Qanat-Related Beliefs and Social Rituals in Saravan, Baluchistan

Qanat, the main source of water supply for Saravan, has become a national identity and one of the important values in the lives of the people of the region, with which the social and cultural relationship has grown. According to surveys, there is a close relationship between the Qanat and society, and it has created special rituals and beliefs that have become an important part of the region's culture. In Saravan, for example, some people believe that the construction of a Qanat is the work of jinn and that humans are incapable of constructing such a trick. This belief is so strong among the natives that even the Qanat diggers believe that the original Qanats were created by jinns and that people learned from them. This study attempted to investigate the effect of the Qanat on various aspects of Saravan's socio-cultural structure, as well as the beliefs and rituals that arose as a result of it. In the terms of nature and method, this research is descriptive-historical and the data are gathered from the library and the field (conversation with native Qanat diggers and elderly people). The findings, which include beliefs and rituals, demonstrate that the social existence of the people in Saravan is dependent on the existence of the Qanats, which has an important place in Saravan society and its historical anthropology. Based on the discussions, it was discovered that the beliefs and rituals were not written down but were passed down orally to future generations, and library studies revealed that some beliefs of the Saravan people about the Qanat are similar to those of people in other parts of the country, particularly Yazd province.