Gorgan Plain is situated along the Caspian Sea coastline, but rises above the sea-level as we go toward the east side of the plain. To its north is a vast low region that stretches as far as Turkmenistan and to its south lie the eastern parts of Alborz mountains, which has peaks exceeding 3,000 meters. According to Iranchamber website, the mountainous region situated to the east of Gorgan Plain includes villages and districts of Kalaleh, Goli Dagh, Ghara Bolkhan, Torveh Tappeh and Hesarche. The region where Iranian Turkmans live, called Turkman Sahra, is located to the south of Atrak River.

Tribal Roots
Turkmans arrived from Central Asia and live under various social and natural conditions.
According to ancient narratives, the head of Turkmans was a person called Aghooz Khan, who is regarded in Turkman myths as Adam. Another point worthy of mention in these myths is the reference made to Noah and his three sons. In the Turkmans’ family tree, we come across names like Tatar, Turk, etc. who were descendants of a tribal leader named Alinje Khan.
Marriage in the tribal system plays an important role due to the need for manpower. Women play a big role, as they make felt, spin wool, weave carpets and cloths, milk cows and sheep, prepare dairy products for the family, build cottages and help men in cultivation, maintenance and harvesting of agricultural products. And, most important of all, they give birth to children and help their husbands in other activities too.
For the same reason, elaborate and glorious ceremonies and rites are observed in the case of courting and marriage.
Marriage Ceremonies
Sport contests, including horse racing and wrestling, are performed by men while adolescents dance and some groups sing songs.
As the wedding ceremony is important among Turkmans, it would be appropriate to describe its stages.
The ceremony is usually held in an open space and string instruments are played. Men and women celebrate separately. As guests come from far-off places, celebrations continue for two or three days, so that everybody gets an opportunity to participate.
The men’s assembly begins with the playing of a double-stringed instrument and flute, and a kind of soup called shurva is consumed.
The bride is taken to the bridegroom’s house in kajaveh (kind of pannier used in pairs on camels or mules). When taking the kajaveh, 30 horsemen ride alongside each of whom with a piece of cloth 1.5 meters long strung from his horse to indicate his tribe.
Before the bride mounts the kajaveh, her mother sprinkles white flour as a sign of good luck. Then the kajaveh moves along. At this time, agile horsemen move toward the bridegroom’s house to announce the news about the bride’s departure. Whoever gets first to the bridegroom’s house receives a prize, which is a kind of shawl hung round the neck of the horse. This kind of race is now called desert race.
When the bride moves toward the bridegroom’s house, handkerchiefs are waved in the sky and songs are sung. The guests are then entertained.
Traditional Sports
The main sport in Turkmans’ life is horse racing. Turkman horse riders start their career from the age of 5, that is from the time they can sit on a horse.
In addition to horse racing, wrestling is an important traditional sport of Turkmans. They practice this sport from a very young age and win awards for their villages and towns.
Turkman wrestling contest is an arena for showing one’s strength against known or unknown rivals. Weights of participants or time of contests are not taken into account. The two contestants continue their fights indefinitely until the final results are announced. The space of this contest is not limited and the wrestler is allowed to tackle his rival over a long area.
The most important point in this wrestling is that if the hand or knee or any part of the wrestler’s body, except his palm, touches the ground, the wrestler is declared the loser, and the referee will raise the other’s hand and will declare him the winner. A prize is usually awarded to the winner. In traditional Turkman wrestling, strong wrists and legs contribute to victory. Wrestling rarely ends in a draw.
If the shoulders or sides of the two champions touch the ground at the same time, the match will end in `chal’ or draw and the hands of the two will be raised as winners. Any prize envisaged for this purpose will be divided equally between the two.
Wrestling is held during religious festivities, weddings, circumcisions and other happy occasions. As a sign of vow or dedication, the recipient ties the handkerchief and touches it on his forehead.
In Turkman Sahra, all weddings and celebrations end in horse racing and wrestling. These events are, in fact, the main elements of celebrations.

Head of the Research Center of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Taha Hashemi said a Persian Gulf archeology conference will be held at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom on June 30.
Iranian and foreign archeologists from the UK and Italy will attend the event.
The two-day conference is aimed at presenting the latest archeological achievements that prove Iran’s sovereignty over the Persian Gulf since thousands of years.
Hashemi also said that a report on 100 years of archeology in Iran will soon be published in the form of a book, noting that future excavations by ICHHTO will focus on gaps in Iranian history.
“Services of all foreign and Iranian archeologists familiar with the subject will be utilized. Iranian and foreign archeologists have conducted many excavations related to Iranian history, but they are in bits and pieces. After completing all existing reports, Iranian history will be rewritten,“ he said.

