Genealogy of a member of the ṭāyefa Eskandary descended from Karbalāʾ Bārānī, Kerman Province, Iran

The data shows the genealogy of an elderly villager from the village Bagh-e Borj, located in the mountains of Kerman (Southeast Iran). All villagers belong to the ṭāyefa Eskandery. ṭāyefa is an indigenous term that could be translated to English as 'tribe' although this term is, of course, a bit problematic. The Eskanderies live endogamous and believe to have a common descent from one forefather - all Eskanderies are descendants of a common ancestor who is known among them under the name Karbalāʾ Bārānī. This can be seen in the genealogy: The villager traces his descent via his patriline back to the common forefather Karbalāʾ Bārānī. Karbalāʾ is said to have come to the mountains of Bagh-e Borj roughly 300-350 years ago and most Eskanderies can trace their own (patri-)line back to this mythological figure. The genealogy is not complete: Occasionally the names of ancestors were unknown and female ancestors occur 'only' from the fourth generation after Karbalāʾ on. This corresponds with the survey method – the genealogy was recorded in an interview with the villager and, hence, stems from his memory and not from a written archive (such an archive doesn't exist). This is not a disadvantage: memory is not that much concerned with completeness or factuality, actually not even with the past. It is concerned with establishing social cohesion in the present and that is what this genealogy does: the Eskanderies' idea of being a group is significantly strengthened by the belief in a common descent. 
The surname Eskandery was taken by the ṭāyefa members in 1924, when citizens of Iran had to take a family name by law. Eskandery was and stil is a popular name that many citizens choose as their family name and so did the members of the respective ṭāyefa .

本数据集呈现了伊朗东南部克尔曼（Kerman）山区巴格博尔吉（Bagh-e Borj）村一位老年村民的家族谱系。全村村民均隶属于ṭāyefa Eskandery（埃斯坎德里族群），其中ṭāyefa为本土术语，虽可直译为"部落"，但该译法存在一定争议。埃斯坎德里族群实行族内通婚（endogamous），声称全体族人皆为共同先祖卡尔巴拉·巴拉尼（Karbalāʾ Bārānī）的后裔。本次采集的家族谱系可印证这一说法：该村民的父系血缘（patriline）可追溯至这位共同先祖。据载，卡尔巴拉·巴拉尼约于300至350年前迁居至巴格博尔吉山区，绝大多数埃斯坎德里族人的父系谱系均可追溯至这位传说中的先祖。
该家族谱系并非完整无缺：部分先祖的姓名已无法考证，且仅在卡尔巴拉·巴拉尼之后的第四代及以后，才出现女性先祖的记载。这与本次调研的方法相契合：该谱系通过与该村民的访谈记录整理而来，仅依托其个人记忆，而非文字档案——当地并无此类档案留存。但这并非缺陷：记忆本身并不苛求绝对的完整性与真实性，甚至无关对过往的复刻；其核心价值在于维系当下的社会联结（social cohesion），而本谱系正实现了这一功能：埃斯坎德里族人对族群共同体的身份认同，因共同先祖的信仰而得到显著强化。
埃斯坎德里（Eskandery）这一姓氏，是该族群成员于1924年采用的——当年伊朗颁布法律，要求全体公民必须使用家族姓氏。埃斯坎德里在此前乃至今日都是广受欢迎的姓氏，不少伊朗公民都将其作为家族姓氏，该族群的成员亦不例外。