Global registration capacity of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari nomads

A part of the traditional and historical migration of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari nomads these days has gone towards mechanization, while more than this, the migration of nomads has the capacity of world registration and measures should be taken to register this great intangible heritage.

According to IRNA, while the Malknoun religion of the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari nomads was registered at the beginning of the Koch, but this Koch complex with all its dimensions has a global capacity as an intangible human heritage that has not yet been registered.

The lifestyle of the nomads, including their great migration and its rituals from one region to another, can be registered as a permanent and intangible heritage in the UNESCO organization.

A decade ago, when the ambassadors of some different countries based in Tehran visited Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari regions, they emphasized the pristine lifestyle of the nomads of this province.

They believed that in this lifestyle, malkunun or the beginning of the seasonal migration, setting up tents, playing with sticks, rituals of joy and mourning, reading the Shahnameh, cooking local foods and many other nomadic customs can be recorded as a special set of life in the world. .

Ritual of stick game

Some experts consider the history of the Bakhtiari nomads’ stick game to be centuries ago, in such a way that its history is attributed to the battle between the Iranians and the Macedonian invaders.

Stick game or stick game is now popular in various nomadic ceremonies and it is such that 2 people fight with each other with 2 sticks.

In this symbolic fight, the strong and big tarek is in the defender’s hand and the thin tarek, which is accompanied by the movement of the shoulders, is in the attacker’s hand, and the battlefield is also planned to escape from the attack of the thin tarek.

This tarkebaz or wood play is accompanied by trumpet playing and drumming, and the sound of beating the drum was reminiscent of the poison of soldiers in battle.

Chon Lihan, the then director and former representative of the UNESCO regional office in Iran, told IRNA during a trip to Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari a decade ago: “In the Middle East, no ritual has had the tradition of battle as much as the Bakhtiari stick game.”

According to him, the tradition of wood-playing and hand-carrying and hand-carrying of Bakhtiari nomads has the ability to be registered as oral and folkloric heritage.

According to him, the tradition of wood-playing and playing handkerchiefs of the Bakhtiari nomads has cultural authenticity and is now unique in the world.

Lihan stated: Bakhtiari nomads’ Koch is considered as the cultural and civilizational heritage of Iran, and Bakhtiari nomads are considered as geographers and based on their mental learning, they know the geography of Koch Iil as much as the scientists of Jafrafidan.

In 2011, the spiritual heritage of Farhang Bakhtiari’s stick game was registered as number 504 in the list of national monuments.

The traditional and ritual migration of the Bakhtiari nomads has a strong culture, and the fact that the nomads migrate from one region to another has a global oral cultural value, which requires a lot of effort to preserve and maintain this culture.

This great global culture and civilization does not belong only to Iran, but it is a global work that must be preserved for future generations as a lasting culture.

Years later, Bakhtiari people’s “stick game” was registered in the list of national monuments of the country and it was registered as the spiritual heritage of Bakhtiari culture at number 504 in the list of national monuments.

According to some experts’ opinions, Bakhtiari wooden game is a martial and epic art that is performed in various ceremonies, which according to the evidence of the Bakhtiari history of this era dates back to the 14th century AD and the 200-year reign of Khanin Durki.

The tool of this game is wood, and the 2 sides of the game have different sticks in their hands, one of them has a strong and thick stick called Direk, which plays the role of the defender, and the other has a thin stick, which is called Tarkeh, and local music and Dehl Bakhtiari text. And it is the main driver of this epic game.

Reading Shahnameh in Koch

The Shahnameh has an important place among the Bakhtiari nomads. When the nomads live in Yilaq and Qeshlaq, one of their gatherings is reading the Shahnameh.

Shahnameh is known as “Seven Legions” among the Bakhtiaris, and reciting and reciting the Shahnameh has become a native culture in this region.

The names of some geographical regions of Bakhtiari land, such as “Rostam Abad”, “Rostam Mountain” and “Sefid Fortress” are derived from the concepts of the Shahnameh, and Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh is not only a battle story for the people of this region, but a work of praise to God.

Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh has about 60,000 lines of poetry and is the largest national epic literature of Iran. Apart from being an epic, this book has advice, advice, morals and politeness because Ferdowsi revives the Iranian language and national identity.

