Abstract

This article is available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license as part of Berghahn Open Anthro, a subscribe-to-open model for APC-free open access made possible by the journal’s subscribers. Case Study e ‘ Th Deep Believer’ 30 Years On, 1926–2008 Reinhold L. Loeffler In my book Islam in Practice (1988), I showed the great variety of religious beliefs in Sisakht, a village of Luri-speaking tribal people in the province of Kohgiluye/Boir Ahmad in Iran. I gave one of the 21 men I presented, Mr. Husseinkhan Sayadi, the epithet ‘Deep Believer’ to reflect his firm belief in God and Shi’a traditions. We became close friends, and revisiting his life again 14 years ae ft r his death, I will continue to use his first name to reflect and honour our friendship. e B Th oir Ahmad tribe is one of six large tribes in the province of Kohgiluye/ Boir Ahmad in the southeastern part of the Zagros Mountains in Southwest Iran. It had a paramount khan and consisted of several patrilineally organised sub-tribes headed by chiefs, called kadkhoda, who oen ft feuded amongst them - selves over land and power and demanded increasingly higher tributes from their tribesmen.