Yaylak

[4] According to Karl Heinrich Menges, who studied and witnessed the nomadic lifestyle of the Turkic Qashqai tribe in Iran, "[t]ribes in their summer encampments (jajłaγ), and not on the move (köç).

[6] A number of scholars have suggested that yaylak pastoralism has ancient roots in Neolithic West Asia, alleging that already in the seventh millennium B.C.

"[7] Yaylak pastoralism enables people occupied with agriculture in specific ecological zones to use other areas as seasonal pastures when they are at their most productive.

[3] Another explanation of the yaylak's importance and position in today's agriculture is given by recent research: "Because it is semiarid, large parts of the Middle East traditionally have been given over to a mode of livelihood that combines the extensive cultivation of crops such as wheat and barley with sheep and goat herding.

In light of the environmental variability in pasture quality from year to year, however, ownership and control of particular locations and resources such as summer and winter pastures (ailoq and qhishloq) and seasonal cisterns (yekhdon) brought about various forms of social interactions, such as trading of resources, political alliances, and land rental, to meet the needs of domesticated herds.

[12] Another source provides additional background on yaylak pastoralism in Iran and Caucasus: "The seminomads live in a valley or on a plain in winter and in the highlands during the summer.

All along the Zagros mountain range from Azerbaijan to the Arabian Sea, pastoral tribes move back and forth with their herds every year between their home in the valley and the one in the foothills.