Kurdish-Luri identity dispute

The Kurdish-Luri identity dispute refers to disputes regarding the relationship of the Luri people to the Kurdish people. The Lurs and Kurds, especially in overlapping regions, were affected by the dispute and divided among the Luri, Luri-Kurdish, and Kurdish identities. Although sharing common origins with Kurds, and historically being classified as Kurds, the Lurs were classified as a distinct nation and mostly identified as such by the 21st century. However, many Lurs also identified as a subgroup of Kurds, and others identified solely as Kurds, completely rejecting the Luri designation. Among both Kurds and Lurs, many advocated for a Zagrosian pan-ethnicity which transcended the Kurdish and Luri identities, aimed at reviving the tribal unity of the Zagros before the creation of the Luri and Kurdish designations.

Background

Lurs and Kurds are two Iranian peoples inhabiting the Zagros mountains. Lurs speak Luri, a southwestern Iranian language, while Kurds speak Kurdish, a northwestern Iranian language. According to Iranian scholar Richard Frye, "Lurs likely emerged from a mixture of indigenous Zagrosian elements and Iranian-speaking tribal groups migrating from the central Iranian plateau, forming a linguistic and cultural zone contiguous with early Kurds."[1] Anthropologist Martin van Bruinessen wrote that "the speakers of Luri and Kurdish never regarded each other as speaking different, alien languages, and the boundary between ‘Lur’ and ‘Kurd’ was permeable in both speech and identity."[2]

While proto-Kurds and proto-Lurs spoke closely related Northwestern Iranian dialects until the medieval time, the speech of the southern tribes began to drift. The Luri dialects became increasingly distinct from Kurmanji and Sorani Kurdish, incorporating more features from Persian and local substrate elements. According to D. N. MacKenzie, "the speech of the Lurs, though sharing ancestry with Kurdish, evolved under different influences and gradually ceased to be mutually intelligible with Kurdish dialects.”[3] Linguist Ismaïl Kamandâr Fattah claimed that before Islam, the people of Luristan and Kurdistan spoke the same language, which was a Median dialect continuum that would eventually split into Kurdish and Luri. Fattah argued that even after the split, many Luri dialects remained mutually intelligible with many Kurdish dialects until the early modern period. He also compared the Laki dialect to the Feyli dialect of Southern Kurdish and some Northern Luri and concluded that it was closer to Kurdish.[4] However, Fattah classified Luri as southwestern Iranian and Kurdish as northwestern.[5]

Despite having similar vocabulary with Kurdish and other northwestern Iranian languages, the core lexicon of Luri was southwestern Iranian and closer to Persian.[6] Martin van Bruinessen stated that Luri “shares many features with Kurdish dialects, especially in phonology and lexicon,” and suggested that older linguistic classifications may have underestimated the continuity between Kurdish and Luri.[7] Baba Tahir Hamadani, a poet revered as a saint in Yarsanism, wrote his poems in a mixed language. According to Minorsky, the language was an early form of a dialect that predated the demarcation between Luri and Kurdish.[8] Luri, like Kurdish, was considered more of a dialect continuum than a language. Scholars conventionally divided Luri into: Northern Luri (spoken in Lorestan, eastern Ilam, parts of Hamadan), Bakhtiari Luri (spoken in parts of Chaharmahal and Khuzestan), and Southern Luri (spoken in Kohgiluyeh, Boyer-Ahmad, Behbahan, and Fars).[9] Northern Lurs were ethnographically and linguistically very close to Southern Kurds, while Southern Lurs were more Persian influenced.[10][11][12] Southern Luri dialects differed from Kurdish and were much closer to Persian.[13][14] David McDowall stated that "In the north, the distinction between Lurs and Kurds is blurred", whereas "Further south, the distinction is clearer, as Luri becomes less mutually intelligible with Kurdish and more akin to Persian.”[15] Persian influence reached the Southern Lurs and Bakhtiaris far before Northern Lurs.[16] Despite the linguistic differences, Abbas Vali stated that "Kurdish identity is not confined to a linguistic core", emphasizing that Luri being a separate language did not pose an obstacle to the Kurdish nationalist claim over Lurs. Zazas were considered ethnic Kurds who spoke a non-Kurdish language but had been key figures in Kurdish nationalism.[17]

