Hello dearests!
Today, I want to put an end to a long-standing misconception: Being a nomad is not something to be ashamed of; on the contrary, it’s something to be proud of. For a long time, we’ve been familiar with the derogatory words of radical Armenian nationalists and Persian nationalists: Azerbaianis are inferior nomads. But is being a nomad really a bad thing? Decide for yourselves.
To tell the truth, nomads were looked down upon even in the times of the Romans. In fact, Cain, who killed his brother Abel, was punished with nomadism by God. So, what was the reason for the negative view of nomadism?
1) Nomads were not obedient; they had a rebellious, freedom-loving spirit. States could collect taxes from settled people, but it was very difficult to collect from nomads. For a nomad, freedom is everything.
2) Nomads were closer to an egalitarian social structure. They lived a communal life, helping each other as small communities.
3) Nomadic women had a more egalitarian role in the community. Therefore, they were seen as masculine and belittled by Westerners. Because nomadic women were riding horses, fighting, and governing the community.
Yes, because of these reasons, nomadism was demonized by the Roman Empire, which was misogynistic and highly focused on taxation. Frankly, as an Azerbaijani, I am proud to be a nomad known for their freedom, rebelliousness, and egalitarianism, and I wish we could still live as nomads today. Being nomadic is not something we should be ashamed of; on the contrary, it’s something we should be proud of. Just because the lifestyle, social structures, and art movements of nomads were different from settled societies doesn’t make them inferior.
https://i.redd.it/gbcnojwakurc1.jpeg
Posted by Leamsezadah
10 Comments
I’m particularly curious about the response of Armenian and Persian friends: why do you see being nomadic as something inferior?
Who the fuck is ashamed of having nomadic heritage?
Being nomadic is literally the pride of the Turks. This question is not understandable for the Turkic peoples
As if you have any control over the origins . It is what it is
It’s neither something to be ashamed or to be proud of. Anything that is centuries behind your existence falls into this category
Nomads builded our society.
Most people forget the fact that without nomads the human communities couldnt be able to interact and breed… how a farmer who supposed to work on his field 7/24 and keep an eye on it can travel and find other farmer communities?
There a period of genetic infertility in human history that started with farming revolution. Since nobody was moving around much and was only breeding with people from their own community. The genetic diversity of humanity was going shit.
İt was nomads who carried seeds of diffrent plants, animals and of course humans to all around the world and created our modern world.
Part of my family have nomadic background but I neither ashamed nor proud about it because I have zero control over it. Pride is only related to personal achievements for me.
Arabs are also proud of being nomadic
Azerbaijan has [rich nomadic culture.](https://az.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Az%C9%99rbaycan_k%C3%B6%C3%A7%C9%99ri_h%C9%99yat%C4%B1). Something to be proud of.
Generally speaking there is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage. It is great to celebrate your family’s or people’s achievements and history. Irregardless if said people were nomadic and sedentary, there is no reason to be ashamed. Although it should stay at that. Because almost every group has some kind of dark history to it, and nomads certainly have a darker side to them.
A huge reason why some people have this negative view of nomads, is because of this darker side. Nomads raided, a lot. For Nomads at the time, this is the way, it was commonplace. For a sedentary group, it was like the wrath of God being thrown at them in the human forms. Sedentary peoples were never going to like them after their possessions and people were taken during their raids. So naturally, a negative view or fear of nomads would arise. Not even going to go into stuff like the Great Mongol Empire, or other nomadic khanates and empires. For as much good as they might have done, they did a lot of bad as well, perhaps even more than the good.