Who were the Tats?

Throughout history, people have sometimes lived without water, food and shelter, but no cultured person has ever lived without literature for a single day. Literature is meant in its broad sense.. That is, everything that is included in the field of humanities, whether it is written or oral, and culture precedes it, but what is meant by culture in its conventional meaning is not the literate and the educated, because the first people who They came together and started talking and thinking about the objects and phenomena around them. , and the mirror of their material self-understanding became the foggy wide world of life. Therefore, no tribe or tribe can be found that is not provided with literature or a special history of literature, it is possible that the literature of one tribe is written and in a stage of development, and the literature of another tribe is simple and oral or at the beginning of the entry stage. Be in a specific field and book.

The Tats are also an Iranian tribe that, despite having a history and culture of thousands of years, have a very rich oral literature, but the history of their written literature is very young, and their special verse literature has come to the fore in a relatively short period of time..

The field of Tat literature, considering the scattered poems, is the 8th century AH, which remains and has a long history. . But its new beginning dates back to the period after the 1917 Russian Revolution . that the poems and plays of M. Bakshi F, born in 1910, and the poems and stories of Deh Antilof, born in 1913, are proof of this, as far as the author claims, except for the Kurds, who have a special situation because of this, other ethnic groups in the corners of our country also have the same situation as the Tats, and the reasons for this are as well. that from the 5th century to the middle of the 14th century AH for a thousand years, Turkic or abandoned Iranian dynasties like the Safavids have ruled in Iran. They have not taken care of this category and they have tried to spread their language in different ways, all of them have been lost in Iran and Iranianness, and what is left is the Turkish language, which has taken root in Iranian society and is a wide shadow..

The arrival of the Turkic dynasties in Iran and their rule in this country has always been accompanied by the migration of a large group of Turkic-speaking clans and clans, these groups often settled in the northern half of Iran.. In terms of enjoying political supremacy and special social rights, as well as the ethnic prejudice of the native people, they did not speak their language. This was generally a linguistic confrontation between the Iranian nation and a foreign nation. In this confrontation, the Persian language benefited With a huge and influential scientific and literary support, he never left the field empty for competitors . But the languages ​​and dialects of its family, which did not benefit from such support and scientific and literary richness, and were in contact with Turkish speakers like Tati Daim, were severely damaged, and in contrast to the foreign language, it gradually spread from house to house from one city to another. They continuously took a step back.

In the Islamic era, from the time when the first foundation stone of Persian literature was laid until today, the Persian language may not have been the language of the majority of the people of this country, but it was the official language and the manifestation of the nationality and unity of Iranians, and we are the only ones with this language, the tribes and clans scattered in the great Iran. We have been able to understand each other.

Currently, there are three languages ​​in Iran that are known as Persian, Turkish and Arabic . Because it is due to the emergence of different dialects and branching that different dialects such as Lori, Balochi, Kurdish, Gilki, Tati, Talshi and …. was born and again from each of them, other different dialects have emerged and come, which in the long term have generally distanced themselves from their origin and become influential and have become a mixture of Arabic, Turkish, English and … which tend to be destroyed over time, which factors such as passage of time, absence of literary language, geographical conditions, relations with theologians of other languages, new lexical needs of mass media are among the factors that affect the structure and quality of the language and in it These changes gradually lead to the multiplicity of accents .

Accents are separated like breaks in a floating surface and turn into spots or small islands that have the same substance and then gradually decay or give way to another powerful language..

Tat is a name that has been applied to a large part of the society of Greater Iran. The Tats are not one nation, nor one clan, nor one clan, but different groups of Iranians whose atlas is spread from Dagestan to Shirvan and Azerbaijan, Qazvin, Zanjan, Semnan, It includes Khorasan, Bojnord and some villages on the border line of Turkmenistan .

The language spoken by the groups known as Tat is so diverse and different from each other that despite being Iranian and having a lot in common, they are not included in a single language as dialects related to each other.. For example, the dialect spoken by the Tatts of Jergalan district of Bojnord and some border villages of Turkmenistan with the Tatts of Takstan and Blok Zahra and Ramand on the one hand, or the Tatts around Marand, Khalkhal and Zanjan on the other hand, and all these with Tati of the Caucasus is so different that each of these has that difference with Persian, Gilki and Kurdish, therefore the name Tat is not related to the ethnic and linguistic origin of this part or the Iranian society, and undoubtedly in the distant past, in all of Iran. In ancient times, they had other names and were of different ethnic and linguistic composition .

