Chronology and Short History of Iranian Laks (Case Study Laki People in Lorestan Province of Iran)
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CHRONOLOGY AND SHORT HISTORY OF IRANIAN LAKS (CASE STUDY LAKI PEOPLE IN LORESTAN PROVINCE OF IRAN) Reza Yousefvand, Assistance professor Department of History, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran, [email protected] Abstract. One of the topics that have been used in Iranian studies and cultural Anthropology is local Chronology. In this connection laki Chronology is disputable. tribes calendar, and various geographical regions, in order that, this matter hasn’t been addressed as proper as it should be in respect to scientific view at some vast territories and data and information had been rare regarding to this and most of the subjects is being transferred orally among generations. One of the tribes, which is rich in respect to its manner and olden elements, is Laki tribe. Laks are independent group from Aryan race that are inhabitant through Lorestan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and Hamedanan sporadically through different regions in Iran and also at Karkock, Khaneghin, and some other parts of Iraq. Chronology is based on the way of time evaluation, dates counting, weeks, months, or particular Chronometry expressions that is based on culture and civilization of this tribe, which has inseparable link with Iranian culture, and it went to show far reaching history of Iran and march of the events, in order that, the scope of cultural richness hasn’t fallen victim to decadence and transformation. The aim of this this paper is to investigate the Lack review of literature based on identifying Chronometry structure of this tribe and its characteristics. The main subject of this paper is that what aspects of Laki peoples’ life lead to the fundamentals underpinning forming of Chronology? Achievement of this research indicates that this Chronology structure and fundamentals underpinning forming of Chronometry is based on this tribe lifestyle and a close connection is seen among them. Range of study is the geographic area of three city dwellers Lak in Lorestan province, the Noorabad, Alashtar and koohdasht. Key word: Laki language, Lakiethnic, social life, Chronology, Astronomy,Nowruz, Iranian calendar. Introduction. Undoubtedly, time was one of the first phenomena that human recognized and appreciated. Day to night and night to day- time transformation has been determined at least two time units for human. The appearance of the moon in the shape ofcrescent and its appearance change, then reoccurring and disappearing, during the 29 or 30 night consecrated human to larger unit of time. Since the celestial mass called the moon has been effective in the creation of such unit, the name of the moon has used to name this unit. The time interval between the appearance of new moon and another month during thousands of years was the highest time unit in counting and defining the minutes of life. The Iranian has been long since established the chronology based on their calendars. A round of complete movement of the earth around the sun is the basis of the year’s evaluation, and the source of it is when the sun is delivered from the tower Hout or fish to the tower Hamal12 or lamp, then day and night in that position is equal. A complete round of Earth around the sun is 365 days 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds (Taghezadeh,1978:3). From the distant past, the Iranian ancient calculated 365 days of the year and refused to count about quarters of the day, 365 days including 12 months 30 days and 5 additional days, which were not considered as any month, and called it “Wiehzak”. These 5 days has been known to stolen 5 days during the Islamic era. Thus, the Iranian year is different every four years one day, or more precisely, every 128 years 31days relation to the Solar year13 real: That is less. For this reason, what we have in this ancient Iranian month and year has been always Nowruz or new day is wanderer. Despite the variability of the year in the Sassanid era14, which many evidence confirms, we also know of a constant year, most likely its beginning at the first spring and close to it: That’s not more than a month ahead or a few days behind it. Therefore, the months and days of this year almost remain close to their main astronomical site. This year’s stagnation was carried out by a intercalary which was completed every 120 years in one month (Taghezadeh,1978: 10). Thus, at the time of Sassanid era, there were two types of years based on the chronology: variable year, based on which year 365 days, didn’t intercalary year and fixed year in which the intercalary was counted therefore Nowruz is in time and stagnant in any period of 120 years. Like other Iranian tribes Lak has been different elements of chronology. Laki local chronology features delicate point that reflects the ancient local culture of their region. This expensive heritage, despite being neglected in different periods of government, has significant points that correlate with ancient calendars. This article has been tried valuable points that are interpreted verbally among Laks about measuring time, changing season record, then match the same with the ancient period and comparative. The main purpose of this paper is compression chronology, method of calculating the time of retreat between the Laki tribes. The main question is what the origin of Laki chronology is and which way of life has been influenced them? This paper belongs to the field of ethnography and folk lore by historical roots. Therefore, it is based on ethnographic studies and related methods. Ethnography is recognized as one of the most prominent types of qualitative methods, and the theory that forms the framework of the anthropological areas. Ethnographic techniques, including the presence in the field of research observation, are the fundament of the ethnography. This research is based on the ethnographic techniques. The geographic area consists of three city: Alashtar, Noorabad and Koohdasht from Lorestan Province in western Iran. 12The first tower of twelve towers, equal Iranian Farvardin moonnd equal April. The earth in its circle around the sun runs twelve towers to complete the year. 13 Solar year is defined as the time interval between two successive relative position of the Sun and the Earth 14 As was customary at the time of the Achaemenids, the Sassanid court also had official yearbook (Christensen, 1945: 37). 377 1. The necessity and background of the research. The history of the world is usually written, since in the long run, only governors could written, easily conclude that most of the history remains in politics, wars, and the like.it should be remembered that humans throughout the world, in all language transmitted only small fraction of their knowledge and findings from writing to later generations. While the mainstream has been transmitted orally to the posterity in history and prehistory, so oral sections are as valuable writing, in some cases, the importance of oral culture is even more than the written. The Laki people more than other Iranian ethnic has been preserved orally culture. The purpose of this paper is no Scientific research in this field. 2. A short look at the history of Per-Islamic Iranian time reckoning Time reckoning and cylindrical system in Iran / Persia have a rich old history, from ancient developments to modern official approval15. There are authoritative documents of different Iranian cylindrical systems, dating from the Achaemenids period. The Old Iranian calendar was a sun solar one, with twelve thirty days months. No direct testimony survives for the intercalation system of the Achaemenids calendar. While some scholars, e.g. Hallock, hold that the system of intercalation in o thirty days on Old Iranian calendar has been the same as that of the Babylonian calendar16some others, e.g. Hartner, maintain that the intercalation system has not been the same in the Old Persian and the Babylonian calendars17It is not difficult to find documents for cylindrical parameters, e.g. the length of the solar year, in ancient Iranian texts. As an example, “different estimates for the length of the solar year in Persia may be inferred from the different statements of the Bundahishn” that in chapter 5 gives the length as 365 days, 5 hours, and some minutes, while in chapter 25 “contains the statement that the length of the year or ‘the revolution of the sun from Aries to the end of the months’ was 365 d. 6 h. and some minutes. This last estimation is also given in the:“Denkard”18. It seems that there have been two kinds of solar year in use: a sidereal year (held to be about 365 days, 6 hours and 13 minutes) for religious purposes, and a shorter civil one for the secular affairs of the state, both requiring occasional reforms or adjustment to fix some days of solar months for the important national or religious events. Astronomical observations, yielding astronomical tables, date back to pre-Islamic era, so that “a report in the book [Az-Zīj-al-Hākimī] composed about the end of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh century [centuries] by the famous astronomer “IbnYūnis” shows that astronomical observations were undertaken by the Persians some 360 years before the famous observations under the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mūn about AD 833.It seems that Zoroastrians have made use of a lunar year, so that the Sassanid civil calendar was a lunar one with the addition of the epact in each year. Moreover, a solar calendar too was in use in which “the cumulative lag of an additional quarter- day per year was corrected, theoretically at least, by the intercalation of one month in every 120 years.