Kelidar

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Kelidar

Author	Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
Original title	کلیدر
Language	Persian
Genre	Novel
Publication date	1984
Publication place	Iran
Pages	2590
ISBN	9783293201453

Kelidar (Persian: کلیدر) is a novel written by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi in Persian.^[1] The novel consists of 10 books in 5 volumes.^[2] The book was written in 15 years, and includes Iranian folkloric themes. Kelidar has been translated into different languages.^[3] Kelidar refers to the name of a mountain and a village in Khorasan, where the events of the novel took place.^[2][3]

The novel is about the life of a Kurdish family in Sabzevar, faced with the hostility of neighbouring villagers despite cultural similarities and the tragic story of a young rebel named Gul Mohammad, who appeared in the role of Robin Hood and rose up against the government to free the oppressed peasants from the oppression of the lords and khans of Diosirt, but soon his movement was defeated from within, and finally he and His companions are killed by machine gun fire.. It is set against the highly charged political climate in Iran after World War II, between 1946 and 1949.^[4]

Maral, a young Kurdish girl, rides her horse to the city prison to meet her father and her fiancé, Dilaawar who are both incarcerated. The main characters of the story are all introduced when Maral visits the city prison and returns to her aunt, Bilqis. Bilqis and her husband, Kalmishi, have three sons and one daughter named Khan Muhammad, Gul Muhammad, Bey Muhammad, and Shiro. The severe drought has made it difficult for this family that often relies on shepherds to make a living and has forced them to do semi-arid work that does not have a significant yield or profit. Gol Muhammad is the second son of the family who has just returned from the mandatory military service and has a wife named Ziwar. He and Maral fall in love with each other and Gul Muhammad takes Maral as his second wife. This marriage sows the seeds of enmity and conflict in the heart of Maral's ex-fiancé Dilaawar. As the story progresses, the tensions and conflicts between different clans and families intensify and in the midst of these disputes and enmities, Gul Muhammad kills Hajj Husain Chargoshli, one of the wealthy owners of the village while defending himself. After this incident, two security guards come near that area under the pretext of collecting tax on herds that did not exist and originally to investigate the crime committed. Gul Muhammad who had realised the truth of the matter, kills the security guards and burns their bodies. Gul Muhammad is arrested and imprisoned but finally escapes from prison with the help of 'Abdus-Sattaar. 'Abdus-Sattaar is a political activist and a member of the Tudeh party who is politically active in the area under the guise of a cobbler and in his dreams, he sees Gul Muhammad as the future and potential leader of the Iranian people's uprising. After escaping, Gul Muhammad leads a secret life. Gul Muhammad and his allies fight against the lords and khans who have subjugated the poor peasants and nomads and abuse them. Legends about Gul Muhammad and his armed companions quickly spread throughout the region and Gul Muhammad who gradually becomes a popular figure among the people, appears in the role of their hero. For Gul Muhammad, the difficulties have just begun, the desire to maintain the championship is more difficult than becoming a champion. The psychological pressure makes Gul Muhammad drown in doubt, confusion, and inner anxiety. Gul Muhammad feels that he has reached the end of the line and the end of his work is near. With the unsuccessful attempt of a Tudeh party member to assassinate Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last king of Iran, the page is turned. The Tudeh Party is reduced to political affiliation and is banned from any official activities. The political situation of the society undergoes fundamental changes and the suffering peasants who were once united to stand against the tyrannical lords, one after the other give up. The lords and government officials eventually succeed in putting the rioters and riots to sleep. The novel ends with the killing of Gul Muhammad by shooting him with machine guns and almost all those who were somehow related to the Kalmishi family. 'Abdus-Sattaar who had fought against the instructions of the Tudeh Party along with Gul Muhammad, is also killed. The state security forces takes pictures of Gul's lifeless body and it publishes in a newspaper of the time.

"Illustrating the tragic fate of the Iranian peasantry and the nomadic tribes in a period of power politics," and based on actual events, the novel follows the trials and tribulations of the Kalmiši family, and is populated with an array of supporting characters.

• Mārāl - Mārāl is a young Kurdish girl from the Kalmiši family.
• Abdus - Mārāl's father
• Delāvar - Mārāl's fiancé
• Belqays - Mārāl’s paternal aunt, the matriarch of the family and the linking thread for the novel’s events and characters
• Kalmiši -Belqays's husband
• Khan Moḥammad - son of Belqays and Kalmiši
• Gol-Moḥammad - son of Belqays and Kalmiši
• Beg Moḥammad - son of Belqays and Kalmiši
• Širu - daughter of Belqays and Kalmiši
• Sattār - one of the supporters of Gol-Mohammad.^[2]

Kelidar is the longest Persian novel written to date, and surely one of the finest. The present translation is of parts 1 and 2 only, which are sufficiently self-contained to make for satisfying reading and which also give a good idea of what the whole is like. (...) Doulatabadi's style is that of a traditional Persian storyteller, in that he constructs his tale in a linear fashion, speaks through an omniscient narrator, and uses a balanced mixture of narrative and dialogue. (...) One wishes that readers of English could also experience the pleasures of this novel.

— William L. Hanaway, World Literature Today^[5]

It has been translated into German by Sigrid Lotfi in Switzerland but not into English yet.