Many Kurdish and Luri tribes claimed descent from common legendary ancestors, often linking themselves to ancient Iranian heroes or Islamic figures reimagined in local epics. Pierre Oberling claimed that both Luri and Kurdish oral genealogies often derived tribal origins from Zahhak or Fereydun.[18] Several Kurdish and Luri tribes claimed descent from Islamic figures such as Ali, although it was part of a wider phenomenon around the Islamic world that many non-Arab Muslims did so for more prestige among their own people.[19] Both Lurs and Kurds partook in the Dastan tradition, where they orally transmitted epic narratives with overlapping heroes, motifs, and tribal settings. Richard Tapper emphasized that the heroic figures of the Zagros epic tradition often “float across ethnic boundaries,” with identical stories often being varyingly attributed to a Luri or Kurdish tribe.[20] Martin van Bruinessen, who analyzed the Kordnāma, a popular Persian epic about a legendary Kurdish hero, observed that similar themes were found in Luri oral stories such as tribal rebellion, defense of pastureland, loyalty to Sufi saints, and migration cycles.[21] After the conversion of Lurs to Shia Islam, in some rural areas of Lorestan, oral prayers and chants to saints associated with Sunni Sufi orders continued. Some Lur tribal elders recalled “the time of the Sunni ancestors” in seasonal ceremonies.[22] Many rural Feyli communities who identified as Kurdish and adhered to Sunni Islam had folk sayings which stated that there was a time when "the Lurs prayed like us".[23] Both Kurdish and Luri oral performance traditions shared the use of the chahârmezrâb, tasnif, and epic lament (gero) forms. In Music of the Iranian Tribes, Jean During emphasized that storytelling styles in Hawraman and Kohgiluyeh shared not only structural features but often the same archetype, such as the tragic warrior or loyal companion.[24] Although Shia Islam dominated Luristan and Ilam by the 16th century, oral tradition in the tribal and rural areas preserved memory of a period of Sunni unity. In Bakhtiari folk memory, there were many tales of the Bakhtiaris fighting alongside “the Kurdish brother tribes” against the Mongols or the Timurids. These tales often included stock names such as Ahmad Khan or Sultan Khalil, which anthropologists believed were idealized representations of pre-Safavid tribal unity.[25]

Scholars such as Amir Hassanpour argued that "prior to the rise of nationalism, the Lur-Kurd dichotomy did not exist in the minds of the tribes themselves, who shared economic patterns, languages, and social codes.”[26] Van Bruinessen added that "Modern census data and educational systems have enforced artificial distinctions between Lurs and Kurds, where previously none were thought to exist by the people themselves.”[27]

History

After the Islamic conquest of Iran, in Arabic and Persian texts, "Akrād" (Kurds) was used to refer to non-Arab, non-Turkic, non-Persian Iranian tribal groups, but would later specifically refer to nomadic pastoralists in the Zagros mountains, including the ancestors of the Kurds and Lurs. At the time, there was no distinction between proto-Kurds and proto-Lurs, who were all referred to as Akrad.[28][29][30] According to Minorsky, "in early Islamic times the name Lur had not yet come into general use, and the population of Luristan was reckoned among the Kurds."[31]