Therefore, the historical study of the word "tat" is important in several ways :

۱- It shows the different meaning of Tat in different historical periods .

۲- It shows the historical progress of the Turkish language from the west to the east, especially during the Safavid period and after that .

۳- It indicates that the current Tati language with different dialects was the common language of Azerbaijan and Iran .

۴- It represents the common infrastructure of Iranian languages ​​in the territory of Greater Iran, which is evidenced by the remains of the Tati language islands of Azerbaijan and Zanjan and the western regions. .

۵- It deals with the historical introduction of one of the most original languages ​​of Iran, and in addition to introducing the Tati language, it also introduces the people who speak this language. .

Therefore, the word "tat" has reached us from two linguistic sources : One is the ancient Persian language and the other is the Turkish language . Tat is used as a suffix in the ancient language, but Tat in Turkish Zabat means foreigner or foreigner. . After the presence of the Turks in the eastern lands of Iran, the Iranians under the domination of the Turks were called Tat, although with the greater dominance of the Turks, Tat took on a broader meaning. . But the people of Iran, with their cultural talent and historical background, changed the meaning of Tat from the concept of alien and foreign to the meaning of Iranians and people of the pen, so that during the Safavid period, Iranian society was divided into two groups of swordsmen. (Turks ) And the people of the pen (Tata and Tajik )was divided.

Although Tat and Tajik and their different representations were used for Iranians, it cannot be said that the meanings of Tat and Tajik were completely equal. . Because the meaning that Turkish dictionaries and dictionaries and the concepts given by European travel writers of these two words, as well as the Persian silence of Iranian writers, regarding the use of the word tat, are evidences and reasons that show a slight difference in the meaning and concept of these two words. and probably the word tat was more negative in terms of meaning and connotation than Tajik, and that is why the word tat was used in only five cases in the past Persian texts. . And certainly two of them were due to poetic necessity . But the word Tajik can be seen in various Persian texts .

Anyway, with the fall of the Safavid dynasty and over time, this demarcation of the Iranian society - Tats (Tajiks) and the Turks - disappeared and the language of the people of each region was also called by the name of the same state or region, such as : Lori, Gilki, Talshi, Mazandarani, Kurdi, Mashhadi, etc…. While the language of the big cities in northwestern Iran was changed to Turkish ( Of course, this change of language has been done gradually since the time of the Seljuks and the Safavids ) But the semi-languages ​​of northwest Iran, which were common in scattered villages and settlements, are called Tati language in some areas under the name of the same villages - such as Harzani and… They were read - the author of the history of Media writes about this language : Tati, like Talshi, Mazandarani, and Gilki, is a remnant of the Indo-European language, which was originally an Eastern Madian language, and in terms of the lexical origin of these dialects, the Persian contribution is extremely high. . But this language has completely preserved its material basis . In these last sixty years, researches have been conducted in Iran to introduce these Iranian languages, and Ahmed Kasravi was the first person to act in this field. . He called these scattered half-languages ​​of northwestern Iran "Azeri" and others as Tati, Harzni, Madi, Talshi, Kurdish and….. They have mentioned it.

Therefore, "Tat" is a Turkish word, which was first used for non-Turkish people in Turkic regions, then it was applied to all Iranians. . Even now, the remnants of the western languages ​​of Iran are mostly called "Tati" and the people who speak this language are called "Tat". .

Elsewhere, Pitrod Lavaleh describes Qashon Shah Abbas as such:

Iran's army is composed of four divisions, and in order of importance, I will start with the lowest of them, the gunners, which the Shah tried to form not long ago on the advice of the Englishman Anthony Shirley. .

The riflemen are of pure Iranian race, whose housing and equipment are in cities and villages, and because they receive salaries throughout the year, they have to report to the service immediately whenever their existence is needed. . The nobles, that is, Qezalbash, do not enter this category. In fact, its people are only serfs. The word "tat" is also applied to serfs.. In Farsi, when they say tat, it means that the party is from the noble class (be funny) is not . But in reality, they are more original than Qazalbash, because the last-mentioned group have only imposed themselves by force of arms since the time of Shah Ismail Sufi, and while the Tats are of Iranian origin and constitute the real inhabitants of this land, and many of The nobles and the rich and some mirzas and in general those who for some reason are not part of the regular corps or do not have official or government jobs are classified as "tats". . Riflemen are also part of the "Tat" class and usually come from villages and towns.

