VICTORIA ARAKELOVA

UNIVERSITY OF YEREVAN

THE SIYĀH-GĀLESH AND DEITY PATRONS OF

CATTLE AMONG NEW IRANIAN PEOPLES

ABSTRACT
Pre-Islamic elements abound in the folk pantheons of the Iranian peoples, despite the
prevalence of the Muslim Weltanschauung. This phenomenon is especially typical in the
Southern Caspian area, where the people are known for their conservative way of
thinking and adherence to the customs and traditions of their forefathers. The mythology
of the Talishis, a community of Gilân, has preserved a curious character, the Black
Shepherd (Siyāh Gālesh), the patron deity of cattle. Similar characters can be found in
many other Iranian folk pantheons : The Yezidis have the cult of Gāvāne Zarā (n) and
Mame shivān, the Lurs worship Namad-kāl.
Keywords : Folk beliefs, Pre-Islamic elements, patron deity, cattle; Siyāh Gālesh,
Talish, Gilan.

RESUME
Les composants pré-islamiques abondent dans le panthéon populaire iranien en dépit
de la prééminence de la Weltanschauung islamique. Ce phénomène est particulièrement
caractéristique dans les provinces caspiennes dont la population a toujours conservé
d’anciens modes de pensée et des coutumes ancestrales. La mythologie des Tâleshi du
Gilân comprend le curieux personnage du Berger noir (Siyāh-Gālesh), divinité protectrice
du bétail. Ce type de personnage se retrouve dans le panthéon d’autres populations
iraniennes comme les Yezidis qui ont le culte de Gāvāne Zarzā(n) et de Mame shivân, et
les Lurs celui de Namad-kāl.
Mots clés : Croyances populaires, éléments pré islamiques, divinité protectrice,
bétail, Siyāh Gālesh, Tâlesh, Gilân.

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CAHIERS DE STUDIA IRANICA 27 (2003), pp. 173-178

174 V. ARAKELOVA

In primitive religions and especially among peoples with a developed

cattle-breeding culture, the brightest characters of pantheons are usually
the deity patrons of domestic animals, mainly cattle.
Ancient mythology has preserved an extremely vivid image of the
Greek Pan and his old-Roman equivalent Faun. Playful Pan – the holy
patron of herds, forests and fields, as any chthonic character, is
ambivalent. With the same enthusiasm, he patronizes the primordial, in
particular destructive powers of earth, and one of his favourite
amusements is to raise a panic.
In folk beliefs and traditions of the Iranian peoples, despite the
prevalence of the deep-rooted Islamic world-view, a profound research can
reveal a series of similar characters – remnants of the pre-Islamic religious
consciousness.
This phenomenon, which is typical for the highlands of Iran and for the
Near East, finds its most graphic reverberation in the Southern Caspian
area, which population, from time immemorial, has been notable for their
conservative way of thinking and adherence to the customs and traditions
of their forefathers. This fact was specially emphasized even in early
Muslim historiography (Inostrantsev :110-135).
The conservative, religious-ethnic local substratum subjected the new
religion to various transformations, shaping it in its own, extraordinary for
the orthodox, way. In certain cases, this phenomenon is conspicuous in the
cults of deity patrons of cattle. Taking into consideration a very limited
number of the latter ones, they undoubtedly present a special interest.

THE SIYĀH GĀLESH OF TĀLESH

The mythology of the Talishis, a community of Gilan, on the Southern
and Western coast of the Caspian Sea (Bazin 1980) - has preserved a
curious character – the Black Shepherd – Siyāh Gālesh, the patron and
guard of all cows. In the Caspian dialects the word gālesh means “a
shepherd of neat cattle”; to denote a shepherd of small cattle they use the
word kurd. The form gālesh has no convincing etymology, although its
first element (gā) most probably goes back to OIr. gāwa – ”a cow”.
Patronizing cows, Siyāh Gālesh constantly accompanies herds wherever
they pasture and punishes unruly animals bringing trouble to the other
cows or to shepherds.
Siyāh Gālesh chastises the culprit in the following manner: the cow is
driven into the earth with its horns; its four legs are above. Giving
incentives to diligent shepherds or anyone who please him, Siyāh Gālesh
presents them a small rope, which is said to bring luck and to advantage
the surplus stock.
 THE SIYÂH GÂLESH 175

