Frontier Nomads of Iran: a Political and Social History of the Shahsevan Richard Tapper Table of Contents More Information

Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-58336-7 - Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of the Shahsevan Richard Tapper Table of Contents More information

Contents

List of illustrations page viii Preface x Acknowledgments xiii Note on transliteration xv Glossary xvi

1 Writing tribal history 1 Anthropology, history and 'tribes' 1 'Tribe' in anthropology and the Middle East 5 The tribes of Iran: classifications and comparisons 10 Historians and the tribes: the problem of extrapolation 18 The Shahsevan 24 A note on sources 27

PART I The Safavid state and the origins of the Shahsevan 35 2 'Shahsevani': Safavid tribal policy and practice 39 Background: Azarbaijan and the early Safavids 39 The Qizilbash tribes 43 Shahsevani: Safavid military and tribal policies 47 Malcolm's version 51

3 Shahsevan traditions 58 The 'noble' tribes: nineteenth-century traditions 58 Later 'noble' traditions 62 Traditions of the other tribes 67 4 Moghan and Ardabil in Safavid times 72 The tribal and nomadic population of the region 73 Shahsevan nomads in Moghan 84

PART II The rise of the Shahsevan confederacy 93 5 Badr Khan San-Khan-Beyli 95 Ardabil and Moghan under Russian and Ottoman occupation 95 Nader Shah in Ardabil and Moghan 103

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-58336-7 - Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of the Shahsevan Richard Tapper Table of Contents More information

vi Contents

6 Nazar ' Ali Khan Shahsevan of Ardabil 111 The Khanates of Azarbaijan after Nader Shah 111 Qara-Dagh and Kazem Khan 113 Qara-Bagh and Panah Khan 114 Qobbeh and Fath 'Ali Khan 115 Ardabil, Moghan and the Shahsevan 115 Sarab and the Shaqaqi 117 The rise of the Qajars 118 Gilan and Hedayatollah Khan 119 Agha Mohammad Qajar in Transcaucasia 120 The Shaqaqi debacle 123 The successors of Nazar 'Ali Khan Shahsevan 124

7 The Shahsevan tribal confederacy 129 Organization of the early Shahsevan 129 Formation of the Shahsevan confederacy 137 Consolidation and fission of the confederacy 140

PART III The Shahsevan tribes in the Great Game 147 8 The Russian wars and the loss of Moghan 149 The Russian conquest of eastern Transcaucasia 149 The first Russo-Iranian war 152 The second Russo-Iranian war 159 The aftermath of the wars 166 9 The Shahsevan nomads in the mid-nineteenth century 169 Economic conditions in the region 169 Pastoral economy and society 174 The Shahsevan chiefs 179 Shahsevan tribal organization 186

10 Nomads and commissars in Moghan 190 The troubles begin 190 An attempt at settlement 195 The Russians increase the pressure 204 The closure of the frontier 209

PART IV The end of the tribal confederacy 217 11 Pastures new: the effects of the frontier closure 221 Azarbaijan at the end of the nineteenth century 221 Pastures and production 224 Markets 232 Settlement 234 Changes in Shahsevan tribal organization 237 Banditry 242

12 The Shahsevan, the Constitution, the Great War and after 248 Azarbaijan and the tribes up to the Constitutional Revolution 248

Contents vii The Belasovar affair 252 The Tribal Union and the sack of Ardabil 254 Yeprem Khan's defeat of the Shahsevan 259 Shahsevan versus Cossacks: the 1912 campaign 262 The Shahsevan during the Great War 269 Inter-tribal relations in the time of the khans 273 The rise of Reza Khan: the end of the Shahsevan revolt 278

13 Settlement and detribalization 283 Reza Shah and the tribes 283 The first years of peace among the Shahsevan 284 Compulsory settlement 288 After Reza Shah: Soviet occupation and the Democrats, 1941-6 294 Developments from 1946 to 1966 298 The twilight of the chiefs 302 Postscript: 1966-95 309

14 Conclusion: Shahsevan identity and history 315 On ethnicity and identity 315 The Shahsevan confederacy: contested origins and political change 317 From royalists to bandits 318 From tribalism to feudalism 327 From patriotism to pastoralism 330 The Shahsevan tribes: cultural identity and historical continuity 334 Concluding remarks: tribes and states 343

Appendices 1 The Shahsevan of Kharaqan and Khamseh 349 2 Lists and histories of Shahsevan tribes 356 3 Some Shahsevan voices 375

Bibliography 389 Index of topics 412 Index of places, peoples, persons, dynasties, parties, companies 417 Index of authors quoted or discussed 425 Index of tribal names 427

Illustrations

Plates Between pages 146 and 147 All photographs by the author, unless otherwise stated. 1 Women at a ground-loom on the slopes of Mt Savalan (courtesy of Jonathan Parry) 2 Camp of the chief of Geyikli tribe on the lower slopes of Savalan 3 A family on migration in Moghan 4 Flocks and camel-train on migration in the Salavat hills 5 The Safavid shrine in Ardabil 6 'Nader's mound' at Aslanduz, Moghan 7 Amir Lashkar Tahmaspi and the main Shahsevan chiefs (from photograph in possession of'Ali Khan Ra'is-e Geyikli of Meshkin- Shahr, reproduced with his permission; whereabouts of original unknown) 8 Chief men of Geyikli and dependent tribes and their wives (from photograph in possession of'AH Khan Ra'is-e Geyikli of Meshkin- Shahr, reproduced with his permission; whereabouts of original unknown) 9 Memorial to the martyrs of December 1945, Meshkin-Shahr

Figures 1 Yunsur Pasha's sons, their tribes, and the tribes that followed them, according to Ogranovich page 62 2 Original connections between the tribes, according to Radde 63 3 Original connections between the tribes, according to Markov 64 4 Lineage of Nazar 'Ali Khan, according to Dalili 126 5 Lineage of Nazar 'Ali Khan, according to Radde 127 6 Lineage of Nazarc Ali Khan, according to Markov 127 7 Genealogy of Ardabil elbeys 182

List of illustrations ix 8 Genealogy of Meshkin elbeys 184 9 Signatories to the Treaty of Alliance signed on 19 Shawal 1327 (3 November 1909) between the chiefs of the tribes of Shahsevan, Qara-Dagh and Khalkhal 258 10 Signatories to the Telegram from Ardabil to the Russian and British Embassies, 14 Jadi 1331 (January 1913) 270 11 Skeleton genealogy of chiefs of the Qoja-Beyli tribe 280 12 Lists of Shahsevan tribes, 1843-1986 358

Maps 1 Part of South-West Asia in Safavid times page 40 2 Northeast Azarbaijan in Safavid times 41 3 Part of South-West Asia in the eighteenth century 96 4 North-West Iran in the eighteenth century 97 5 North-West Iran in the nineteenth century 150 6 Moghan, showing approximate location of tribes 1870-1885 210 7 Iranian Moghan, showing approximate location of tribes around 1900 230 8 Eastern Azarbaijan in the twentieth century 281 9 Khamseh and Kharaqan 350