BAKHTIARI

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 229 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BAI-BAR

BAKHTIARI , one of the

great

GREAT

nomad

NOMAD (Gr. voľas, voľabes, wandering)

tribes of Persia, whose camping-grounds are in the hilly

district

DISTRICT

, known as the Bakhtiari province. This province extends from Chaharmahal (west of Isfahan) in the E., to near Shushter in the W., and separated from Luristan in the N. by the Dizful river (Ab i Diz), and in the S touches Behbahan and Ram

Hormuz

HORMUZ (Hurmuz, Ormuz, Ormus)

. The Bakhtiari are divided into the two

great

GREAT

divisions Haft-lang and Chahar-lang, and a number of branches and clans, and were known until the 15th century as the " Great Lurs," the " Little Lurs " being the tribes settled in the

district

DISTRICT

now known as Luristan, with Khorremabad as

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

. According to popular tradition the Lurs originally came from Syria in the loth century, but it is now held that they were in Persia long, perhaps fifteen centuries, before. They speak the Lur language, a Persian dialect. The Bakhtiari number about 38,000 or 40,000 families, under 200,000 souls, while the area of the district occupied by them is about 25,000 sq. m. In the middle of the rgth century they could put 20,000 well-equipped horsemen into the field, but in consequence of

misrule

MISRULE, LORD OF

and long-lasting feuds between the different branches, which the government often fostered, or even instigated, the, district has become poor, and it would now be difficult to find 4000 horsemen. The province is under the

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

-general of Arabistan, and pays a yearly

tribute

TRIBUTE (Lat. tributurn, a stated payment, contribution)

of about 45000. The chiefs of the Bakhtiari in 1897, having nbtained the shah's permission for improving the road between Shushter or Ahvaz and Isfahan, an iron suspension bridge with a span of 120 ft. was erected over the Karun river at Gudar i Bulutek;another, with a span of 7o ft., over the Bazuft river at Pul i Amarat; and a stone bridge over the Karun at Do-pu-lan;
For accounts of the Bakhtiari see Mrs

Bishop

(Isabella Bird), Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan (London, 1893) ; C. de Bode, Travels in Luristan (London, 1841) ; Lord Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question, vol. ii. 283303 (London, 1892); Sir H.

Layard

LAYARD, SIR AUSTEN HENRY (1817-1894)

, Early Adventures in Persia (London, 1894). (A. H.-S.)

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