Lak people (Iran)
| Total population |
|---|
| c. 1 million (est.) |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Western Iran: 1,000,000 [1] |
| Languages |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Other Iranian peoples |
The Laks are an Iranian group in southwestern Iran. They speak Laki (or Leki), a Northwestern Iranian language, that is usually grouped with Southern Kurdish dialects.[1][2][3][4] It is important to note that many Laki-speaking communities identify as Kurds and many scholars continue to classify Laks as ethnic Kurds.[5][6]
Contents |
[edit] Geography
The Laks inhabit in the western part of Luristan province (Laks of Pishekuh), and much of Ilam province, an in smaller numbers in the neighbouring province of Kermanshahan (Poshte-Kuhi Laks). The area to the east of Mount Kabir is known as Pishe-Kuh and west of the mountain is Poshte-Kuh.
[edit] Origins
Many scholars as well as Laks themselves consider Laks as ethnically Lur.[7] There has been much debate over ethnic identity of the Laks throughout the twentieth century. Zayn al-‘Ābidīn Shīrvānī, the writer of the Persian geographic work Bustān al-siyāha (“The Garden of the travel”) in 19th century introduces the Laks as a Lur tribe. In our own times, the Persian writer Īzadpanāh about laks, the writer of the Lurii-Persian dictionary, emphasizes the Luri identity of the Laks and calls it a misunderstanding to consider the Laks as Kurds.
Vladimir Minorsky, who wrote the entry "Lak" in the first edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, referred to the Lak as "the most southern group of Kurd tribes in Persia" and stated that their language has the characteristics of Kurdish.[8] Some of the Lak tribes live in Lorestān Province, among Lur tribes, although Minorsky quotes some evidence that they were brought there from further north. He mentions that they are often confused with the Lur, but are different.[8]
The Bajilan are one of the more prominent Lak tribes. There is a tribe of the same name east of Mosul, but whereas Minorsky believes the Bajilan of Zohab had come from Mosul,[8] the later scholar D.N. MacKenzie believed the Bajalan or Bajwan of Mosul to be an offshoot of the much larger Zohab Bajilan.[9]
[edit] History
The Zand dynasty who ruled parts of southwestern Iran was of Laki origin.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Windfuhr, G. (2009). The Iranian Languages, Routledge, p. 587
- ^ Rüdiger Schmitt: Die iranischen Sprachen in Gegenwart und Geschichte. Wiesbaden (Reichert) 2000.
- ^ Rüdiger Schmitt (Hg.): Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden (Reichert) 1989.
- ^ V. Minorsky, "Lak", Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- ^ Hamzehʼee, M. Reza. The Yaresan: a sociological, historical and religio-historical study of a Kurdish community, 1990.
- ^ Bidlīsī, Sharaf Khan. The Sharafnam̂a, or, The history of the Kurdish nation, 1597.
- ^ Anonby, Erik John "Update on Luri: How many languages" JRAS (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society) Series 3 13(2): pp. 171–197, p.183, doi: 10.1017/S1356186303003067
- ^ a b c V. Minorsky, “Lak”, Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- ^ D.N. MacKenzie, “Badjalan”, Encyclopaedia of Islam
