Shahrisse; The permanent identity of the girls of Qezlbash tribe
Sona Memashli, an 88-year-old woman from Minodashti, by reviving the forgotten art of needlework, breathed a new life into the lifeless body of this traditional garment as a symbol of the identity of the girls of Qazalbash tribe living in Golestan and saved it from the danger of joining history.
According to IRNA, indigenous and traditional arts are rooted in ethnic and social beliefs, and paying attention to its identity-giving factors will play a key role in the all-round sustainability of this art-culture.
Ethnic diversity in Golestan province, as a rainbow of the peoples of Iran, is different and a sign of the plurality of special traditions in this northern province.
Sona Memashli is an artist of one of the tribes of Iran, who took an important and influential step to keep alive the head covering of the girls of the Qazalbash tribe as a symbol of the culture, belief and religion of this tribe living in Golestan.
After passing through the green corridor of pine trees, I enter the area of the village where Aunt Sona lives in Al-Qajar.
It is a cold winter day in the afternoon, the occasional sound of sparrows along with the barking of dogs breaks the rainy silence of the village; Here is the clean air, the smell of the rain-stained soil of the mud alleys, and an indescribable silence.
Passing through the alleys called Behesht, I reach Behesht 15, a narrow alley with soil that has turned into mud with the winter rain, at the end of which is a mud house without a door “Memashli Sauna”.
Sona in Turkish means beautiful waters, she is now an old lady and the locals call her Aunt Sona, she lives alone in her small mud hut in the beautiful village of Al-Qajar.
This old woman’s mud house has mixed a lot of beauty and peace so much that the sound of our presence in this house breaks the silence.
In the courtyard, I call her loudly, I see from the window that she is sitting next to the samovar, and when she hears my voice, she comes to me with a loving smile and greets me warmly, she is wearing a scarf with large pink flowers and a dress with a traditional design Openness invites us to his small but warm and loving home.
He took a pot of cinnamon and cardamom tea brewed from his samovar and poured me tea in a narrow-waisted glass and a pink flower saucer, and he placed a sugar cane with singing chickens in front of me and said, “The weather is cold. You must be freezing outside.”
He begins to speak with a loving smile: Sewing traditional clothing, including Shah Rise, has been handed down to me from my ancestors, and we use traditional clothing back to back and never get tired of our tradition and culture.
While sewing, Shah Reese says: I have lived 88 years from God, my wife passed away 29 years ago and I was left alone. I have four daughters and two sons, all of whom are married and have gone on to pursue their own lives.
Referring to Shah Rise’s veil worn by the girls of the Qazlbash tribe, he added: Until a few decades ago, the unmarried girls of the Qazlbash tribe used a silk hat, which was often red and green in color and decorated with iraq and tuf (handwoven ribbon), which was worn under the scarf. They wore it.
Aunt Sona said: Hand-woven fabrics and silk threads, all kinds of hand-woven ribbons, coins, beads and decorative roots are among the materials used to sew Shah Risa.
He stated: The decorations on Shah Risa were more for the nobles with coins and hand-woven ribbons, and for the common class with less decorations.
Aunt Sona says while smiling: Over time, silk fabric and threads have become expensive and rare, so people use their own silk designs and yarns for this head covering to sew Shah Risa.
He added: The motifs used in the red and green silk fabric of Shah Rise’s hat were original motifs, including the design of the tree of life, which is evident on this head covering.
The tree of life is used for decoration in Qezalbash handicrafts, from carpets to covers of this tribe.
He pointed out: The design of the tree of life chest to chest has been handed down to us from our ancestors and all Turks use this design and it is known as the Aghaj design.
The artist said: The star stitch pattern on Shah Rise’s cover is the symbol of Qazalbash cover.
He added: The black beads used in Shah Rise form a rhombus shape, which is one of the geometric patterns in Turkish crafts and culture.
Aunty Sona stated: Also, Damak is the support and base of Shah Risa, which is woven from black and white silk thread in several layers and sewn into knots.
He said: Shah Rise’s decorative coins show the singleness of the girls using this cover and allowed the families to take the initiative to propose to this girl.
He pointed out: In recent years, young girls are requesting to sew this cover to use in various ceremonies for happiness, including weddings, Hanabandan, Charanbashi Suri and Yalda night.
Aunt Sona laughingly said with her concern for spreading the culture and art of Qazlbash: Many people came to me to learn this cover, which makes me happy that after me, there will be people who will pass the art of Qazlbash to the next generation.
A little later, Sara, Aunt Sona’s niece, joins us, after greeting everyone, she pours us some hot tea from the samovar and says: Aunt Sona’s life is a model of culture and knowledge for me and people like me. We hope that more of these funds and spiritual treasures will be used to spread the legacy of the past.
According to IRNA, the display of traditional coverings from the thousands of years of history of Iran’s ethnic groups by the hands of artistic and creative women is proof of the pristine and rarely seen capacity of the arts of different ethnic groups, including the Qazalbashans, that the introduction of different dimensions of these golden treasures is a short path to the prosperity of chastity and hijab. It will be especially among women.
Golestan province has a population of one million and 869 thousand people consisting of various ethnicities and religions, which is located in the north of the country and has a history of more than 7 thousand years.