Lurs () are an
Iranian people
Iranians or Iranian people may refer to:
* Iranian peoples, Indo-European ethno-linguistic group living predominantly in Iran and other parts of the Middle East and the Caucasus, as well as parts of Central Asia and South Asia
** Persians, Irania ...
living in the mountains of western
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. The four Luri branches are the
Bakhtiari,
Mamasani, Kohgiluyeh and Lur proper, who are principally linked by the
Luri language.
Lorestan Province is named after the Lurs, but the ethnic group also live in the provinces of
Fars,
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari,
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad,
Khuzestan,
Hamadan,
Isfahan,
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
and southern
Ilam Province.
Language
Luri is a Western
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
language
continuum spoken by about four million people. The continuum constitutes the three dialects of
Bakhtiari, Luristani and Southern Luri and linguist Anonby situates them between
Kurdish and
Persian.
Luri branches
There are several established branches of the Luri people.
* Bakhtiari
* Southern Lori
** Boyerahmadi (Yasuji)
** Kohgiluyei
** Mamasani
* Luristani (Northern Lori)
** Khorramabadi
** Borujerdi
** Bala Gariva Lori
** Hinimini
** Shuhani
History
Lurs are a mixture of aboriginal
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
tribes, originating from
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...
and the pre-Iranic tribes of western Iran, such as the
Kassites (whose homeland appears to have been in what is now
Lorestan) and
Gutians. In accordance with geographical and archaeological matching, some historians argue that the
Elamites were the Proto-Lurs, whose language became
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
only in the Middle Ages.
Michael M. Gunter states that they are closely related to the Kurds but that they "apparently began to be distinguished from the
Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
1,000 years ago." He adds that the ''
Sharafnama
The ''Sharafnama'' ( Kurdish: شەرەفنامە Şerefname, "The Book of Honor", Persian: Sharafname, شرفنامه) is the famous book of Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi (a medieval Kurdish historian and poet) (1543–1599), which he wrote in 1597, in P ...
'' of
Sharaf Khan Bidlisi "mentioned two Lur dynasties among the five Kurdish dynasties that had in the past enjoyed royalty or the highest form of sovereignty or independence."
Sharafkhan dedicates a chapter of his
1597 book to the Lurs and Luri rulers, and he considered them to be Kurds.
Genetics
Considering their
NRY variation, the Lurs are distinguished from other Iranian groups by their relatively elevated frequency of
Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b (specifically, of subclade R1b1a2a-L23).
Together with its other clades, the
R1 group comprises the single most common haplogroup among the Lurs.
Haplogroup J2a (subclades J2a3a-M47, J2a3b-M67, J2a3h-M530, more specifically) is the second most commonly occurring patrilineage in the Lurs and is associated with the diffusion
Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical ...
of agriculturalists from the Neolithic Near East c. 8000-4000 BCE.[ Another haplogroup reaching a frequency above 10% is that of G2a, with subclade G2a3b accounting for most of this.] Also significant is haplogroup E1b1b1a1b, for which the Lurs display the highest frequency in Iran.[ Lineages Q1b1 and Q1a3 present at 6%, and T at 4%.][
]
Culture
The authority of tribal elders remains a strong influence among the nomadic population. It is not as dominant among the settled urban population. As among Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
, Lur women have much greater freedom than women in other groups within the region. The women have more freedom to participate in different social activities, to wear diverse types of female clothing and to sing and dance in different ceremonies. Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari
Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari (1874–1937) ( Luri: بی مَریَمِ بَختیاری Bi Maryam Baxtiâri, Persian: بی بی مریم بختیاری) was the daughter of Hossein Gholi Khan Bakhtiari, the sister of Ali-Qoli Khan Bakhtiari and an Irania ...
is a notable Luri woman. Luri music, Luri clothing Luri culture has been developed along with the long history of coexistence among Lurs with surrounding natural elements across the Iranian plateau
The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature in Western Asia, Central Asi ...
and Luri folk dances are some of the most distinctive ethno-cultural characteristics of this ethnic group.
Many Lurs are small-scale agriculturists and shepherds. A few Lurs are also traveling musicians. Lurish textiles and weaving skills are highly esteemed for their workmanship and beauty.
Religion
Most Lurs are Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
Muslim. Historically, many Lurs adhered to Yarsanism but almost the whole Yarsani Luri population has converted to Shia Islam. A small Sunni Muslim
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
community of Lurs also exists. According to the '' Encyclopaedia of Islam'', the Lurs revere bread and fire like the Zoroastrians.
See also
* Ahmed Lur
* Bakhtiari people
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Luristan
Ethnic groups in Iran
Indigenous peoples of Western Asia
Iranian ethnic groups
Lorestan Province
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province
Khuzestan Province
Ilam Province
Fars Province
Hamadan Province
Tehran Province
Isfahan Province
Ethnic groups in the Middle East