Al-Maqdisi stated that the Kurds lived in the regions west and north of Khuzestan.[32] Yaqut al-Hamawi used the term "Lur" as the name of a geographic region rather than an ethnonym. He mentioned the regions of “Lur al-Kabīr” (Greater Lur) and “Lur al-Saghir” (Lesser Lur) but stated that the people of the Lur region were Kurds.[33][34][35] Ibn al-Balkhi wrote in the Farsnama that “Zubdat al-Tawarikh" mentioned that "there a village, Shahr-e Kord, that Kurds are living there. Their language Kurdish and they called Lors/Lurs."[36] Ibn al-Athir stated that Luristan was ruled by Kurdish chiefs and used the terms Lur and Kurd interchangeably.[37][38] Al-Masudi surveyed the tribes between Kermanshah and Khuzestan and stated that the Lurs were a part of the Kurds.[39][40] Ibn Khordadbeh placed the Lurs within the Kurds in Kitāb al-Masālik wa al-Mamālik.[41] Al-Tha'alibi, in Lata'if al-Ma'arif, stated that the “Akrād of Jibāl and Ahwaz” were a homogeneous group of mountain tribesmen.[42] Several sources from between the 10th and 15th century explicitly stated that the Lurs were a subgroup of Kurds.[43] Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari, in Masalik al-Absar, stated that the Lur dynasties in Lesser Lur and Greater Lur were part of the wider Kurdish tribal confederation in, especially regarding the Shabankara and Khorshidi dynasties, who he identified as “Kurdish rulers of Luristan.”[44] Hamdallah Mustawfi, in Nuzhat al-Qulub, described the inhabitants of Luristan as “Kurd-i Lur” (Luri Kurds). He also classified the Laks and Lurs as Kurdish tribes under the service of the Ilkhanate.[45] Hafiz-i Abru, in Zubdat al-Tawarikh, also referred to the inhabitants of Luristan as “Kurd-i Lur” (Luri Kurds), and noted that many tribe leaders in Luristan held the title of "amīr al-Akrād".[46] Ibn Khaldun, in Muqaddimah, discussed tribal dynamics and applied the term Kurd to western Iranian tribes, despite mostly focusing on North Africa.[47]

Minorsky noted that in Islamic sources, the distinction between Kurds and Lurs was often fluid or nonexistent.[48] Similarly, Wadie Jwaideh stated that "the line between the Lur and the Kurd is more political than ethnic."[49] CE Bosworth stated that "in the earliest Islamic periods, the distinctions between Lurs and Kurds are impossible to draw. Most were simply categorized as Akrad.”[50]

By the 10th and 11th centuries, there were some distinctions, although the overlap persisted well into later centuries.[51] The term "Lur" first appeared during the Buyid and Seljuk eras and was the name of a region that was made up of Lur-e-Bozorg (Greater Lur) and Lur-e-Kuchak (Lesser Lur). Sources continued to describe the people of Luristan as a group within the Akrad. Tribes that would later become Kurdish and tribes that would later become Luri regularly ruled over each other and did not perceive each other as foreigners.[52][53]

Bar Hebraeus wrote "now Ahmed being disgraced, and Arghon having triumphed, Shams ad-Din fled to the mountains of the Medes, and he took refuge with a race of Kurds who are called Lurs."[54] Marco Polo wrote that the "the Lurs are akin to the Kurd and speak a Kurd dialect as do all those Ilyáts, or nomads of Persia who are not of Turkish race."[55] Jean Chardin in his visit to Iran stated that the “Persians regarded the Lurs as a kind of Kurd” and that both Kurds and Lurs occupied the same sociopolitical niche in Iran.[56] Ahmed Cevdet Pasha wrote that the Lurs, Laks, Bakhtiaris, and Goran were all Kurds.[57]

Under the Seljuks, ethnic terms began to crystalize. The Seljuk Sultan Sanjar created a province called "Kurdistan" centered around Hamadan. The Seljuks also began to refer to the natives of Lur-e-Bozorg and Lur-e-Kuchak collectively as "Lur" in administrative settings, although it was meant as a topographic term rather than ethnic. The Ilkhanids continued the practice. The people were still collectively known as Kurds, although there was a rise in the term Lur.[58] The Ilkhanate recognized the regions of Lur-e Bozorg and Lur-e Kuchek, which both remained autonomous under hereditary Atabeg dynasties. However, there was still no ethnic distinction.[59]

A 2023 study by Boris James, the first scholar to carefully analyze and interpret the writings, focusing on the 12th to 14th centuries, concluded that by the 12th century, the Kurds began to solidify as an ethnic group divided into several subgroups.[60]

Wadie Jwaideh stated that "the Kurds were essentially tribal, nomadic, and almost without exception Sunnis of the Shafi‘i school."[61] Martin van Bruinessen added that "Kurdish identity was largely tribal and Sunni in character until the rise of modern nationalism."[62]

