¶Ù´¡¸é¸é´¡&³§³¦²¹°ù´Ç²Ô;Ū¸éĪ,one of the five major tribes of the QašqÄʾī tribal confederation (see CONFEDERATIONS, TRIBAL). According to ZÄ«Äd Khan DarrašÅ«rÄ«, a former °ì²¹±ôÄå²Ô³Ù²¹°ù (chief) of the tribe, whom the author interviewed in spring 1957, the name DarrašÅ«rÄ« comes from that of a valley, the Darra-ye ŠÅ«r (Valley of salt), in the area of the tribe’s summer quarters (Oberling, p. 226). The tribe is also sometimes called DarrašÅ«lÄ«, however, a name that Vladimir Minorsky connected with that of the ŠÅ«l (p. 392).
According to G. F. Magee (p. 20), the DarrašÅ«rÄ« are descendants of a group of QezelbÄš warriors headed by a certain Ḥaydar MÄ«nbĚī, a subordinate of Robert Sherley, and they were assigned the region that is their present-day summer quarters by Shah Ê¿AbbÄs I (r. 996-1038/1588-1629) as a reward for their bravery. The DarrašÅ«rÄ« are said to have joined the QašqÄʾī tribal confederation during the reign of KarÄ«m Khan Zand (r. 1163-93/1750-79; Beck, p. 181). The tribe also contains Lur and Kurdish elements, like the Lek and VandÄ ³ÙÄ«°ù²¹s (clans), which were absorbed either when the Zand tribal confederation disintegrated in the late 18th century or when the DarrašÅ«rÄ« took over some of the pasturelands of the MamasanÄ« Lurs in western FÄrs province during the 19th century.
According to ZÄ«Äd Khan, the DarrašÅ«rÄ« tribe comprised about 8,000 families, or 35,000 individuals, in 1336 Š./1957. Lois Beck reported (p. 182) about 45,000 individuals in the 1960s. On the other hand,in 1342 Š./1963 KomÄ«sÄ«Å«n-e mellÄ«-e YÅ«nesko (I, p. 144) estimated only about 5,265 families, of which only 782 had become sedentary. According to Persian government statistics, there were about 5,169 DarrašÅ«rÄ« families, or 27,396 individuals, in 1360 Š./1981 (AfšÄr-SÄ«stÄnÄ«, p. 626).
The DarrašÅ«rÄ« summer around Vardašt, southeast of BorÅ«jen, in Isfahan province; this area is the northernmost of all QašqÄʾī summer quarters. Their winter quarters are in the »å±ð³ó±ð²õ³ÙÄå²Ô of MÄhÅ«r-e MÄ«lÄtÄ«, southeast of BehbahÄn, as well as around KÄzerÅ«n and Lake FÄmÅ«r, in central FÄrs; winter headquarters are at Tang-e ÄŒogÄn, in the ŠÄpÅ«r valley.
The DarrašÅ«rÄ« were “the greatest horse-breeders and owners among the Qashqai” (Wilson, p. 60). It has been said that before the Pahlavi period “each family possessed an average of three or four mounts, of which one or two were well bred” (Garrod, 1946, p. 40). The policy of forced sedentarization of the nomadic tribes pursued by ReÅ¼Ä Shah PahlavÄ« (1304-20 Š./1925-41) resulted in the loss of 80-90 percent of the DarrašÅ«rÄ« horses (Garrod, 1946, p. 40), but, under the leadership of ZÄ«Äd Khan, the tribe made a speedy recovery after World War II, though William O. Douglas’ figure of 20,000 cavalrymen (p. 145) must have been exaggerated.
