Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Seyyed Hashem Aghajari ¹
• Mehdi Ahmadi ²
• Darioush Rahmaniyan ³

¹ Associate Professor of History, Tarbiat modares University, Tehran, iran.

² PhD Candidate in History of Islamic Iran. Tarbiat modares University, Tehran, iran.

³ Associate Professor of History, Tehran University, Tehran, iran.

Abstract

The migration of Iranian labor to the Caucasus began in 1850/1266 AH, so that every year several thousand people left the country and worked in factories, oil industries, farms and docks in the worst conditions. One of the most important issues that these immigrants faced as soon as they arrived in the Caucasus was the issue of how to live and its conditions. Therefore, the main goal of the current research is to investigate the housing situation of Iranian workers in the Caucasus. The following article, with the approach of history from below and with the inspiration of "Edward Palmer Thompson" (1924-1993 AD), tries to answer the question of what kind of settlements were chosen by Iranian migrant workers in the Caucasus, and this was influenced by What were the components? The results of the studies show that the workers in the Caucasus had three types of housing, i.e. housing at the workplace, rented housing and dormitory buildings. Considering the low wages of Iranian workers (between 12 and 21 rubles per month), most of them did not have the financial ability to live in dormitory buildings. For this reason, some farm and garden workers lived in their workplaces, and some A significant number of workers in the oil industry and factories rented cottages, basements and crypts on the outskirts of the cities and lived in them collectively

Keywords

• Housing
• employment
• Iranian workers
• Caucasus
• Wage

Main Subjects

• Social history

Extended Abstract

 Daily life of Iranian migrant workers in South Caucasus; Case study: housing situation (from 1266 to 1332 AH/1850 to 1914 AD)

1)Introduction

1-1) statement of the subject

The mass migration of people in the Qajar period took place from 1266 AH/1850 AD and to a larger extent, from 1286 AH/1870 AD, from various states to the South Caucasus. In their homeland, they were caught in a situation where they were forced to migrate. Therefore, a significant number of people from the states of Iran, especially the northern regions, went to the South Caucasus. So that every year, tens of thousands of poor peasants and bankrupt artisans, in the worst conditions, legally or illegally crossed the borders and went to the Caucasus to find work. As soon as these immigrants arrived in new places, one of the most important issues they faced was how they would live. Although it was not possible for them to live and work without fulfilling it, but the cost of housing and low wages practically did not allow them to provide suitable housing, so they were willing to spend their lives in any place, which led to the emergence of living in The place of work or residence was in the crypts and huts.

1-2)Target

The aim of the present research is to examine the level of class existence and the lived experience of Iranian migrant workers in the Caucasus. At the level of class existence, it seeks to show what factors and conditions determined the class position of Iranian immigrants in the Caucasus and placed them in the position of the working class. At the level of lived experience (daily life), it also intends to show what choices these migrant workers had in the spheres of social life (housing sector).

1-3) Questions and hypothesis

This research seeks to answer the following questions:

- What kind of settlements did Iranian migrant workers choose in the Caucasus?

- What factors influenced the selection of housing by Iranian migrant workers in the Caucasus?

The hypothesis of the research is that although the Iranian immigrants in the Caucasus were unskilled people, their labor force was recognized as having exchange value in the labor market. By selling their labor, they received a salary of 12 to 21 rubles per month (according to the type of work they did). With this amount of salary, they could not afford to rent a suitable housing and inevitably either rented huts and sheds on the outskirts of the cities as a group or spent the night at work.

1-4) Research background

Among the most important books written in this field are "Social-Economic Backgrounds of Constitutionalism Movement and Development of Social Democracy" written by Khosrow Shakri (1384), "Iranian Immigrants in the Caucasus: Cultural Activities in the Years 1900-1931" written by Nizam Ali Dehnavi (1383), "Socialists and Aamiun" and "Constitutional Mujahideen" written by Sohrab Yazdani (1391-1399).

Dissertations such as "Role of the Caucasus in Iran's Constitutional Revolution" written by Alkhan Qoliaf (1380), "Role of Caucasian Immigrants in Iran's Constitutional Movement" written by Jafar Qalipour (1376), "Immigration of Iranians to the Caucasus on the eve of constitutionalism, Basics, works and results" written by Maqsood Shahbazi (2009) and others were also written in this connection.

Among the most prominent articles are "Wage work and migration: Iranian workers in southern Russia, 1914-1880" written by Hassan Hakimian (1374), "The influence of political currents in the Caucasus on Iranian immigrants living in Baku during the 1905 Russian revolution" written by Sohrab Yazdani. and Sudeh Ebrahimzadeh Gerji (2016), "The role and position of Azerbaijan in the migration of Iranian labor to the Caucasus" written by Sirvan Khosrowzadeh and others (2017), "The record and times of Iranian immigrants in the Caucasus 1920-1900" written by Mohammad Hossein Khosropanah (2018) ) and "Unsatisfied Guests: Iran's Subjugation on the Margins of the Tsarist Empire" written by Toraj Atabaki (2016).

The main difference between this research and the previous researches is that it pays attention to the social life of workers in the field of housing and their relationship with their material world and explains these relationships in causal and effect frameworks.

2)methodology

The following article examines the daily life of Iranian immigrant workers in the Caucasus (housing) with the approach of history from below and inspired by "Edward Palmer Thompson" in the book "The making and the English Working Class".

In terms of location, this research focuses on the South Caucasus, which was under the control of Tsarist Russia, and in the text of the article, wherever the Caucasus is mentioned, the author means the South Caucasus. In terms of time, it examines the years 1266 to 1332 AH/1850 to 1914 AD.

3) Findings

The findings of the research show that the Iranian immigrants in the Caucasus received a certain amount of wages (an average of 17 rubles per month) by selling their labor, which faced them with three types of housing.

3-1) Living at the workplace

Some Iranian workers had to live in the workplace. The first category were seasonal and permanent farm workers. They spent the night under the bushes, fences and near the garden hedges and worked in the agricultural fields during the day. In addition to farm workers, some workers of wharves, ships and the industry, especially the oil industry, also lived in their workplaces.

2-3) Rented residences

Some Iranian workers rented huts, basements and crypts that had nothing in common with houses. They lived in groups of 30 to 40 people and even more in one room. These workers could not rent houses for their residence in industrial areas, so they had to live far away from their workplaces in cities and villages, in cramped and cheap houses and dilapidated huts.

3-3) Dormitory buildings

Dormitory buildings were built by company owners and provided to workers in exchange for rent, but the number of Iranian workers in such houses was very small because there were not so many such houses and Not that the salary of Iranian workers was enough for him to spend some of it on housing because he preferred to save some of his salary and bring it with him to Iran.

4)discussion and conclusion

The lived experience of Iranian migrant workers that happened in the housing sector was a consequence of their class existence; That is, due to being Iranian and lack of expertise, the workers did the hardest work for low wages, but in terms of their residence, most of them were either at work or in huts, crypts and places with rents. Two rubles a month and less, they lived in groups.

Keywords: housing, employment, Iranian workers, Caucasus, wage