Lurs continued to be considered Kurds, and later the first major distinction between Kurds and Lurs happened after the Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam. The Kurds remained Sunni Muslims, whereas the Lurs converted to Shia Islam and became allies of the state.[63][64] Before the Safavids, Kurds and Lurs were both primarily adherents of Shafi'i Sunni Islam and even attended the same tariqats.[65] The influence of Sheikh Adi extended beyond Adawiyya, even reaching the Lurs of Luristan and Khuzestan. While Lurs were never adherents of Adawiyya or Yazidism, Sheikh Adi was venerated by the Lurs as a renewer of Islam, and had a reputation for being a miraculous ascetic.[66] Some Adawiyya practices were common in Greater Luristan, where dervish wanderers and faqirs traveled through tribal lands carrying legends and practices of Sheikh Adi.[67] Before the Lurs became Shia under the Safavids, Luri religious traditions maintained syncretic Sufi traditions, where saints like Sheikh Adi were accepted as part of a shared Islamic landscape, not defined by sectarian boundaries.[68] Ascetics who wore black clothes regularly crossed back and forth between Kurdistan and Luristan, reflecting Adawi dervishes later reinterpreted as local saints.[69] Luri Islamic leaders often retold stories attributed to Sheikh Adi, even without any direct Yazidi identification.[70] Yazidism and Yarsanism shared many similarities but were also significantly different. Most similarities were in structure, but also theology as well.[71][72][73]

Initially, Safavid Iranian chroniclers continued to consider Lurs as Kurds. Iskandar Beg Munshi, the court historian of Shah ʿAbbās I, referred to the Khorshidi rulers of Lorestan as Kurdish amirs, calling the province home to rebellious Akrād.[74] Titles such as "Amīr al-Akrād" were officially conferred upon governors of Luristan, including members of the Solvizi and Khorshidi dynasties.[75] At this time, Persian government maps sometimes merged Kurdistan and Luristan into one division called "Diyar-e Akrad".[76] According to Floor, "Under the Safavids, the Lurs became a distinct administrative and military category, separate from Kurds… this administrative boundary fixed what had earlier been fluid." He also stated that “The distinction between Lur-e Bozorg and Lur-e Kuchak was firmly in place under the Safavids, who viewed Luristan as separate from the Kurdish [e]mirates to the north.”[77] According to Tapper, “In the long run, religious conversion contributed to a deeper split between the Sunni Kurds and the Shi’a Lurs, particularly among the Bakhtiyari and Feyli tribes."[78] In 1597–98, Shah Abbas I deposed the last Khorshidi ruler and replaced the dynasty with Lur governors loyal to the central state. According to Floor, "The fall of the Khorshidi dynasty marked the final integration of Lesser Luristan into the Safavid system, and the removal of any remaining Kurdish political identity in that region.”[79]

The conversion to Shia Islam had granted the Lurs political benefits from the Safavids, who sought to promote the Shia Lurs as a distinct group from the Sunni Kurds, who were often rebellious.[80] The Kurds were used by the Ottomans as a frontier against the Safavids, while the Safavids used the Lurs for the same reason.[81]

According to Amanat, “Shiʿism not only marked religious difference, but increasingly structured administrative and ethnic boundaries… by the Qajar period, a Shiʿa Lur identity had fully consolidated.”[82] The Pahlavi government fully distinguished Lurs from Kurds.[83] After the Islamic revolution, commentators stated that "The Islamic Republic’s policies effectively converted historical ambiguities into firm ethnic boundaries — with the Lurs cast as ‘Shiʿa Iranians’ and the Kurds as ‘Sunni rebels’."[84] Amir Hassanpour mentioned that "In some Kurdish regions in Iran, especially where Lurs and Kurds intermingle, religious conversion to Sunnism has served as a form of ethnic realignment or assertion", emphasizing that the distinction between Lurs and Kurds mostly came from the Shia and Sunni divide, as it was easy for Lurs who converted to Sunni Islam to also start identifying as Kurds.[85]

