Lurs

For other uses, see Lurs (disambiguation).

For additional information refer also to Persian peoples and Persian empire.

Lors

Total population
2,600,000-4,673,000
Regions with significant populations
Iran 2,600,000-4,673,000
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 two million. They occupy Lorestan, Bakhtiari, and Kuh-Gilu-Boir Ahmed. ".

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. The Lurs do not consider themselves to be Kurds and in most present-day maps, Lorestan is not attached to Kurdistan.

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

major subgroups of lurs including

Lak lurs:western of luristan province(Aleshtar,Nourabad,Kuhdasht);Harsin and parts of sahne&Kermanshah in Kermanshah province;parts of ilam province

Faili lurs:Khorramabad,Dorud, Poldokhtar,Chegini in Luristan province;some parts of Dehloran(not all) ,some parts of darrehshahr,parts of Ilam in Ilam province;Andimeshk and part of Susa in Khuzestan province

Salasi lurs:Borujerd In luristan province; Nahavand, Malayer,Tooyserkan in Hammedan province; kangavar in Kermanshah province; Shazand in markazi province

Bakhtiari lurs:chahar mahal and Bakhtiari province; Isfahan province;Aligodarz&Azna In luristan province;North and East of Khuzestan province (Izeh, Baq-malek, Ramhormoz, Masjedsoleiman, Gotvand, Hendeijan), and of Shushtar & Dezful

Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-ahmadi Lurs: Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-ahmad province; parts of Behbahan Khuzestan province; Daeylam and Ganaveh in Bushehr province

Mamasani lurs:Nourabad Mamasani and parts of kazeron in Fars province

Iraq lurs language is Mixed of faili luri, laki luri and kurdi language

History

Lurs are a mixture of aboriginal groups and Indo-Iranian tribes, including the Medes, originating from Central Asia.

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

Greater Lur includes ChaharMahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and parts of western Isfahan province 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)
• Traditional Luri Music (Mehrdad Hedayati)
• Encyclopædia Britannica's Entry on Lurs
• "Persian-Luri" Carpet weaving style incorporating design themes of ancient Persia. [1]