Pursuing Jafar Qoli: From Shah Jahan to Hezar Masjed

Qolamreza Azari Khakestar
Translated by: Natalie Haghverdian

2015-8-29

Oral literature has suffered oblivion especially amongst those groups and tribes that most of their history, literature and culture have been transferred from one generation to another in the form of popular story narrations. Recording culture and oral history prevents its destruction and preserves this invaluable heritage for future generations.

Kalim Ollah Tohidi, scholar and historian of Kurmanji culture and literature is a pioneer in recording oral history of nomadic tribes in North Khorassan. He has dedicated 19 years of his life to study the oral history of Kurmanj which have been narrated since Qajar dynasty. Birth and life of Jafar Qoli Zangoli, poet of Kurmanj language is unknown; he has mystical and romantic poetry which form most of the oral literature of Kurds in North Khorassan. His life and thoughts can be traced in his poetry. Describing historical events, life of Imams and romance are prominent features of his poetry which are the wealth of Kurmanji culture and oral literature.

Considering that there was a time gap between when these poetries were created and then recorded, they have transformed into narrated stories. When little is known about a character people start characterizing him and even in the stories narrated from him, sometimes myth overcomes narration.

Tohidi describes his fascination in studying Jafar Qoli Zangoli as: it was 1971 when I resigned the police academy. The next year I started Literature and Islamic Studies academy in Mashhad and it was when I found time to seriously investigate Jafar Qoli; however, I didn’t find anything in any book, magazine or newspaper. Soon I realized that in order to pursue his traces I have to go to interested rural and nomad elders. Using any opportunity, I would collect my backpack and travel to mountains and deserts or anywhere else I thought there would be a trace of him. His traces were everywhere, from Shayjan Mountains to Hezar Masjed.

Tohidi describes Jafar Qoli not only to be a poet but a musician, linguist and mystic: he is a real mystic who has abandoned life and started his pursuit for “the one” Malvari, and lived his life in mountains and deserts.

Challenges of studying his work due to lack of any printed document convinces Tohidi to start field studies: researching such a genius where there were no book or hand writings was not easy since all that were coming to me were narratives full of  superstition which had their own trend in every village.

Author of “Kurds’ movement to Khorassan” in his search for Jafar Qoli’s work has recorded various narratives. In fact he has focused on culture and oral literature of Kurmanj Kurds in Khorassan. Before him, some others expressed interested to the poetry of Jafar Qoli; especially Ivanov is one of the first scholars who collected and published his work seventy years after his death.

Tohidi interviewed those who knew poetry of Jafar Qoli by heart and also used the handwritings as he came across in various areas of Kurmanj. After field studies, he found 32 poems representing parts of his poetry. In fact he wasn’t searching only for Jafar Qoli’s poetry but his biography and oral narrations of his life. He believes that the process should have started thirty years before he did. In fact, after one century, most of his work is forgotten or survived with deviations. Hence the recorded narrations are a general overview of the incidents.

One of the recorded narratives is about Jafar Qoli’s visit to Layeen: the news said that Jafar Qoli has come to Layeen through Baban Valley from Tirgan and Zangalanlou to Heydar Qoli Morgan whose house was in Baban Valley. Heydar Qoli figured he was a beggar since his clothes where worn out and ragged. Then he realized he was Jafar Qoli.

In his research, Tohidi has followed signs; anywhere he heard the name of Jafar Qoli, he personally visited to conduct field studies. The works of Jafar Qoli as recorded in his poems have always been through mediators and narrated by public. Narration of people of Layeen, narrations of people from Gogan; each and every one of them helped to partially collect his poems. He describes that Layeen, where most of Jafar Qoli’s poems were recorded is the heart of his poems and his mystical culture has mostly touched the people of this area.

Long years after his death, what is collected is only a part of the work of this prominent poet of Kurmanj: this is not a comprehensive collection of Jafar Qoli’s poetry but it is the part that has survived as narrated from one generation to another.

This invaluable measure by Tohidi in recording the mystical poetry of Jafar Qoli has been an effort to partially revive the Kurmanji oral literature; and for the scholars and researchers to use it in their research and for students to apply them in their thesis.