Many Yarsani Lurs perceived their faith as a core part of their tribal identity, which sometimes superseded ethnic or linguistic categories. Yarsani sacred sites such as the shrine of Sultan Sahak attracted adherents from both Kurdish and Luri backgrounds, serving as focal points for communal gatherings and reinforcing a Yarsani identity.[86] Shared religious rituals, pilgrimage sites, and oral traditions reinforced relations among Kurdish and Luri Yarsanis, establishing bonds of unity.[87] The concept of Yarsani unity among Kurds and Lurs overpowered the Kurdish-Luri identity dispute. Yarsani adherents, whether Kurds or Lurs, recognized each other by tribal and religious identity rather than the ethnic terms, fostering a strong sense of unity, solidarity, and cooperation.[88] Intermarriage between Kurdish and Luri Yarsani families, was common and symbolized overcoming the ethnic boundaries that were set in the 20th century.[89] Yarsani communities engaged in informal networks of support across ethnic lines to preserve religious practices and social autonomy, particularly in rural and mountainous regions where state control was limited.[90] During episodes of political unrest in western Iran, Yarsani solidarity occasionally translated into political alliances, with Kurdish and Luri Yarsani tribal leaders coordinating to resist state policies.[91]

Several Kurdish and Luri tribes forged military and political alliances to resist external powers, including Safavid and Ottoman encroachments. These alliances generally focused on mutual defense, resource sharing, and maintaining the local autonomy of the Zagros, where the state barely had power.[92] During Safavid, Qajar, Pahlavi, and Islamic Republic eras, Luri and Kurdish rebels frequently coordinated resistance efforts to preserve tribal autonomy and cultural rights.[93] Marital ties between Kurdish and Luri tribal leaders helped solidify political alliances and social cohesion, especially in southern Kurdistan and northern Luristan.[94]

In the Sharafnama, written in 1597, Sharafkhan Bidlisi listed the Lurs as one of the subgroups of Kurds.[95] Ottoman travelogue Evliya Çelebi wrote in the Seyahatname that the Lurs were either ethnic Kurds or very closely allied groups.[96] Amir Hassanpour highlighted that many poets from Luri regions, mainly Pish-e Kuh but also Pisht-e Kuh, had also written in Gorani in addition to Luri and self-identified as Luri Kurds.[97]

Even as Lur identity consolidated, Qajar-era administrators and historians continued to classify Lurs, especially northern Lurs and Bakhtiaris, as Kurds. In his administrative history, ʿAbd al-Razzāq Beg Donbolī mentioned Bakhtiari and Lak tribes as Kurdish in origin.[98] Similarly, Najm al-Dawla’s reports referred to Lorestan as a “Kurdish country” (mamlakat-i Akrād).[99] Western ethnographers and state officials continued to classify Laks, Bakhtiaris, and Kuhgiluyeh Lurs as Kurds. In the early editions of Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fārsi (1930s–40s), written by the Iranian government, the Kuhgiluyeh, Laks, and Bakhtiari were listed as Kurds. However, they were later listed under the separate Lur category.[100] By the early 20th-century, language classification became the primary identifier. The Pahlavi government classified Luri as Southwestern Iranian.[101] Other scholars around the world followed by classifying Lurs as ethnically and linguistically distinct from Kurds, but closely related.[102] According to Garnik Asatrian, Luri was considered a Kurdish dialect for long due to the significance of Yarsani literature in the Luri language.[103]

Minorsky stated that “In Qajar and earlier Safavid documentation, groups such as the Bakhtiyārī, Kuhgīlūya, and Lak were often designated as ‘Akrād'.”[104]

Before the Pahlavi era, Lurs identified strongly by their specific tribe, and had no concept of ethnic identity.[105] According to Yarshater, the Kurds and Lurs were considered one nation until the distinction became formalized in the 20th century, and before the Lurs were classified as their own category in Iran, distinctions between Kurds and Lurs were either non-existent or minimal.[106] As the Zagros Mountains had long been out of state centralization, Iranian classifications of Lurs as separate from Kurds also sought to divide potentially united tribal rebels who opposed the state.[107] Iranian government claims that Lurs were a distinct nation from Kurds intensified in the 20th century at the same time Kurdish separatism in Iran had intensified.[108]

Perspectives of neighboring populations

Oberling, who studied the Qashqai of southern Iran, stated that among Turkic nomadic tribes, such as the Qashqai, the term "Kurd" was often used interchangeably to describe various Lur tribes, especially those from Kuhgiluyeh and Luristan, despite the Iranian government classifications that separated them.[109] Jean-Pierre Digard similarly added that among the lowland Khuzestani Arabs, it was common to refer to the upland tribes of Kohgiluyeh and Luristan as "Kurds".[110][111] Ismet Cheriff Fattah also added that the Laks and Lurs of eastern Iraq were regarded by Iraqi Arabs as a Kurdish subgroup, especially due to their dialectal similarity to Kurdish and their tribal kinship network with other Kurds.[112]

