A Study on the Ritual of Oath Taking in Bakhtiari

The oath has long been manifested in culture and literature in a variety of ways. In this study, the patterns of swearing in Bakhtiari people is analyzed. Oaths of fire, fire stoves, blades of sun, running water, bread, nuns, temples, devotees, underworlds, and thugs are the most important examples of swearing among the people of Bakhtiari. The importance of taking an oath to this people is the last way to prove the truth of the word and to distinguish the righteous from the wrongdoer. In this study, while studying the types of oaths in Bakhtiari people, the literary characters and their mythological aspects are investigated as well. This research is fundamentally based on the field-based library study and qualitative content analysis. After examining various sources and analyzing the literary and mythological aspects of swearing among the Bakhtiari people, it can be said that the ritual is a remnant of the same ritual in ancient Iran. Also, the oaths of fire, bread and salt, time, running water, sun and souls of the beloved ones are among the most important and common manifestations of oath taking among these people that have many literary and mythological aspects. The function of oath is to prove the truth of the word and recognize the true from false.