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THE BAKHTIARIS
The Bakhtiari (or Bakhtiyari, Bakhtyari) are a group of southwestern Iranian who speak a Luri dialect, closely related to the Persian.
Numerical estimates of their total population estimated around 900,000, one third of Bakhtiari are still nomadic pastoralists, migrating between summer quarters (yeylaq or sardsir) and winter quarters (garmsir). In Khuzestan Province, Bakhtiari tribes are primarily concentrated in the eastern part of the province.
There are two main tribal groups, the Haft Lang (“Seven Legs”) and the Chahar Lang (“Four Legs”), each controlled by powerful families (khānvāda). Haft Lang is divided into five bāb (blocks), including Dūrāki, Bābādī Bāb, Behdārvand (Monjezī) and Dīnāronī, Jānakī ;- Chahar Lang is divided into four bāb: Mamīvand, Masāla, Mogū’ī and Kīānersī.
The overall
Bakhtiari Khans alternates every two years between the chiefs of the Chahar Lang and the Haft Lang.
Bakhtiaris primarily inhabit the provinces of Lorestan, Khuzestan, Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari, and Isfahan. In Iranian mythology, the Bakhtiari consider themselves to be descendants of
king Freydun, a legendary hero from the Persian national epic, Shahnameh.
A significant number of Iranian politicians, governors of provinces and other dignitaries are of Bakhtiari origin.
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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