Qashqai people

Qashqai
Qashqay, Kashkai, Kashkay, Qashqayi
قشقايی, Qašqāyī
Qashqai Turkish nomad in a camp
Native toIran
RegionFars, Isfahan, Bushehr, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Khuzestan
EthnicityQashqai
Native speakers
1.6–2.5 million (2015)[1][2]
Turkic
  • Common Turkic
    • Oghuz
      • Southern Oghuz
        • Qashqai
Persian alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3qxq
Glottologqash1240
LinguaspherePart of 44-AAB-a
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Qashqai (قشقایی, also spelled Qaşqay, Qashqayi, Kashkai, Kashkay, Qašqāʾī[3][4] and Qashqa'i or Kaşkay) is an Oghuz Turkic group of people living mainly in the Fars Province of Southern Iran.

Language

Their language is regarded as an independent third group of dialects within the Southwestern Turkic language group by the Encyclopædia Iranica.[5] It is known to speakers as Turki.[6] Estimates of the number of Qashqai speakers vary between 1.6–2.5 million.[1][2]

Origin

The Qashqai are thought to trace its origins to the Bronze Age tribe Kashka/Kaska (also Kaška or Kaskian) of the Ancient Near East.[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Victoria R. Williams: Indigenous Peoples: An Encyclopedia of Culture, History, and Threats to Survival. 4 Bände. ABC-CLIO, 2020, p. 895.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Muhittin Çelik, Hüseyin Gökçe (2021): Kaşkayların Türk Kültürü İçerisindeki Yeri [The Position of Qashqais in Turkish Culture], Journal of Oghuz Turkish Studies, doi:10.52817/oguztad.980646
  3. ↑ Qašqāʾī Tribal Confederacy II: Language at Encyclopædia Iranica, by Michael Knüppel
  4. ↑ Azeri Turkish at Encyclopædia Iranica, by Gerhard Doerfer
  5. ↑ Qašqāʾi Tribal Confederacy II: Language at Encyclopædia Iranica
  6. ↑ Qašqāʾi Tribal Confederacy II: Language at Encyclopædia Iranica
  7. ↑ H.M. Hubey: "A Story of Life & Death and Love & War", in: Studia Turkologia, Воронежский Тюркологический сворник [Voronezh Türkological Symposium], Voronezh, 2008. - Vol.7-8. page 57.