dc.description.abstract
This thesis investigates mobile tent construction in three migratory societies. It draws on fieldwork undertaken in 1394/2015 and 1397/2017 (dates given are from the Iranian or Persian Solar Hijrī calendar and the Gregorian common era calendar), in the summer quarters of nomadic groups in Northwestern Iran. The groups are the Jalālī in West Azerbaijan Province, the Shāhsivan in Ardabil province, and the Shātrānlū in Khalkhal/ Khalkhāl county (south of Ardabil province). The territory of the first case study is located on the border of Iran and Turkey. The Jalālī summer pastures are in the highlands of Āgharī Dāgh or Ārārāt (5137 metres (m) in altitude) on the northernmost geographical point of West Azerbaijan. Moving to the east, the second case study, the Shāhsivan quarters, is on the border of Iran and Azerbaijan to the south, where Ardabil Province is divided from East Azerbaijan Province, and extends from the Mughan/ Mughān steppe to the Sabalan/Sabalān mountain range (4811 m in altitude), in the central part of Ardabil Province. The third case study is located on the border of Ardabil and Gilan/Gīlān provinces, on the west side of the Bāgh rū or Talysh/Tālish mountain range, which has its east side facing the Caspian Sea. Based on this fieldwork and the available sources by other researchers who have worked in close contact with the researched groups, the thesis asks how the architectural features of the nomads mobile tents change depending on influencing factors, such as the nomadic community origins and the local environmental conditions. The thesis addresses three main areas. Firstly, the basic facts of each case study are considered and consist of the geographical information: location, climate, terrain, and land use; and the anthropological context: historical background, political structure, geographical distribution, population, economic activities, and migration patterns. Secondly, the thesis contemplates the intended construction of each tent drawing on the fieldwork and the literature sources addressing both historical and contemporary contexts and addressing architectural elements, materials, size and dimensions, manufacture, and other architectural features, such as protection against heat and cold, campsite organisation, pitching and dismantling, transportation, and interior arrangements. Thirdly, the thesis compares the architectural features of the three mobile dwelling forms under discussion: the geometric shape or form, the ground plan shape and dimension, structural features, interior organisation, materials, setting up time, lifespan, and price. In addition to the main focus on the case studies, two additional mobile tents are reviewed. The first is the nomads tent in Northeast Iran, north of Khorasan/Khurāsān, which has the same historical background as the third case study in this thesis. The information employed was gathered in 1396/2017 from the Khorasan/Khurāsān Razavjī province Tribal Affairs Organisation (Ministry of Jahād-i- Sāzandigī) and other external sources. The second is the tent of the Chalabīānlū nomads from the Qaradāgī tribe in the highlands of the Qara Dāgh or Arasbārān (3366 m above sea level). I encountered this tent on my car journey from the first case study on the Jalālī nomads in West Azerbaijan Province to the second case study on the Shāhsivan nomads in Ardabil Province. The outcome of the analysis of these three main case studies and the two additional examples provides information on external influences, such as historical and geographical background, which affect the character of the nomadic groups mobile dwellings.
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