Sociologists have always been interested in tribes across the world: in their history, their ways of living, their traditions, their cultures and their economies. Of special interest to these scholars are the relationships that hold the tribe members together as a united people and a cohesive body.


Iranian tribes are as old as the history of Iran. As in the case of most other nations, all the inhabitants of Iran were initially living as tribes, not only from the point of view of their economy and livelihood through livestock
husbandry, but also from the point of view of their cultures and traditions. All these aspects are fascinating to scholars. So is the role that Iranian tribes played, for a long period in history, in the formation of Iranian monarchies. Indeed, all the dynasties that ruled Iran down to Reza Shah Pahlavi were strongly dependent on the country’s tribes for their survival and for recruiting soldiers, or were in fact themselves of tribal origin.


The Medes were the first people to establish an Aryan kingdom in Iran through the union of several Aryan tribes that lived in the west of Iran. The Persians formed another kingdom in the southern parts of the country
consisting of many tribes, in a similar way. Then the Persians overcame the Medes and formed what later came to be known the Persian Empire, and which at one time ruled over one-third of the world.


After the arrival of Islam in Iran, Arab tribes joined the existing tribes of Iran, followed by the Turks, Mongols and Seljuks.


Tribes made up most of the population of Iran and were in charge of protecting the country’s borders. But gradually they diminished in size and power as more and more people settled down to agriculture and urbanism. Today, only 3% of the people of Iran live as tribes and because Iran is vast and the climate varies greatly from one part to another, these tribes migrate with the seasons, always in search of grazing land for their livestock. (The temperature in Iran can vary by as much as 50ºC from one part of the country to another). These tribes move from very low lands to mountain regions one or two thousand meters high, and have thus found a solution to their economic problem of feeding their animals on which they are entirely dependent. Iran’s tribes can be categorized into five main groups: Lors, Kords, Ghashgais, Shahsavands and Arabs.


Migrating tribes are defined as communities having tribal structures, who are dependent on animal husbandry for their livelihood and who live as shepherds that migrate with the change of season.