ABSTRACT
In the latter half of the nineteenth century when the means and methods of modernizing Iran became a widely discussed subject among the educated and reform-minded elite of Iran, the ‘question of the Tribes’ became one of the main topics within this debate. The ‘disruptive’ effects of tribal life, with a large section of the population roaming the country in search of pasture and the ensuing pillage and disorder, was cited as one of the most important causes of Iran’s decay and decline.
