Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province has a mountainous climate and therefore has a cool climate. Adjacent to this province is Khuzestan, which has a tropical climate. This difference in climate in the two neighboring provinces has caused the nomads to be constantly migrating between these two provinces.

Although Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari and Khuzestan are close provinces, the presence of the huge Zagros Mountains between the two has made migration in this region a dangerous task. The history of this migration goes back to thousands of years ago and these dangerous routes have always been a difficult challenge for the tribe and unfortunate incidents have occurred along this route.

In addition to the soaring mountains, the roaring Bazoft River has also been a major obstacle to the nomads’ passage, without which they could not reach their summer pastures. But crossing the Bazoft River is difficult and can be dangerous for the tribe and their livestock.

At a point along the Bazoft River, near a village called Gazestan, due to a huge rock fall from the mountain, a natural bridge has been created on the Bazoft River, which has made traffic possible. This point is called Khoda-afarin Bridge (God-Made Bridge) and has always been a valuable gift for the nomads because of the possibility it has created to cross the Bazoft river.

Over time, the Khoda-afarin bridge has become part of the mountain and even trees and plants have grown on it. The long length and thickness of this bridge has caused that no sign of the river below can be seen anywhere on the bridge.

Mehdi Gholami