Lurs

For other uses, see Lurs (disambiguation).

Lors

File:Lors infobox.png 1st row: Ali-Qoli Khan Bakhtiari • Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari • Karim Khan • Baba Tahir 2nd row: Shapour Bakhtiar • Yas • Ariobarzanes • Qeysar Aminpour 3nd row: Milad Meydavoudi • Rudi Bakhtiar • Rasoul Najafian • Hamid Goudarzi
Total population
7,600,000-9,673,000
Regions with significant populations
Iran	7,600,000-9,673,000
Languages
Luri, Bakhtiari, Persian
Religion
Shi'a Islam, Yaresan
Related ethnic groups
Persians and other Iranian people

Lurs (also Lors, Lori/Persian:لُر) are an Iranic people living mainly in south-western Iran. Their population is estimated at above four million. They occupy Lorestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Khuzestan, Isfahan, Fars, Bushehr and Kuh-Gilu-Boir Ahmed provinces. The Lur people mostly speak Lori, a Southwestern Iranian language, closely related to Persian. "Luri and Bakhtiari are much more closely related to Persian, than Kurdish."

Ethnologists classify the Lurs as aboriginal Persians. Their language forms a dialect of Persian and does not differ materially from Persian.

File:Span of lorish language.png

Span of lorish language

Language

Lori dialects, which are divided into two main groups:

• The dialect spoken in Lor-e-Bozorg (Greater Lor) which is closely related to Persian. This dialect is spoken by the inhabitants of Bakhtiari, Kuh-Gilu-Boir Ahmed, in the north and east of Khuzistan, in the Mamasani district of Fars, and in some areas of Bushehr province.
• The dialect spoken in Lor-e-Koochik (Lesser Lor) which is closely related to Persian, with has some similarities to Kurdish. This dialect is spoken in Luristan, several districts of Hamadan (Nahavand, Towisarkan) and by the inhabitants of south and southwest Ilam and northern part of Khuzistan province.

File:Iran main languages.png

Iran main languages

History

Lurs are a mixture of aboriginal Indo-Iranian tribes, originating from Central Asia.

"The Lurs are thought to be a division of the ancient Persian, both tribes being considered true descendants of the Persian."

The area traditionally known as Luristan is divided into two regions. Greater Lur, and Lesser Lur.

Kurdish ultra-nationalists consider Lurs as well as Bakhtiari Lurs as part of the Kurdish people but Lurs are distinct from Kurds both lingistically and ethnically as well as religously since Lurs adhere to the Shia branch of Islam and Kurds are adherents of the Sunni branch. Most importantly the Lurs do not consider themselves Kurdish. The Lurs consider themselves as Lurs as a branch of Persians and there are a tendency among the new generation of Lur people to speak Standard Persian. Even the Laks consider themselves as a branch of Lurs.

Mohammad Boroujerdi, an ethnic Lur, after the command of Khomeini for suppressing the antirevolutionary rebellions at the dawn of the revolution went to Kurdistan. He helped breaking the siege of Sanandaj garrison occupied by communist guerrillas and federalist parties, including: KDPI. He served as its originator and commander. He was also the commander of AGIR in Kurdistan, and played important roles in regaining Sardasht, Baneh and Piranshahr and other Kurdish areas from KDPI.

Greater Lur includes ChaharMahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and parts of western Isfahan province, Fars province Mamasani County and Rostam and northwest of Khuzestan province. This region was in Middle Ages ruled by a group known as Hazaraspids.

Lesser Lur was more or less the area today known as Lorestan province.

The Lurs were amongst the original Qizilbash who participated in the Safavid conquest of Iran and conversion of Iran to Shia Islam.

Prior to the 20th century, the majority of Lors were nomadic herders, with an urban minority residing in the city of Khorramabad. There were several attempts by the Pahlavi governments to settle the nomadic segment of the Lor population. Under Reza Shah, these campaigns tended to be unsuccessful. The last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, used less forceful methods along with economic incentives, which met with greater, though not complete, success. By the mid-1980s the vast majority of Lors had been settled in towns and villages throughout the province, or had migrated to the major urban centres.

A number of nomadic Lur tribes continue to exist in the province.

Culture

Lori traditional attire.

Amongst the settled urban population the authority of tribal elders still remains a strong influence, though not as dominant as it is amongst the nomads. As in Bakhtiari and Kurdish societies, Lur women have had much greater freedoms than women in other groups in the region.

Music

Among the popular musicians in Luri are Faraj Alipour, Reza Saghaei,Ali-Akbar Shekarchi, Gholam Jamshidi, Heshmat Rajabzadeh, Najafali Mirzayi, Heshmatollah Shafiian, Masoud Bakhtiari and Iradj Rahmanpour. Malek Mas'udi, Nourollah, Karamollah.

Religion

The overwhelming majority of Lurs are Shia Muslims though some practice an ancient Iranian religion known as Yaresan, with roots in Zoroastrianism, Mithraism and Manicheism.

Traditionally the Lur people outwardly profess Shia Islam, but the degree of piety varies, and the religion of some seems to consist of a mixture of Ali-Illahism involving a belief in successive incarnations combined with mysterious, ancient rites. The Lur peoples are diverse and individualistic in their religious views and practices. The religious view even within a family could differ immensely.

See also

• Lak people (Iran)
• Bakhtiari people
• Traditional Luri Music (Mehrdad Hedayati)
• Encyclopædia Britannica's Entry on Lurs
• "Persian-Luri" Carpet weaving style incorporating design themes of ancient Persia. [1]