A white SUV was slowly descending along the road of the Zagros mountain range. Green meadows stretched all around, and a distant lake shimmered in reflection. We were already approaching it when I suddenly noticed stretched black tents. As we drove closer to one of them, we saw a slightly plump woman in a sky-blue dress and a dark headscarf. She was holding a long wooden spoon and calling the children to lunch. The kids were joyfully playing around a large tent. Almost nearby, down the mountainside, a mustached man hurried toward his family on a donkey, dressed in wide trousers and a loose shirt.
“These are the Qashqai — one of the most ancient peoples of Iran,” someone in the car explained to me. “They still maintain a nomadic way of life.”
How strange — could these be the same Qashqai who once owned the Persian garden in Shiraz? As it turned out, they were indeed the very same people — the ones after whom the Japanese company Nissan named its famous SUV. Part of this nation settled down and began to develop actively, while another part continues to migrate, enjoying life in nature without particularly dreaming of shopping malls or fast food.
The Qashqai tribe is a combination of Turkic, Kurdish, Lur, and Arab tribes, though most of them are Turkic-speaking, and the language they speak belongs to the western Turkic group. By religion, they are Shiites. The province of Fars is their main center of life, although over time their territory has expanded to include several provinces.
With all their camels, goats, sheep, horses, and donkeys, as winter approaches, the tribe moves southward to other pastures, closer to the Persian Gulf. By summer, they return once again to their former camps.
In Iran, the Qashqai are considered among the happiest people. During special ceremonies, festivals, and weddings, they form a large circle, embrace one another, and rhythmically shake their scarves as they sing and dance. Drinking tea and smoking hookah are favorite pastimes of the tribe. And of course, their costumes and carpets are true works of art that have survived to this day thanks to the love Qashqai women have for their craft.
The sun was beginning to set beyond the horizon, and the lush light-green meadows were filling with a rosy glow. We stopped the car near a joyful father. He was happily playing with his children among the thick, tall green stalks. Suddenly, someone from our group greeted him. The man immediately smiled and kept waving at us long after we had passed. His joyful eyes and wide, sincere smile, reflected in the side window of the SUV, remained in my memory forever.
It seemed to me that on that day, for the first time in my life, I met a truly happy person.
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