According to ZÄ«Äd Khan, the ³ÙÄ«°ù²¹s of the DarrašÅ«rÄ« are Narreʾī, QarreḵlÅ«, JeyrÄnlÅ«, Ä€yeblÅ«, ḴeyrÄtlÅ«, NÄderlÅ«, Ä€hangar, ṬelÄbÄzlÅ«, BolvardÄ«, Ê¿OrojlÅ«, JÄnbÄzlÅ«, Hemmat-Ê¿AlÄ« KīḵÄʾī, ŠÄvÄzlÅ«, ĪmÄnlÅ«, ḴodÄverdÄ«lÅ«, Ê¿Abd-al-SoleymÄnlÅ«, á¹¢ÄdeqlÅ«, QarÄ QoÄnlÅ« (or QarÄ QoyÅ«nlÅ«), ŠÄhÄ«n KīḵÄʾī, NÄá¹£er KīḵÄʾī, DÅ«ndÅ«lÅ«, QarÄ GeÄlÅ«, KarÄ«mlÅ«, DarzÄ«, Ê¿Amala-ye Ḥosayn Khan, Ê¿Amala-ye Naá¹£r-AllÄh Khan, ṬayyeblÅ«, Asad KīḵÄʾī, GolÄblÅ«, Lek, KezÄ«nlÅ«, KorbÄ«kÅ«š, VandÄ, GowjelÅ«, ÄŒaroḵlÅ«, MešbÄ« SÄ«Är, QÄbezlÅ«, Ê¿Abu’l-QÄrlÅ«, QarÄjÅ«llÅ«, Ê¿OṯmÄnlÅ«, RostamÄ«, and JelÄllÅ« (Oberling, pp. 226-27). The name QarÄ QoyÅ«nlÅ« suggests a past association of at least some DarrašÅ«rÄ« with the tribal confederation and nation of that name.
Bibliography:
I. AfšÄr-SÄ«stÄnÄ«, ĪlhÄ, ÄÄdornešÄ«nÄn wa á¹awÄyef-e Ê¿ašÄyerÄ«-e ĪrÄn, Tehran, 1336 Š./1987, pp. 625-26.
M. Bahman-BeygÄ«, Ê¿Orf wa Ê¿Ädat dar Ê¿ašÄyer-e FÄrs, n.p., 1324 Š./1945, p. 52.
L. Beck, The Qashqa’i of Iran, New Haven, Conn., 1986, pp. 23, 117, 175-76, 180-82, 182n, 192, 221n, 222n, 231, 311-12, 316-17, 319, 334, 343.
G. Demorgny, “Les réformes administratives en Iran. Les tribus du Fars,” RMM 22, March 1913, pp. 97-98.
W. O. Douglas, Strange Lands and Friendly People, New York, 1951, pp. 138, 145.
H. Field, Contributions to the Anthropology of Iran, Chicago, 1939, pp. 88, 123, 219, 221.
O. Garrod, “The Nomadic Tribes of Persia To-Day,” Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society 33, 1946, p. 40.
Idem, “The Qashqai Tribe of Fars,” Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society 33, 1946, pp. 294, 302-303.
M. S. Ivanov, Plemena Farsa (Tribes of FÄrs), Moscow, 1961, pp. 35-37, 39, 44-45, 67, 76, 142-43, 145, 147.
°²¹²â³óÄå²Ô, ´³´ÇḡrÄå´ÚÄ«Äå II, p. 79.
KomÄ«sÄ«Å«n-e mellÄ«-e YÅ«nesko (UNESCO) dar ĪrÄn, ±õ°ùÄå²Ô-&²õ³¦²¹°ù´Ç²Ô;²¹³ó°ù, Tehran, 1342 Š./1963.
G. F. Magee, The Tribes of Fars, Simla, 1945.
V. Minorsky, “ShÅ«listÄn,” in EI1 IV, pp. 391-92.
P. Oberling, The QashqÄʾi Nomads of FÄrs, the Hague, 1974, pp. 17-18, 23n, 37n, 79, 106, 140, 156, 163, 165, 180, 203, 204n.
M. T. Ullens de Schooten, Lords of the Mountains. Southern Persia and the Kashkai Tribe, London, 1956, p. 116.
A. T. Wilson, Report on Fars, Simla, 1916.
(PIERRE OBERLING)
(Pierre Oberling)
Originally Published: December 15, 1994
Last Updated: November 17, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. VII, Fasc. 1, pp. 63-64