Luri and Kurdish perspectives

There were many marginal tribes that were divided among the Kurdish, Luri, and Luri Kurdish identities. Among those tribes were Kalhor, Feyli, Lak, and Minjayi. The Kalhor, primarily adherents of Shia Islam and Yarsanism, had always been considered Kurds. Some Iranian governments attempted to claim the Kalhor as Lurs but achieved no success as the Kalhor firmly identified as Kurds.[113][114] The Feylis also identified as Kurds, although various Iranian governments insisted that they were Lurs.[115][116] The Islamic Republic of Iran attempted to push a Lur identity on Feylis and highlight their Shia faith over any Kurdish linguistic or cultural markers.[117] Abbas Vali stated that "In Iran, the Shi‘a character of the Feylis enabled their absorption into a Lur identity, while in Iraq, the same trait marked them as outsiders among Kurds.”[118] However, Feylis in Iraq were very active in Kurdish nationalism, especially in the PUK. Many PUK pioneers had been Feyli. According to Romano, “Feylis in Iran have been Lurified, while their Iraqi cousins have been Kurdified — a perfect example of ethno-political bifurcation across a modern border.”[119] According to Jean Calmard, who did fieldwork in Kermanshah and Ilam, many Feylis identified as Lurs, but stated that Lurs were a Kurdish subgroup. They did not see the Kurdish and Luri identities as contradictory.[120] Many diaspora Feylis, especially in Norway, Sweden, and the UK, led campaigns demanding the Iraqi and Iranian governments to officially recognize Kurdish-Luri hybridity and to respect the identity of Lurs that identified as Kurds as well.[121] Fereydoun Safizadeh stated that Minjayi perfectly exemplified "the dialect continuum between Southern Kurdish and Northern Luri, and the state’s tendency to classify such groups as Lurs has led to identity disputes."[122] The Feylis were classified as Kurds by the Ottomans and referred to themselves as Kurds, particularly in opposition to Arab neighbors. Among Feylis in Iran, Kurdish identity sometimes implied Sunni affiliation or political suspicion. The Lur identity became a safer option to avoid being targeted by Iranian authorities.[123] Minjayis were significantly affected by the divide, with many identifying solely as Lurs but also many identifying as a subgroup of Kurds.[124] The Laks were claimed by both Kurds and Lurs. Pierre Oberling stated that the Laks were linguistically Kurdish but socially assimilated among the Lurs.[125] M. Reza Hamzeh’ee stated that "identity among Laks is situational", where urban, educated, and politically integrated Laks in Lorestan may identify as Lur, while the rural Laks of Ilam or Kermanshah maintain a Kurdish identity.[126] Martin van Bruinessen stated that "the Laki dialect is intermediate between Kurdish and Luri but is generally considered Kurdish by its speakers."[127] Hamzeh’ee confirmed that during the Islamic Republic of Iran, Laks increasingly joined the Kurdish nationalist movement, including many Yarsanis among them who were disgruntled with the Shia regime.[128] Laks in Selseleh, Delfan, and Kuhdasht began hosting more Kurdish cultural events, participating in Kurdish circles, and advocating for the recognition of Laki as a Kurdish dialect.[129] In a 2016 interview in Delfan, a Lak resident stated that Lur was merely a regional name, and that while the Laks were Lurs, the Lurs were still ethnically, linguistically, and historically Kurds.[130] Erik Anonby stated that “Laki is frequently referred to as Kurdish in Iraq, while in Iran it is often administratively classified as Luri. This dichotomy reflects more the modern state’s needs than linguistic reality.”[131] Many Laks referred to their homeland as “Kurdistan of the Laks”, a phrasing found in both oral traditions and 19th-century sources.[132] Richard Strand stated that “Laki, spoken by a million people, sits between Luri and Kurdish and has no definitive classification. It reveals how ethnic boundaries are constructed rather than natural.”[133]

