Turkic tribal groups in Iran

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In Iran there are many Turkic tribal groups, almost all are descendants of Oghuz Turks. This article examines the several Turkic tribes in Iran.

Qashqais[change | change source]

From left to right:
  • Qashqai man smoking a hookah
  • Qashqai man near from Shiraz
  • Qashqai man from Abarkuh
  • Qashqai nomads in Kermanshah
  • Qashqai women spinning yarn

Ths Qashqais (Persian: قشقایی) are a tribal confederation of mostly Turkic origin, but there are also Kurds, Lurs and Arabs in Qashqai confederation.[1] Almost all of them speak Qashqai, a Turkic language from Oghuz sub-branch.[a] They are found in the area of Shiraz to the north of the Persian Gulf.[2] Their population is around 300.000.[3]

The Qashqai, in general, believe that their ancestors came to Iran from Turkestan in the vanguard of the armies of Hulagu Khan (r. 1256–1265) or Timur (r. 1470–1405).[1] However, it seems more probable that they arrived during the great tribal migrations of the 11th century.[1]

Afshars[change | change source]

Nader Shah, the Shah of Iran from 1736 to 1747 and founder of Afsharid dynasty, hailed from the Qirqlu branch of Afshar tribe

The Afshars (Persian: افشار) are a tribe of Turkic origin that split into several groups in Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan.[4][5] There is an important Afshar group in Urmia and its vicinity, West Azerbaijan.[5] There are also Afshar groups in the southern Azerbaijan, in the region around Zanjan, vicinity of Tehran, Mazandaran, north of Mashad, Kermanshah, southwest Iran, as well as small Afshar groups in Fars and Kerman.[5] The some Afshars joined the Qashqai confederation.[1]

Afshar tribe of historically important as one of the Qizilbash tribes, which established the Safavid dynasty in Iran, and as descent group of the Afsharid dynasty.[4] Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747), the founder of Afsharid dynasty, was from Qirqlu branch of the Afshar tribe.[6][7]

The Afshars are originally belongs to Bozok branch of the Oghuz Turks, and are ninth of the twenty-four Oghuz Turkic tribes.[8]

Bayats[change | change source]

The Bayats (Persian: بیات) are an important Turkic tribe, into several groups in Syria, Turkey (Anatolia), Iraq and Iran.[9] At the beginning of the 19th century, the Bayats lived in three branches: in Azerbaijan with 5.000 people, around Tehran with 3.000 people, and around Shiraz in Fars with 3.000 people.[10] Today they are entirely sedentary and live mainly around Zanjan.[9] The some Bayats joined the Qashqai confederation.[1]

An important branch of the Bayats migrated to Iran in the last quarter of the 15th century upon the Aq Qoyunlu conquest. Some of them settled in Azerbaijan and a significant part in the southeast of Hamadan. Since Abbas the Great (r. 1588–1629) considered it inconvenient for the Bayats to live together, he dispersed them by appointing some of their beys to sanjaks in Azerbaijan.[10]

The Bayats are originally belongs to Bozok branch of the Oghuz Turks, and are second of the twenty-four Oghuz Turkic tribes.[8]

Shahsevan[change | change source]

Shahsevan girls from a rich family, late 19th-century

The Shahsevan (Persian: شاهسون) are a number of Turkic[11] tribal groups in various parts of northwestern Iran, notably in the Mughan and Ardabil districts of eastern Azerbaijan and in the Karaqan and Khamsa districts between Zanjan and Qazvin.[12] Most of Shahsevan are of Turkic origin and the Turkic identity and culture are overwhelmingly dominant among them, though the ancestors of several component tribes were of Kurdish or other origins.[12][13] They are Shia Muslims and spoke Azerbaijani.[13]

By the late 17th century the name Shahsevan, often as a military title in addition to Qizilbash tribal names such as Afshar and Shamlu (and Shamlu components such as Beydili or Begdeli, Inallı or Ināllu, Ajirli or Ajirlu).[12]

Ayrums[change | change source]

The Ayrums (Persian: آیرملوها) are a Turkic tribe of western Azerbaijan.[14] Following the treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828 through which Iran lost the provinces of Yerevan and Nakhchivan, Abbas Mirza, the crown prince, who valued the fighting ability of Turkic tribesmen, encouraged several Turkic tribes which dwelled in the ceded provinces to settle down south of the Aras river, offering them fertile lands and lush pastures as a reward. One of these was the Ayrum tribe tribe, which moved from its ancestral holdings in the vicinity of Gyumri to the west of Maku.[14]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Oberling 2003.
  2. ↑ "People of Iran: Ethnic groups". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 10 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 15 April 2023 suggested (help)
  3. ↑ Arkelova 2015, p. 279.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stöber 2010.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Oberling 1984, p. 582–586.
  6. ↑ Perry 1984, p. 587–589.
  7. ↑ Tucker 2006.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sümer 2007, p. 325–330.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Doerfer 1988, p. 882–884.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sümer 1992, p. 218–219.
  11. ↑ Minorsky 1936.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Tapper 2010b.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Tapper 2010, p. 295–297.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Oberling 1987, p. 151–152.

Sources[change | change source]

  • Oberling, Pierre (1984). "AFŠĀR". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. I, Fasc. 6. pp. 582–586.
  • Stöber, Georg (2010). "Afshār". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23658.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  • Doerfer, G. (1988). "BAYĀT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. III, Fasc. 8. pp. 882–884.
  • Sümer, Faruk (2007). "OĞUZLAR". İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Vol. XXXIII. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı. pp. 325–330.
  • Sümer, Faruk (1992). "BAYAT". İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Vol. V. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı. pp. 218–219.
  • Tucker, Ernest (2006). "NĀDER SHAH". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  • Perry, J. R. (1984). "AFSHARIDS". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. I, Fasc. 6. pp. 587–589.
  • Oberling, Pierre (2003). "QAŠQĀʾI TRIBAL CONFEDERACY i. HISTORY". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  • Arkelova, Victoria (2015). "On the Number of Iranian Turkophones". Iran and the Caucasus. 19 (3): 279–282. doi:10.1163/1573384X-20150306. JSTOR 43899203.
  • Oberling, Pierre (1987). "ĀYRĪMLŪ". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. III, Fasc. 2. pp. 151–152.
  • Tapper, Richard (2010b). "SHAHSEVAN". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  • Minorsky, Vladimir (1936). "S̲h̲āh-sewan". In Houtsma, M. Th.; Arnold, T.W.; Basset, R.; Hartmann, R. (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913–1936). Brill. doi:10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_SIM_5282.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  • Tapper, R. L. (2010). "ŞAHSEVEN". İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Vol. XXXVIII. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı. pp. 295–297.

Notes[change | change source]

  1. ↑ "But most of the Qašqāʾi are of Turkic origin, and almost all of them speak a Western Ghuz Turkic dialect which they call Turki."[1]
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