Afshari

The roots of the Afshari go back about 2,500 years, to Oghuz Turkic tribes that were part of large nomadic confederations in Central Asia. Over the centuries, these groups migrated into Iranian territory, especially during the Seljuk and Safavid periods, when Turkic tribes settled in different regions of Persia.

Over time, the Afshari settled mainly in northern and central Iran, including the Kerman region, where they developed their weaving tradition and established the semi-nomadic way of life that still marks much of the people today.

Afshari life follows the rhythm of the seasons. Whole families move between winter and summer pastures, tending flocks that sustain much of the household economy. This mobility shapes almost everything: housing, food, and the bonds of cooperation among relatives who share the work of herding. Many families still live in tents made of goat hair, put up and taken down with each move to new pasture.

While the men devote themselves to raising livestock, the women hand weave carpets with intricate geometric and floral designs, in shades of red, ivory, and deep blue, a tradition passed down from generation to generation. They are also usually the ones who negotiate the sale of these pieces, a craft that combines art, family memory, and livelihood.

The Afshari are almost entirely Muslim, most following the Shia tradition, with some Sunni groups. Islamic faith is deeply intertwined with the tribal and ethnic identity of the people, so that being Afshari and being Muslim have become, in practice, the same thing in the eyes of the community.

This fusion of religion and ethnic belonging makes religious practice also a marker of loyalty to family and tribe, reinforced by the communal routines that accompany the semi-nomadic herding calendar. Leaving Islam, for an Afshari, would mean breaking not only with a belief but with an entire network of kinship and belonging.

The heart language of the Afshari is South Azerbaijani, also called the Afshari dialect in some regions, which carries traces of old Oghuz Turkic. A complete Bible already exists in this language, but that does not mean it reaches families: the semi-nomadic way of life and the isolation of pastoral regions make the distribution of printed copies a constant challenge. Radio is today the medium that most connects the Afshari to the outside world, and it is also where messages in their own language have the greatest chance of reaching them.

Among the Afshari, being Turkic and Muslim is a single, inseparable identity: abandoning Islam means breaking with family, with tribe, and with centuries of belonging. The semi-nomadic way of life, which takes whole families between winter and summer pastures, makes any sustained contact with someone who might present the gospel difficult, and distance from urban centers deepens spiritual isolation.

Semi-nomadic life imposes constant challenges in access to basic health and education services, since whole families move throughout the year between different regions, far from urban centers and their fixed services. There is also a concrete need for Christian community: today there are practically no Afshari who follow Jesus, which means that anyone who came to believe would lack a body of brothers and sisters in the faith to walk alongside and grow in the Christian life. There is also a need for workers willing to learn the language, follow the people’s seasonal rhythm, and build relationships of trust over the years.