Among the eastern Talishis, most of whom are Shi’its, the same
character is represented as Xidir-Nabi (Abdoli :189-190) endowed
simultaneously with some characteristics of three Christian saints: St.
George, St. Serge and St. Elijah (Papazian).
Sadeq Hedayat (1958 :321), the prominent Iranian writer, describes
Siyāh Gālesh as a wild shepherd who almost never contacts people. He is
pasturing wild cows in the place bearing his name. He, who dares hunt in
this area, where no one can ever injure animals, will face the retribution of
the Black shepherd. Such people, the tradition says, are usually found dead
the day after, and some of them who manage to escape death, are always
pursued by misfortune. Actually, this is the only attestation of Siyāh
Gālesh in literature, except, perhaps, the above-mentioned recent book of
Abdoli. All later mentions of Siyāh Gālesh refer to the information
gathered by Sadeq Hedayat (Massé :365-366, Christensen :86).
Such a rare and specific character with concrete functions, of course,
must have been transformed from older Indo-Iranian beliefs. The Avestan
Gathas, particularly Yasht 29, tell about Gaushurvan - “the soul of a cow”.
This name is often applied to Yasht 29 itself, which is a story about how
the soul of a cow is complaining to Ahuramazda about the mistreatment of
warriors (Colpe :355-357). This story, which in general preserved the old
Indo-Iranian sujet (there were plenty of similar ones both in ancient India
and Iran) and later attested in Pahlavi texts, is notable for the fact that
Prophet Zoroaster himself took patronage over cattle.
Of course, the direct genetic parallel between Gaushurvan and Siyāh
Gālesh would look superficial; we could rather speak about the
representation of a certain common religious motif typical for Indo-
Iranians, mainly for cattle-breeding peoples.

DEITY PATRONS IN IRANIAN CULTURE

Similar characters are attested in the religious conceptions of the
Yezidis – the ethno-confessional Kurdish-speaking group, practicing a
specific syncretic religion, a kind of combination of Islamic mysticism
with some elements of Christianity and Near Eastern cults. The deity
patrons of small cattle, defending herds from wild animals, thieves, evil
eye or diseases, are a matter of vital interest for this traditionally cattle-
breeding people. All the mentioned above functions are within the
authorities of Gāvānē Zarzā(n) and Māmē Shivān. The cult of the latter is
more clearly presented in prayer formula, probably, due to the prevalence
of small cattle.
Mamē šivān puštīvānē taba.
May Māmē Shivān protect you (lit. be your patron).
176 V. ARAKELOVA

or
Du’āē Mamē shivān sar mālē taba.
May the blessing of Māmē Shivān be on your home.
The significance of Māmē Shivān is also confirmed by the fact, that his
name became an eponym for some families of pirs, the religious caste with
the Yezidis, as well as a toponym. The name is the same as a village in
Sheikhana, one of the Yezidi shrines, which is also called Small Lalesh, by
analogy with Lalesh, the main religious and pilgrimage centres of the
Yezidis (Kreyenbroek :111).
The cultic value of Gāvānē Zarzā(n) and Māmē Shivān is distinctly
traced in the celebration ceremony of the Yezidi New Year, A’ydā sar-
sāle, which takes place on the first Wednesday of April, according to the
old style. A small bead or a coin is put into the dough of the New Year pie
– kulučē sarē sāle (totk-ē sarē sāle), which is supposed to be divided
between the deity patrons of the household and the members of the family,
except babies and the children who still do not distinguish between
righteousness and sin (xēr u guna). Thus, the pie is divided between xatâ
jot (lit. “the line of a plough, a furrow”) – the deity patron of agriculture,
xudânē mâlē – the deity of the household, increasing wealth, Māmē
Shivān and Gāvānē Zarzā(n) – the deities of correspondingly small and
neat cattle, mālxwē māle – the head of the family, kavānya mālē – the
housewife, etc. Depending on whose slice contains the bead, either one of
the deities will be exclusively gracious to the household during the coming
year, or one of the family members will be especially lucky1.
A legend about Gāvānē Zarzā(n) also exists among the Yezidis of
Armenia (Asatrian-Poladian 1989): Sheikh Adi, a Yezidi saint and,
according to the Yezidi tradition, the founder of the first Yezidi
community, once was receiving guests – the members of his community.
Everybody came with a proper gift and got the Sheikh’s blessings and the
corresponding plenary powers. Gāvānē Zarzā(n), a poor shepherd, brought
a barley pie, the only thing he had. Having approached the apartment of
Sheikh Adi, he felt ashamed and did not dare come in. He stood in
hesitation, hiding the pie under his dressing. However, clairvoyant Sheikh
Adi turned to him saying:
“Don’t be afraid! Your modest gift is more precious to me than a whole
cow. I am blessing you and from now on be the protector of cows, may
your patronage be upon the herd of my people”.
The patron deity of cattle among the Lurs, which, no doubt, has the
common Iranian roots with Siyah-Galesh and the mentioned Yezidi gods,

