine years of field ethnographyunder my belt on the
rituals, popular culture,folklore and local traditions of the
Bakhtiarinomads, I knew that a history of this group hasbeen
lacking. So Luft and I decided to collaborateon a study of their
local historyto learn about
their genealogy, the structure of their tribal com-munities,
their tombstones and cemeteries.Bakhtiari tombstones are the only
written docu-ments that can help us learn about this groupshistory
over the last three centuries.
With the financial support of the BritishInstitute of Persian
Studies and the Institute ofthe Nomadic People of Iran, we began
our firstfield research in the Lali Plain in 2003. Duringthis
period of travel, we tried to locate and studyall of the cemeteries
in the Lali Plain. Lali as a cityhas long been the center of
commerce and con-tact for the different clans of Bakhtiari
nomads.
Cemeteries and TombstonesOn this first trip, we visited ten
cemeteries anddecided to work on only four from amongstthem,
choosing those containing the most andoldest tombstones, especially
those that housethe shrines of Bakhtiari saints. We also
begandeveloping our field method, and we had fewmodels to work
from, for recreating the local eth-nic history of a living
indigenous group by
Beside the epitaphs, there are sometimes imagesand motifs on the
tombstones that show thesocial rank of the deceased, such as
warriors,hunters and obedient Muslims.
Mapping the Mortuary LandscapeAfter working on one tombstone,
the next stepwas to find the relationship between this tomb-
stone and other tombstones in the same and fol-lowing rows. In
later historical periods, it couldbe the case that tombstones are
not arranged in
Learning About the Bakhtiari Nomads in Iran
Kezre-e Zendeh Shrine and Cemetry, Lali Plateau, Khuzestan,
Iran. Photo P Khosronejad, 2006
We also had to work on the shrines situated i
the cemeteries and try to understand the conne
tions and beliefs that existed between the saint
cemeteries and local nomads. The Bakhtiari arShiite Muslims;
they continue to have close con
nections with their local saints and rituals.
During this fieldwork, we discovered the com
plexity of studying cemeteries, tombstone
shrinesor all of the physical structure connec
ed to death and dyingin relation to one anoth
er. Indeed, these must be studied as a mortuar
landscape.
We also realized that we had to integrate int
our research the Bakhitaris oral traditions, mo
importantly, lamentations. In the lamentation
that Bakhtiari women recite as part of the
funeral tradition, many symbolic signs and ep
histories can be found that tell us more abou
their history. As important, historical warrio
are lamented, we can also learn the names an
details of the Bakhitaris big chiefs and impo
tant wars.
We anticipate analyzing the data of our inte
disciplinary project, combining ethnography an
history, in the summer of 2006. IAN
Pedram Khosronejadis a junior research fellow for the
anthropology of Iran in the Middle East Centre at the
University of Oxford in the UK. He can be contacted at
[email protected].
Bakhtiari tombstones are the only written documents
that can help us learn about [the Bakhtiari nomads]
history over the last three centuries.
researching their cemeteries and tombstones is
rather new in cultural anthropology.
We had to carefully consider the information
found on each tombstone. We looked at the epi-
taph, which gives information about the de-
ceased: his title and first name and those of his
father, the name of his clan and the date of his
death. From this first hand information, the
genealogy of each family, each clan and each
tribe of the Bakhtiari nomads can be recreated.
rows, but nomads instead buried their deceased
all around each other following a special hierar-
chy, special tribal connections or even without
any such ordering.
Studying the cemeteries, we decided to num-
ber all of the rows in each cemetery and all of the
tombstones in each row. Through this schematic
mapping, we could identify and try to under-
stand any relationships between the rows and the
tombstones.
