The Zagros mountains, in Western Iran, stretch for nearly 1,000 miles, from the sands of the Persian Gulf northwest along the modern border with Iraq and Turkey, separating the plains of Mesopotamia from the expanse of the Iranian plateau. Deep gorges and jagged peaks surpassing 14,000 feet buffered ancient empires from one another—Babylon in the Fertile Crescent and, to the east, the great metropolises of ancient Persia. They frustrated more than one invader, including Alexander the Great. But this forbidding mountain range is also rich in grasslands and rivers fed by winter snows, and for thousands of years tribal groups have migrated through the Zagros with the seasons to pasture their goats and sheep. That grueling, often dangerous feature of nomadic life has evolved, but it has not entirely disappeared. It persists to this day not only for practical reasons but also as a meaningful ritual for people whose history is rooted in the mountains.
Last October, the Mokhtari family, members of the Bakhtiari tribe, prepared to set out from their summer encampment in Iran’s Isfahan Province. They were parents Hossein and Jahan, three of their nine children and several cousins and other relatives. Following timeworn paths through the Zagros, allotted by custom to their tribe and clan, they would travel with around five horses, ten donkeys and mules, and hundreds of goats and sheep. Their destination in Khuzestan Province was some 150 difficult miles away. The journey, known in Farsi and in the local Luri dialect as kuch, would take two weeks.
Supported by IRANomad
Commissioned by Smithsonian Magazine, June 2021
Hossein arriving at our high altitude camp for the night.
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Abulfayz looks over his flock as the Mokhtari family summits one of the Zagros mountains spiny thorns during the midday heat.
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Moussa brings Mohammad's goats across a river in the Zagros mountains.
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![Bibi Mehri rides her horse across the Zarak river in the Zagros mountains. Elder women who are highly skilled and respected are named "Bibi" [meaning deeply respected] within their sub-tribes. Bibi's will own a gun, and become the leader of the tribal fam](https://format.creatorcdn.com/2227e5a0-6ba8-4b8e-9ad8-d6e2bbb56193/0/0/0/0,0,2560,1708,700,1708/0-0-0/6b195644-8344-4d8d-827d-d36df6a17ebf/1/1/EG_Iran_032.jpg?fjkss=exp=2028996351~hmac=0e8898a62ff55cbabb5e00868faf2b06e5e4869506ce93952d6ecb6a0bacc222)
Bibi Mehri rides her horse across the Zarak river in the Zagros mountains. Elder women who are highly skilled and respected are named "Bibi" [meaning deeply respected] within their sub-tribes. Bibi's will own a gun, and become the leader of the tribal family.
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Hossein and his younger son Kianoush leave the livestock deal after Hossein was unable to sell their white horse. They are returning to Heiran village, and from there, they will continue kooch through the Zagros mountains.
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Hossein shaves his moustache, a symbol of manhood, with a broken mirror. During kooch, depending on time and access to water, Bakhtiari families will wash every one to two weeks.
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Bibi weaves a band that her family will later sell at a nearby nomad market. This decoration will be hung above the black nomad tents to honour the arrival of guests. During the time of kooch, these bands will be used to tie saddle bags to the donkeys and horses.
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Kianoush shows presents two fish he's caught on the river bank. His hand's are stained with the dye released from walnut husks.
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Jahan boils milk to kill the bacteria and in preparation for making yoghurt. During kooch, Jahan will go through this process up to twice a day.
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Kianoush cuts fat from a sheep skin. The skin will be boiled, and turned into a "khig" to store yoghurt. The fat will be boiled, and the oil used for cooking. The fat is removed from a sheep skin.
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Jahan leads her donkeys, horses and mules up the mountainside.
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Dusk in the Zagros mountains
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Abulfayz comes to terms with losing five of Mohammad's sheep. Mohammad blames him for not counting them before we climbed to 3,200 metres.
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Hossein's son, Morteza, looks out into the distance while his father negociates the livestock deal.
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