Aspects of the social geography of the province of Sistan/Baluchestan, Iran

Abstract

The Kordi (Kurd) tribe now living in Iranian Baluchestan would appear to be an offshoot of the far more numerous Kurdish peoples of the north-western Zagros Mountains of Iran-Iraq. The Kordi were settled in their present location possibly in the l6th Century AD, but much more likely in the l8th Century, originally to act as tax-gatherers on behalf of the Shah-in-Shah. For many years they lived as pastoralists (often nomadic), tax gatherers, guardians of the frontier, and by raiding and plunder. Their habitat, round the Kuh-e-Taftan massif (one of the more fertile areas in the extremely arid and topographically difficult region of Baluchestan) allows some agriculture; and since the 1940's especially, the Kordi people have turned increasingly to a settled way of life based on mixed farming - mostly cultivation, with some animal herding. The thesis examines the origins of the Kordi, their geographical environment, social organisation and demography; and considers present and future evolution of this people in a changed and changing Iranian State.