Iran’s National Orchestra is characterized by the use of both Iranian and international musical instruments. It appears to be a newly-established body, but it did not emerge instantaneously and has had a colorful origin.
The Orchestra of Okhovvat (Brotherhood) Institute was first established by Golamhossein Darvish, known as Darvish Khan, who mentioned the spiritual need to compose music.
According to Iranchamber website, Darvish had an inborn gift for music and preoccupied himself with innovative musical compositions for around eight years until his untimely demise.
The Orchestra of Higher Musical Institute was formed in 1924 by Maestro Alinaqi Vaziri. Guided by scientific foundations and the spirit of traditional Iranian music, the orchestra performed for several years.
The Orchestra of Iran’s National Institute formed by Ruhollah Khaleqi in 1944 also made considerable achievements, the most significant of which was its denial of claims that classical music is the most impressive music worldwide.
Ruhollah Khaleqi later founded the National Music Institute, whose graduates gained great success in performing music across the country as well as at the international level.

Farhad Fakhreddini conducts a National Orchestra performance in Tehran.

New Orchestras
Four orchestras were formed at Iran’s Fine Arts Department in 1956, two of which lasted longer. Radmard Orchestra was conducted by Maestro Mostafa Pour-Torab for a while, and after Maestro Saba passed away, Saba Orchestra was conducted by Maestro Hossein Dehlavi under the same name until 1968. It went on to perform for three more years after being renamed Rudaki Orchestra.
Golha Orchestra was initiated by the late Davoud Pirnia and in cooperation with maestros such as Saba, Tajvidi, Khaledi, Mahjoubi and others in 1956. However, it started to flourish after 1961 when Maestro Khaleqi and Maestro Ma’roufi made many changes and left behind a worthwhile collection of musical performances in Radio Iran’s archive once they rearranged and performed the musical works of the past and present music maestros.
Farabi Orchestra, founded by the late Morteza Hannaneh in 1963, was a symphonic orchestra that played mainly western instruments. But he rearranged and performed the musical works of Iranian composers in cooperation with other musicians and devised new ways of incorporating a variety of sounds into Iranian music. The orchestra lasted for six years.
Merger
Simultaneous with Farabi Orchestra, other orchestras such as Nakisa conducted by Mostafa Kasravi, Barbod conducted by Fereidoun Nasseri and Habibollah Badi’i, and the Radio Orchestra conducted by Iraj Golsorkhi was also formed in 1968.
Once Iran’s radio and television were incorporated into a single body in 1972, the Iranian Radio and Television Orchestra as well as all the orchestras of Radio Iran, including Golha, Nakisa, Barbod and Farabi, fell apart and a single orchestra was formed under the management of Fereidoun Nasseri. It later performed under the guidance of Morteza Hannaneh for six months. It was then conducted by Farhad Fakhreddini during 1973-79 which, besides recording musical pieces of Iranian musicians, performed local concerts as well.
Eventually in 1998, some high-ranking authorities and officials in charge of the Music Center, affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, formed Iran’s National Orchestra under the leadership of Farhad Fakhreddini.
The orchestra is still active and, despite its short lifespan, seems to have achieved dazzling success.

Deputy head of Isfahan’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department for traditional arts and handicrafts said that efforts are underway to register the aret of making handicrafts of Isfahan’s Imam Square as intangible cultural heritage.
Speaking to ISNA, Ahmad Adib added, “Based on an agreement between Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) concluded in March, the traditional arts practiced at Imam Square must be registered as intangible cultural heritage.“
The notion of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) emerged in the 1990s, as a counterpart to the World Heritage that focuses mainly on tangible aspects of culture. By definition, ICH or living heritage are the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills-as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces that the communities, groups and in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. The intangible cultural heritage is transmitted from generation to generation and is constantly recreated by communities in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history.
Adib noted that specialized groups for pursuing the issue have been specified and the guidelines for registry of the works in UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage have been compiled.
“After identification certificates for handicrafts of Imam Square, such as inlaid works, engravings and enameling are prepared, they will be sent to the State Directorate for Registry of Cultural Heritage, which will in turn coordinate with UNESCO for registration of the arts as intangible heritage,“ he concluded.