Tribal Structure
The Bakhtiari people are mainly from two tribal divisions, Chahar lang and Haft lang. Due to the harsh nature of their life style, Bakhtiaris have been able to keep their blood lines intact, largely marrying within their own tribe.
Bakhtiaris trace a common lineage, being divided into the Chahar Lang (The Four Legs) and Haft Lang (The Seven Legs) groups, each controlled by a single powerful family. The overall Khan alternates every two years between the chiefs of the Chahar Lang and the Haft Lang.
The famous documentary: "Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life" (1925) tells the story of the migration of Bakhtiari tribe from winter quarters in Khuzestan to summer quarters Chahar Mahaal. This film also tells the story of how these people crossed the river Karun with 50,000 people and 500,000 animals. The documentary "People of the Wind" (1975) retraces this same journey, 50 years later. The British documentary series "The Ascent of Man" (1973) in the first part of its second episode, "The Harvest of the Seasons," also shows the Bakhtiari making the annual migration to the summer pastures. This portrayal is not however, particularly positive, using the Bakhtiari as an example of a pre-agricultural tribe frozen in time. As of 2006, the migration still takes place, although the livestock are now transported in trucks, and the shepherds no longer walk barefoot in the snow between provinces.
The Haft Lang The Haft Lang tribe is larger and much more significant than its Chahar Lang counterpart. The Haft Lang are primarily divided into four main sub-divisions, these include; Babadi, Dinaruni, Duraki and Bakhtiarwand. Most prominent Bakhtiaris are from these sub-divisions.
Coalition Between the Two Tribes: The two clans shared ruling of their territories every two years.The region has other families of Bakhtiari descent but do not belong to the two clans who ruled the region. Chahar Lang and Haft Lang have had many marriages between their sons and daughters. The Chahar Lang and Haft Lang's are descedent from Sassanian dynasty of Persia. They were also ruled from Isfahan but some moved to south during the fight with the central government and lived in the mountains area of Izeh, Ghalatoul, and Ramhormuz and Masjed-soluman. The Sassani ( Ali-Rahm Khan), Zanganeh ( Sons of Sardar Del-anchin), Rahim-zadeh, Jahangiri (sons of Aziz Khan) family who were mix of the two clans who lived in the area.
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