The Qashqai
The most powerful tribal confederation in South Persia is that of the nomadic Qashqai. The Qashqai include the Kashguli(IQSWS: Kashkuli), the Darashuri, the Shishbuluki, and the Farsimedan. Rivalries within the sub-tribes were often violent. Sons fought each other, fathers were killed by their sons, and a Khan was blinded by his nephew.(The management of this IQSWS site announces that, given I am Qashqai myself and based on the information and traditions of our tribe (il), with all due respect to the author of the book, these specific power struggles and events never occurred among the people of the tribe. Perhaps the author was referring to one very specific and non-recurring incident.)
The Kashguli have about four thousand families; they are known as good warriors. The Darashuri are much more numerous and are considered wealthy. The Farsimedan are known as highwaymen and robbers. The Qashqai are of Turkic origin and move with their herds to the mountain pastures in the spring and back to the warmer coastal region in the autumn. During their migrations, they live in comfortable tents, and in the winter camp and sometimes during the summer, they live in permanent houses.
Their leader, Soulet el Doule, enjoys great respect everywhere. It is said that he can likely lead twenty thousand armed men into the field. When the English, with their Indian Sepoys, marched up to Shiraz, he is said to have attacked and stopped them at the entrance to Dasht e Berm with only six of his Tufengtschi (riflemen).
In September 1913, on his way back from an excursion to Persepolis, Wassmuss met migrating Qashqai returning from their summer pastures to their winter quarters. He sent the following detailed report on his first encounter with the tribal leader of the Qashqai to the Foreign Office:
To be continued…