Among the riflemen, the Mazandarans have distinguished themselves and they were the ones who defended the fortress of Yerevan two years ago against the Shah's wishes in Armenia, and Mohammad Pasha, who had attacked the Turkish general with 200 or even 300 thousand men, after a few days of war. Westies defeated . Currently, there are about 20,000 riflemen in Iran's armed forces, and because they are from the "tats", they do not wear the Qazlbash crown and wear a simple turban. .

Pietro de Lavalle writes elsewhere :

Today his reliance (king Abbas ) Tat gunners and especially slaves who are increasing in power day by day and are appointed to high positions. …The Shah chooses almost all the ministers, secretaries and other officials from among the "tats" and has concentrated military jobs in the hands of slaves or their children. (P. 350).

And the other thing is that Engelbert Kaempfer also wrote his travelogue in the eleventh chapter :"The common language of the Iranian court is Turkish, which is the mother tongue of the Safavid dynasty, and this language is different from the language of the common people of the country."

It is written in the topic "Iranian army and its commander".:

… This special hat of the Safavid Sufis caused them to be called "Qizlbash" by the Turks, that is, those with red heads. . It is true that the Turks meant insult by using this word, but the Qazalbash considered this name a source of pride. . In this way, the Qazalbash are proud of being harsh and look down on the native people of this land whom they call Tajik or Tazik or generally "Tat". .

Gunners, Gunner Ler Agassi (The commander of the riflemen ) which is commanded by a force composed of Iranian peasants and artisans, has the third rank in Iran's army .

But in another narration from Sanson's travelogue, this is stated :

this hat (the crown) It is highly respected by everyone because it is said that this hat belongs to the twelve imams. . All houses and Qezalbash wear this hat on greeting days and ceremonies .

But the "Tats", who are a country, cannot wear this hat. Also, the current Etimad al-Dawlah, who is not one of the Lashgari Khans, does not wear this hat.

The Tats are the local natives of Iran, and the Ghazalbash, which means "gold-headed" or "red-headed" are the army. . Qazalbash are from the lineage of slaves

It means that they were originally slaves or they are from the nations that took refuge in Iran. Many Qazalbash came to Iran from Damascus and Hungary.. It should be mentioned that the Shahsons and other Turkic-speaking peoples of Azerbaijan call city dwellers and villagers "Tat". .

Gholamhossein Saedi writes :

…City dwellers, or as the Shahsuns call them, "tats", who had nothing to do but eat, sleep, and save. …(the street- ص۷۷)…A very famous poem written by an unknown poet from Qara Darvish named Ghafar many years ago is a debate between Shahsun and Tat, in which Tat invites Shahsun to settle and comfort in the city and home, and Shahsun defends the blessing and pleasure of living in a tent. He does not like urbanization . Tat Dedi E Shahson Gol Bo Kuchmagadan Utan - rest Otur Mindar Swaichmagadan Utan(That is, Tat said, O Shahsun, come and pass through Koch - come and settle down and be free from drinking polluted water .

In this debate between Tat and Shahsun, Donkete Baniyadi draws attention, first of all, Tat is called a city and a village by Shahsun. . This term remembers the same meaning and concept seven hundred years ago that the Andalusian Abuhians in the book "Al-Adrak Lalsan Al-Atrak" and the author of "Tohfa Al-Zakiyeh Fi Al-Lagheh Al-Turkiyeh" used the words "Tait" and "Tat" to mean city dwellers and farmers. . Second, nomads, especially Turks, avoid cities, which in itself tells about the differences between the Turkish and Tat dialects and the disharmony between urban and rural areas, and reminds us of the famous Turkish proverb that says : "Torke Shahraichi of Gelir prison" means he stays inside the city to leave the prison.

If we skip the simile and the debate and look carefully at the tools of today's Azerbaijani farmers, we can see that in all these tools, they are from the words and names of the past, that is, "Tat = Farsi speakers" like :Kodkhoda, Variar, Rashbar(sufferer) , Gardener, Mirao, Shepherd, Chodar, Padar, Rami, Plow, Seed, Plow, Jute (Pair) threshing floor (the shoulder) Jarjar, Javal, Bagh, Garden (the grove ) Bostan, shovel, spade, Dan Av, Khak Av, Shor Av, Kushan, Verzan, Grass, Hyacinth and…

Jalal Al Ahmad also writes: Although other villages of Zahra block (which I have often visited and made general studies ) People speak Turkish, but for example in "Khotan" and "Mashgin" and "Chisgin" agricultural tools and their special modifications are still in "Tati" language. .(ص۱۹).