Koch based on astrology

Hanur among some nomads, especially their elders, is performed based on astrology at the time of migration and moving to Yilaq and Qashlaq.

For example, if the time of migration or malknoon, the astrological situation is, as they say, “Moon in Scorpio”, they do not migrate that day or that week, although young people these days follow the nomadic migration with vehicles and cars.

Rituals of happiness and mourning

Among the Kochero nomads, there are rituals that are of high importance and level from an anthropological point of view, for example, in the mourning ritual, even some women wear black clothes for their deceased for up to a year.

It is still customary among some nomads to wear a black horse for the deceased and after burying the deceased, they install a tombstone made of lion stone or “lion board” on his grave.

The standing stone lions in the cemeteries of Farsan, Kohrang, Ardal and Kiyar are actually a legacy that has remained among the Bakhtiaris since the Qajar period.

With the death of one of the elders of the nomadic tribe, a stone lion was made by local stonemasons and placed on the graves of these elders, and shapes such as swords, guns, and horses were engraved on the body of the stone lions along with the characteristics of the deceased.

In fact, stone lions on the graves of warriors and those killed in wars are a reminder of the men who adorned the ups and downs history of their people in the form of a myth and are buried in the heart of the earth.

In the rituals of happiness and weddings, among the youth of the nomads, riding, horse racing and stick games are still common, and even some old people enter the stick game field.

Gagriv among Bakhtiari nomads

Gagriv or Gagriveh is a word composed of 2 infinitives goden and grievesten and it is equivalent to saying and crying in Farsi.
It is said that it has its roots in the ancient language of Iran and it means crying songs, and “Gagrio” means song and “Gat” has ancient roots. There are poems that are read when crying and sadness, but in fact, Gagriu means “say and cry” is popular among nomads.

Nomadic music is also local and indigenous, which is accompanied by the serena, the corna, and the percussion instrument, which has a more epic approach, and the serna is played in celebrations.

The musicians of Bakhtiari magaki music who play serna or karna are called Toshmal, most of these people have learned magaki music by phone.

There are Gahgriv, Shir Alimardan, Ahaigol, Sarkohi Maqam, Barzegari, Sahrnaz, Choubbazi and Norouzieh positions in Bakhtiari’s music, but today some of these positions are being forgotten.

In the music of Qashqai nomads or Turkish Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, there are authorities such as Graili, but these authorities of Qashqai music have not yet been fully introduced in this province.

In Bakhtiari’s official music, the variety of songs is more, although Bakhtiari singers used to be content only with the melody of ‘Shir Alimardan’.

The difference between Bakhtiari music and Dehkordi and Qashgai Turki is that in Bakhtiari music there is sometimes a battle in such a way that 2 instruments, serna and dahl and corna and dahl nawazi are one of the main instruments of Bakhtiari music.

Global registration capacity of Kuch Ashayr collection

The intangible and natural cultural heritage registration expert of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari says: The Kuch Eshair complex of this province has the capacity and potential of world registration under the category of intangible world heritage.

In an interview with IRNA, Farideh Ahmadi added: “Malkennow was registered nationally in 2014, but the collection of rituals and customs of Koch as an intangible heritage has not yet been registered globally.”

According to him, in 2017, the registration file of this collection was sent for global registration, and its globalization will take some time, but this capacity exists and it can be placed in the priorities of registration.

The intangible and natural cultural heritage registration expert of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari reminded: the rich and original culture, the historical routes of the Koch, rituals and pristine customs are the characteristics of the life of the Kochero nomads for its global registration.

According to him, so far 93 works have been registered as national intangible heritage of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, which are related to people’s lives.

According to IRNA, according to the latest census, there are 22 thousand 923 nomadic households with a population of more than 115 thousand 58 people in the province.

The migration route will reach the Bazfat region by passing through the Taraz pass and the Lasuzni road and the Marbareh bridge, and after stopping for a few days, they will enter the Qashlagi regions of Khuzestan province by passing through Zardkoh Bakhtiari. Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province is the second nomadic province of the country after Fars province with 126 thousand nomadic population along with 1.6 million light livestock.