1 From the field materials of the author, Archive of the Caucasian Centre for Iranian Studies,
Yerevan.
 THE SIYÂH GÂLESH 177

is called Namad-kāl. The name means, most probably, “a felt hat”, since
the favourite head-dress among the male population of Luristan and
Bakhtyaris is a cauldron-shaped hat.
According to the tradition existing among the nomads of Eastern
Luristan, Namad-kāl, a powerful shepherd, protects cattle from wild
animals, brings lost cows to their owners, and looks after the herds of
pious shepherds in their absence (Gudarzi :103).
In the neighbourhood of the Iranian world, a peculiar interest is
presented by the Armenians of Van province, where people tell the legend
of Tavri chilut (lit. the naked man of the cattle). According to the legend,
Tavri chilut wanders from one village to another as a naked silent person,
infecting animals with pestilence. This demon is not exorcised even with
the sign of the cross, and the only salvation from him is to offer a ship in
sacrifice and a church service (Asatrian :60). Taking into consideration the
above mentioned ambivalent nature of such characters, we can assume,
that Tavri chilut could be tansformed from the older, lost prototype,
probably even called in a different way and, why not, having protected
cattle. In favour of the once devine nature of this personage speaks also the
very fact of the mentioned sacrifice, which in ancient times, could be
offered to the deity-patron himself.
As for Siyāh Gālesh, a really dramatic figure, with such ambivalent
characteristics and, at the same time, such important plenary powers, and
therefore worthy of a key role in one of the brightest Iranian myths, the
Black Shepherd is just a small constituent of the richest pre-Islamic
religious and Weltanschauung heritage, partially irretrievably lost and
sometimes fragmentarily preserved in the most intimate corners of the
people’s consciousness.

BIBLIOGRAHY

Abdoli, A., 1991. Tāleshihā Kistand? Tehran.

Asatrian, G.S. 1999. Devern u divakan ashxarhe Hayastanum ew Iranum. Yerevan.
Asatrian,G. S., and Poladian A.P., 1989. Ezdineri davanank'e. (Himnakan
astvacut'junnere. Surb grk'ere). PBH 4 :131-150.
Bazin, M., 1980. Le Tâlech, une région ethnique au nord de l’Iran. Paris, ADPF, 2 vol.
Christensen , A., 1941. Essai sur la démonologie iranienne. Copenhagen.
Colpe C., (ed.), 1986. “Altiranische und Zoroastrische Mythologie”, in: Götter and
Mythen der Kaukasischen und Iranischen Völker. Stuttgart :161-507.
Gudarzi H., 1996. Simā-ye 'ashāyer-e sharq-e lorestān. Tehran.
Hedayat S.,1958.= Xedajat. Neirangestan. (perevod s persidskogo N.A. Kisljakova),
Peredneaziatskij ètnografičeskij sbornik, Moskva-Leningrad :259-336.
Inostrantsev, K.A., 1909. Sasanidskie ètjudy. Sankt-Peterburg.
178 V. ARAKELOVA

Kreyenbroek, Philip G., 1995. Yezidism. Its background, observances and textual
tradition. Lewiston.
Massé H., 1937. Croyances et coutumes persanes. Paris, 2 vol.
Papazian, A. A., 1986. „Al-Xidr i Ilija : Mifologičeskie istoki analogij”, in: Palestinskij
Sbornik 28, 91, Leningrad :89-97.

ADDENDUM

Since the time of the SIE Conference in Paris, where this paper was delivered, another,
more comprehensive article on Siyāh-Gālesh appeared, which was based on newly
recorded field materials from Gilan and Mazandaran. See: G. Asatrian. “The Lord of
Cattle from Gilan”, in: Iran and the Caucasus: the Research Papers from the Caucasian
Centre for Iranian Studies, Yerevan, vol. 6, BRILL, Leiden, 2002, pp. 75-87.

Victoria ARAKELOVA
Caucasian Centre for Iranian Studies
State University of Yerevan
Khorenatsi str., 26
375010 Yerevan. Armenia
caucas@infocom.am