Territories of Lilliputs

Makhunik a village which is known as the Village of Iranian Lilliputs. A village that became famous for its one meter and forty centimeters residents. It is said that Makhunik village has no historical written record and only Colonel Charles at the time of Naser Al-Din Shah has described this mysterious region in the travel experience book of Khorasan and Sistan.

Geographical location of Makhunik

In term of Administrative divisions, Makhunik village is in the central district of Sarbishe and the city of Birjand which is one of the cities of Khorasan Jonoubi Province. The village in the southwestern of Birjand. At the 2006 census, its population was 582, in 125 families.
Makhunik village is one of the seven amazing villages of the world. Usually, all the inhabitants of this village are called Makhuniki. This region has several villages which are Makhunik, Kafaz, Chapensar, Tootak, Sofalband, Soulabest, Lejoonak (lower and upper), Kallate Balouch, Damdameh, Mishno, Kharesto, and Jalarou. The people of these villages have a lot in common characteristics in terms of religion, livelihood, lifestyle and social situation, but these villages know their ancestry from Makhunik village and it is said that some people have gone from Makhunik and formed these villages.
There are also many things about the appellation of Makhunik such as:
In the past, some government officials came to the village and residents had not warmly welcomed them and had a cold behavior. Thus, they chose this name for this village.
Makhunik village is limited to Lejounak village from the north, Tootak and Soofalband villages from the West and North West, and Bagh Sangi village from the South and South East.
Winters in Makhunik are cold and summers are warm and dry. They have no snowing for years, but residents remember that the sheep and people have not been able to leave the village. Makhunik experience drought and famine many years ago that the sheep died of thirst and hunger and the people sheep died of thirst and hunger and some of them died of starvation.

Anthropology

The religion of Makhunik people is Hanafi Sunni and they speak in Persian. The amazing attraction of this village is that its inhabitants are short and barely exceed the height of 1.40 m. also, it should be mentioned that this matter is for the past and today, their height become balanced.

Culture

One of the major cultural signs of Makhunik village is housing which is remarkable in its type. The residential texture this village is on a hillside and the houses are squeezed together and they are made in the hollow. The floor is about a meter below the ground and has a short wooden door. You should crouch to enter the house with effort. Often one or two steps connect the port to the floor.
Each house has spaces like Kandik (containers of wheat and barley) and Koresk (clay oven to cook food), the vault, and the niche. It should be known that the main materials used in the housing were stone, wood, and firewood. In addition to housing, other cultural attractions such as weddings and engagement ceremonies, Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha ceremonies, and also, traditional food and dishes and local clothing can be noted.

Profession and employment

The main occupation of the villagers is animal husbandry and they are engaged in agriculture along it. Furthermore, a large number of residents work in the stone mine and some other weave carpets and handicrafts and this industry is the major industry of this village.
The major agricultural products of this village are wheat, garlic, barley, turnips, beets and carrots, and people of this region also cultivate tomatoes, onions, and saffron.
Planting garden products cannot be seen so much in this village and only some trees such as jujube, mulberry, fig, pomegranate, apple, grapes and almonds are planted along the water courses and near the pool.

Facilities

The road of the village has been created with asphalt in recent years and moreover, this village has drinking water, electricity, health center, elementary school, school house, bath and several shops, including grocery, butcher, bakery, engine repair and welding.
Currently, many external and internal tourists visit this village and this village is one of the target villages of Khorasan Jonoubi Province.