The Zurkhāneh and Its Milieu

A Study of Traditional Athletics in Iran

Philippe Rochard

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English

Harvard University Press
27 October 2025

Middle Eastern history; Social & cultural history; Gender studies: men

Series: Ilex Series

The athletes known in Iran as pahlavāns and the domed structure, the zurkhāneh, where they congregate to practice ritualized martial arts, physical culture, and spirituality, are usually presented as the cornerstone of traditional Iranian masculine identity. However, this idealization does not do justice to the complex history of Iranian society.

Philippe Rochard, who has observed the zurkhāneh world for the past thirty years and actually lived in it for over four years, sets out to reveal through his own experience and a reconsideration of the extant historiography the various identities-real or imagined-of the zurkhāneh, its role within ancient and contemporary Iranian society, and the intimate mechanisms of the male societies that frequent it, as well as the moral and social values-real or simply proclaimed-that the athletes embody.

This immersive study gives us an opportunity to observe at close quarters the workings of a sporting passion and way of life, and to discover how the forms and norms of the staging of the self and of the group have evolved in Iran.

By: Philippe Rochard
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780674298828
ISBN 10: 0674298829
Series: Ilex Series
Pages: 276
Publication Date: 27 October 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Philippe Rochard is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Strasbourg and former director of the Institut Français de Recherche en Iran (IFRI) in Tehran.