Relations between Tribal and Ethnic Identities Among Iranian Nomads and Tribes

The trible lifestyle of Iran, as one of the oldest lifestyles, has a history replete with ups and downs. One of the features of this lifestyle in Iran is its independent political-social structure, leaving an impact on sociopolitical events and developments. The continuation of a specific tribal structure gives a special status to the tribal system in Iran. The significance of this status can be observed in the formation of political dynasty in our country. This lifestyle constituted a major chunk of social life in Iran for a long time. With the advent of the fourteenth century, the tribal lifestyle under the influence of various issues underwent drastic structural changes. This change has not taken place in the traditional type: the tribal groups still live in the form of tribal groups, but its transformation in the new types which has taken place with their settlement in rural and urban structures have changed the tribal groups into ethnic groups. In this transformation we observe the emergence of ethnic groups. The present article is an attempt to study the process of transformation of tribal identity to ethnic identity.