PERSIAN
TRIBAL WOMEN
Persian
Tribal Women in Shooting and Horseback Riding Competitions
:
![](Lurfemalesharpshooter11.jpg)
The
photographs below are from a national Olympiad in Iran between different
tribal elements with respect to horseback riding, sharpshooting,
and other various athletic skills. Most of these can be found here
:
The
Second Cultural National Nomads/Tribes Sports Olympiad hosted by
the Fereydanshahr county of Isfahan was Held (April 12, 2014).
These
types of activities have been in Iran since ancient times, with
Classical authors and later European travellers reporting on exercises
in riding, firing arrows from horseback, etc. What is of interest
in the photos below are Iran’s tribal women partaking in shooting
and horseback riding competitions. Western media and news outlets
have avoided mentioning such events. The reasons for this are open
to speculation.
![](Contestants.jpg)
Representatives
of a number of Iranian tribes holding signs designating their respective
regions – from left to right: first sign-Northern Khorasan,
second sign unintelligible, third sign-Kurdistan, fourth sign-Kahkiloye
& Boyerahmad, fifth sign-Golestan(?), sixth sign-Luristan, seventh
sign-Sistan and Baluchistan; remaining signs unintelligible. Note
that the photo is partial, in that it does not show all of the tribes
participating in the event (Source: Akairan.com).
What
is certain is that given the heavy impact of media (news, etc.),
TV and movie industries, the overwhelming majority of Western and
international audiences have never seen the below images of Iranian
tribal women.
![](Lurgirlonhorseback.jpg)
Lur
girl swings round to her side to fire at target (Source: Akairan.com)
It
is a fact that one of the domains that have received the least amount
of attention by Western scholarship is the role women warriors of
ancient Persia.
Women
for example were seen in positions of military leadership in the
armies of the Achaemenids (550-330 BCE). A prime example of this
is Artemesia of Halicarnassius (now in modern western Turkey) one
of Xerxes’ most capable admirals during the failed invasions
of Greece in 480 BCE. The daring naval exploits of Artemesia reputedly
led Xerxes to state that:
“…my
men have become women and my women have become men”.
Artemesia
was also one of Xerxes’ chief military advisors.
![](Kurdishcheckinggunbarrel.jpg)
Kurdish
girl checks her rifle barrel before engaging in sharpshooting competitions
(Source: Akairan.com)
The
role of ancient Iranian female warriors continued after Alexander’s
conquests and the overthrow of his Seleucid successors in Iran by
the Parthians (250 BC – 224 CE).
A
Reuters newscast from Tehran in December 4, 2004 reported on the
findings of an archaeologist who had been engaged in excavations
near Tabriz, in Iran’s northwest province of Azarbaijan. A
series of DNA tests revealed that the 2,000 year old bones of an
entombed warrior and accompanying sword belonged to a woman. As
noted by Alireza Hojabri-Nobari to the Iran-based Hambastegi Newspaper:
“Despite
earlier comments that the warrior was a man because of the metal
sword, DNA tests showed the skeleton inside the tomb belonged to
a female warrior…”
According
to Nobari, there were 109 such warrior tombs, and plans were in
place to conduct DNA tests on the skeletons of the other ancient
warriors of those sites as well.
![](Lurgirltakesaim.jpg)
Young
Lur girl takes aim with her rifle (Source: Akairan.com)
Roman
historical sources have reported on the exploits of the women warriors
of the Sassanian Empire (224-651 CE). Zonaras (XII, 23, 595, 7-596,
9) states in reference to the forces of Shapur I that:
“…in
the Persian army…there are said to have been found women also,
dressed and armed like men…”
![](Turkmengirls.jpg)
Turkmen
girls in their traditional attire at the Fereydanshahr competition
(Source: Akairan.com)
The
exploits of Persia’s female warriors are recalled in the post-Islamic
Shahnama epic of Ferdowsi. One sample quote states of the female
warrior Gordafarid that:
“…as
she was turning in her saddle, drew a sharp blade from her waist,
struck at his lance, and parted it in two.”
![](Lurfemalesharpshooter11.jpg)
Lur
woman in a local competition in Luristan province in Western Iran,
partaking in a shooting contest on horseback (Source: Wisgoon.com)
There
are reports that the wife of Karim Khan Zand of Luristan and the
wives of his Lur troops often fought beside them in battle against
the Afghans in Nader Shah’s time. The Afghans made a point
of heaping scorn upon the Zand units who defeated them by characterizing
their men as:
“…hiding
behind their women’s skirts”
![](Kurdishladyonhorseback.jpg)
Kurdish
lady partaking in a riding competition in Iran’s Kurdish regions
(Marivan or Kermanshah?) (Source: Kurdane.com)
While
Western media, entertainment (especially Hollywood and the entertainment
industry) continue to block and ignore such images and information,
the legacy of ancient Iran’s warrior women continue to endure.
![](GuntottingIranianwomenMalayer.jpg)
Lur
women from Malayer (near Hamedan in the northwest) engaged in target
practice in the Eznab area of Malayer city limits in the late 1950s.
The association between weapons and women is nothing new in Iran;
Roman references for example note of Iranian women armed as regular
troops in the armies of the Sassanians (224 - 651 CE)
Source
:
http://kavehfarrokh.com/
uncategorized/iranian-tribal-
women-in-shooting-and-
horseback-riding-
competitions/