Tribes always have been a feature of Persian history; one hundred years ago they were ¼ of Iran’s population. Today, still around one million nomads live in Iran, representing 1.25% of the total population.This means that Iran has one of the biggest nomadic populations of any country, together with Asian countries such as Mongolia. However, today, only around 100,000 people of nomadic population migrate in their traditional way. In the below picture you can see the number of nomad families who still migrate on foot. Nomad Tours is providing migration tours to help them preserve this cultural heritage.
The Bakhtiari is one of the largest and most prominent tribes of Iran. They live between the region of Khuzestan and Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari (Yes, that’s right. The province is named after them). They speak a dialect of Persian called Lori and are Shia Muslims like the majority of the country.
Much of Bakhtiari culture is based on their seasonal migration and the fact that their primary source of income is their livestock. For example, they eat little meat during the migratory period as the meat will make them feel heavy and stop them from moving quickly. Instead, they use milk, yogurt and dough as their main source of nutrient during this period.