However, the Tats are an Iranian tribe that mainly live on the western shores of the Caspian Sea and East Azerbaijan, the language and dialect spoken by the Tats has expanded a lot in ancient times, objective evidence and researches that have been conducted have shown that It says that at one time it included all the people of Azerbaijan, Qazvin and Tarmat, as it was said later with the spread of Turkish language, Tati was gradually removed and only the inhabitants of several settlements in this ancient land and vast country spoke this language. They have maintained it until today .

There are no accurate statistics on the current number of Tats, but today they live in small islands in different parts of the great country of Iran, including in Zanjan and Shahrodakhal provinces, several settlements in Gilan River, Shall, Sfarorin and other settlements in Qazvin and Takestan, Harzand and Karingan. and Glin Qiyeh in Marand, Zenur and Hasnou in Qara Dagh and a few villages in Bojnord and many masses scattered in Karaj, Shahr Quds, Islamshahr and other cities of Iran, as well as part of the residents of the Abshuran peninsula, Sohurani, Balakhani, Baku, Shamakhi areas And Karba, Qonakh, Kand, Diuchi, Khazi and other parts of former Soviet Azerbaijan, as well as Darband region and some other regions of Dagestan, Kaitaku, and Tabsran in the former Soviet Union are also Tat residents..

According to the statistics of 1362 AH in the former Soviet Union, the number of Tats in that country was nearly eleven thousand. . And this is while they were much more in Iran, because only in the settlements of Esbo, Eskistan, Daru, Klor, Shall, Diz, Lord, Kern, and Gilvan and Shahrud Khalkhal, without taking into account other places, there are almost 40,000 settlers. People were speaking Tati language in 1353 AH.

It is worth mentioning that Iranian researchers have spent little time on the language and culture of the Tat people. Ahmad Kasravi, while conducting a detailed research on Azeri, the language of the Azerbaijanis before the conquest of the Turkic peoples, identified and wrote modern Tati as the last relic of that bright language.:

"Azeri did not suddenly disappear from Azerbaijan, and it is still spoken in several places among the natives themselves, and what we know is that one of those places is Harzand and Glin Qiyeh in the vicinity of Marand, and the other is Zenur and Hasnou in Qara Dagh and Khalkhal.… As we have heard, it was known in Liqvan and its surroundings until sixty-seventy years ago, and it was discussed in families, but then it disappeared..

In terms of reference works, our hands and wings are not very open, but there are books such as Azeris or the ancient language of Azerbaijan by Ahmad Kasravi, Azari dialect by Anarjani, Harzand and Kringan Khalkhal, a dialect of Azari, by Abdul Ali Karang, Ancient language of Azerbaijan by Manouchehr. Mortazavi and some short articles by Ehsan Yar Shater, and works by Yahya Zaka and Rahim Malekzadeh, which can be referred to in order to get familiar with the Tats and the Tati language, but in the Soviet Union, significant works have been done on the Tati language and culture. As even the Tati languages ​​of that country have and have had their own script and script, in the last forty or fifty years, relatively many books and compositions have been published in the Tati language, for example, we can refer to the poems and plays of- Bakhshi F. born in 1910, poems and stories of D. Anti-Louf born in 1913 and legends of Kh- He named his brother F . In 1940, a collection of Tati popular culture was printed and published. There is still not much information about the historical background and evolution of Tati. In his book Azari or the ancient language of Azerbaijan, Ahmad Kasravi called the language of the people of that land before the arrival of the Turks and the spread of the dominant Turkish language and culture as Azari, and he introduced the current Tati as a continuation and survivor of Azari, and this indicates It is that most of the current Turkish Azeri are Turkic Tats.

Russian researchers believe that the word "tat" originally did not refer to a race or tribe, but the desert tribes, who were mostly Turks, called the Iranian-speaking Piseh and Thatha Qapo agricultural people, whom they had subjugated, "tat"..

Tati is actually the same Pahlavi language that was called Tati due to the passage of time and the events of the times. However, Tati today is like most other languages, a concoction made up of various languages.

The text is taken from Tat research database