In the 20th century, many Luri tribal elders close to the state began considering Kurdish identity a foreign and threatening label as the Kurdish separatist revolts increased.[134] In several instances, the IRGC deliberately deployed Lur elements of Basij militias to suppress Kurdish revolts, not only distancing the Lurs from Kurds but also worsening relations among the groups.[135] Moreover, state-backed development projects in Lur cities such as Andimeshk, Khorramabad, and Yasuj, were often used to show off "success stories" of integration, contrasting them with neglected and rebellious Kurdish cities like Baneh or Mariwan.[136] After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Iran-backed Shia militias in Iraq also began encouraging Feyli communities in Diyala and Wasit to affiliate with Shia Arab identity blocs rather than Kurdish parties, aiming to reorient their identity away from Kurds.[137]

There were even Lurs who claimed Kurds were a subgroup of Lurs, rather than the other way around. In Lorestan during the late Pahlavi period, some provincial officials and cultural activists promoted the narrative that Lurs were the “civilized core” of the Zagros region, while Kurds were presented as tribalized offshoots.[138][139]

The majority of Lurs were integrated well into Iranian society and loyal to Iran. By the 20th century, the majority of Lurs identified as a distinct ethnic group. However, a significant minority of Lurs from various tribes identified as Luri Kurds.[140] While Lurs who embraced Kurdish identity viewed it as a reversal of Persianization, the Iranian government and many Lur elites viewed it as Kurdification of Lurs.[141] Michael M.J. Fischer recorded interviews in Lorestan in the 1970s, where he met Luri tribal elders that referred to Kurds as “keshan-e khodemun” (our kin), and stated that the division between Kurds and Lurs was "invented by Tehran."[142]

There were other Lurs who claimed to be a distinct group but also claimed that Kurds were the closest group to Lurs and both shared common origin. Numerous 20th-century Luri writers, cultural figures, and tribal elders expressed the view that Lurs and Kurds descended from the same historical population, often framed in terms of Iranian Zagrosian tribal continuity. Habib Borjian had noted that many Lurs viewed themselves as “ethnically close cousins to Kurds, while retaining a distinct Luri identity”.[143] According to Shahbaz Shahnavaz, many Luri elders in Lorestan and Khuzestan, while still claiming a distinct Luri identity, often stated that “Kurds and Lurs are like brothers who went different ways,” emphasizing a common belief in shared descent with subsequent divergence.[144] Several Luri scholars had also claimed that pre-Safavid Luri dialects were classified by Iranian linguists and administrators as Kurdish. According to language historian D. N. MacKenzie, early Persian grammarians often listed Luri alongside Kurdish as part of a Zagros dialect continuum, even while asserting its Southwestern evolution.[145] Richard Tapper, an anthropologist who visited Luristan, noted that a Bakhtiari elder stated "We are not Kurds, but there is no people closer to us than the Kurds”.[146] The ideology of “Zagrosian nationalism”, which was often promoted by Komala and PJAK circles, asserted that Kurds and Lurs were one Zagros nation, artificially divided by state categories, without picking Kurdish or Luri identities over one another.[147][148] Seyed Ali Laki, a Lak poet from Kuhdasht, called for the "unity of Zagros nations" against "Tehranization".[149]

From the Safavid era until the Islamic Republic, Lur elites had long emphasized distinction from Kurds, claiming that while the Kurds were historically violent, pastoralist, and illiterate, the Lurs represented settled tribal nobility loyal to Iran. This sentiment increased under the Qajar and Pahlavi governments, which actively claimed that the "civilized" Lurs were different from the "unruly" Kurds.[150] Lur political and religious leaders portrayed Lurs as defenders of Iran and Shi‘ism, and Kurds as rebels and Sunni outsiders.[151] Hamzeh'ee stated that "Yarsani identity is often the battleground between competing Kurdish and Luri nationalisms," with each group trying to claim the religion.[152] Richard Frye, who had extensively researched the topic, stated that "the term Lur only became common in Persian sources after the 10th century CE. Before that, most sources refer to the tribes of this region as Kurds (Akrad)."[153] He then stated that in the 20th century, "Lurs do not generally consider themselves Kurds, although historically the term ‘Kurd’ was used more broadly. In modern times, especially under the Iranian nation-state, the Lurs have developed a distinct identity."[154]

See also

References

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