Lorestan Province

The name Lorestan means "land of the Lurs".[8]

The northern part of Lorestan is populated by the Kurds of the Lak tribe.[9] This includes the Delfan, Dowreh and Selseleh countries which are populated by various subtribes including the Chegini, Itivand Kakavand, Nurali and Papi.[9][10] Oshtorinan District in Borujerd County is moreover populated by the Hasanvand tribe.[11]

Aligudarz County, Azna County, Kuhdasht County, Khorramabad County and Pol-e Dokhtar County are ethnically mixed and populated by both Kurdish and Luri tribes.[10][12][13]

Gahar Lake, Dorud

Sepiddasht

Darreh-ye Anārān, Khorramabad County

A general view of Oshtorankuh

Fritillaria in Lorestan

In the wider sense it consists of that part of western Iran coinciding with the Ilam Province and extending for about 650 km on a northwest to southeast axis from Kermanshah to Fars, with a breadth of 150–180 km. The terrain consists chiefly of mountains, with numerous ranges, part of the Zagros chain, running northwest to southeast. The central range has many summits that almost reach the line of perpetual snow, rising to 4000 m and more. It feeds the headwaters of Iran's most important rivers, such as the Zayanderud, Jarahi, Karun, Diz, Abi, Karkheh. Between the higher ranges lie many fertile plains and low hilly, well-watered districts.

The highest point of the province is the Oshtorankuh peak at 4,050 m. The low-lying areas being in the southernmost sector of the province are approximately 500 m above sea level. Oak forest covers the outer slopes, together with elm, maple, walnut, and almond trees.[14]

Western Luristan comprises a series of parallel fertile valleys running high in the Zagros mountains. The Pusht-i Kuh region is in the western foothills of the Kabir Kuh range. The Pish-i Kuh region lies to the east of Kabir Kuh. This area had human settlements during the Bronze Age as early as the mid–3rd millennium B.C.

Climatically, the province can be divided into three parts: the mountainous regions, such as Boroujerd, Doroud, Azna, Nourabad and Alishtar experience cold winters and moderate summers. In the central region, the spring season begins from mid-February and lasts till mid May. The township of Khorramabad is in this realm. However, southern areas such as Pol-e-Dokhtar and Papi are under the influence of the warm air currents of Khuzestan, have hot summers and relatively moderate winters.[15]

The climate is generally sub-humid continental with winter precipitation, a lot of which falls as snow (Köppen Csa). Because it lies on the westernmost slopes of the Zagros Mountains, annual precipitation in Lorestan is among the highest anywhere in Iran south of the Alborz Mountains. At Khorramabad, the average annual precipitation totals 530 millimetres (21 inches) of rainfall equivalent, while up to 1270 millimetres (50 inches) may fall on the highest mountains. The months June to September are usually absolutely dry, but Khorramabad can expect 4 inches of rainfall equivalent in December and January.

Temperatures vary widely with the seasons and between day and night. At Khorramabad, summer temperatures typically range from a minimum of 12 °C (54 °F) to a hot maximum of 32 °C (90 °F). In winter, they range from a minimum of -2 °C (28 °F) to a chilly maximum of 8 °C (46 °F).

Dorud

Azna

Khorramabad

Kuhdasht

Selseleh

Poldokhtar

Aligudarz

Dowreh

Delfan

Borujerd

Lorestan includes eleven counties (shahrestans): Aligudarz County, Azna County, Borujerd County, Delfan County, Dorud County, Dowreh County, Khorramabad County, Kuhdasht County, Selseleh County, Poldokhtar County, and as of 2013 Rumeshkan County.[16][17]

Since the creation of the map at the left, Kuhdasht County has been divided into Rumeshkan County and a smaller Kuhdasht County.[17]

Panorama of Khorramabad

Panorama of Borujerd

Panorama of Dorud

Khorramabad city Luristan

The ancient history of Lorestan is closely intertwined with the rest of the Ancient Near East. In the 3rd and 4th millennium BC, migrant tribes settled down in the mountainous area of the Zagros Mountains. The Kassites, an ancient people who spoke neither an Indo-European nor a Semitic language, originated in Lorestān. They would control Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire ca. 1531 BC and until ca. 1155 BC.

Parts of Luristan were invaded and settled by the Iranian Medes in the 2nd millennium BC. The Medes absorbed the indigenous inhabitants of the region, primarily the Kassites as well as the Gutians, by the time the area was conquered by the Persians in the 1st millennium BC. In February 2017, archeological discoveries related to the Achaemenid era were made in Lorestan for the first time.[18]

Cave painting in Doushe cave, Lorstan, Iran

Luristan bronze

Disc-headed pin depicting a female figure as decoration. Found in Lorestan, Rietberg Museum, Zürich

Small Luristan bronze artworks, usually dated about 1000 to 650 BC, reached the outside world from the late 1920s and are found in museums all over the world, where they are valued for their vigorous style, with many representations of animals. But actually, the beginning of this bronze-making tradition goes back to the mid–3rd millennium BC.

Archaeologists characterized these techniques by the metallurgical analysis of different artifacts,

We have characterized these practices by the compositional and metallurgical analysis of grave goods from several cemeteries in the region including six dating to different phases of the Bronze Age (Early Dynastic I to Ur ED III, circa 2900–2000 BC)—Kalleh Nisar, Bani Surmah, Chigha Sabz, Kamtarlan, Sardant, and Gulal-i Galbi—and four dating to different phases of the Iron Age (circa 1300 B.C.–600 B.C.)—Bard-i Bal, Kutul-i Gulgul, Sar Kabud, and War Kabud.[19]

Technically, the term 'Luristan bronze' usually refers only to the later bronze objects, although they have many similarities. The earlier bronze objects were made during the Elam period.

Lorestan was successfully integrated into the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sasanian empires. Parts of the region managed to stay independent during the Arab, Seljuk and Mongol invasions.

According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Lurs, previously open adherents of the Ahl-e-Haqq faith, revere bread and fire like the Zoroastrians. "Being split up into numerous tribes and sections, they migrate to their summer pastures as separate bands without overall command. In 1936, Reza Shah's army conquered them, with much bloodshed and starvation, forcing many of the survivors to settle in villages under landlords."[20]

In the early 1930s, when British explorer Freya Stark visited Luristan, she reported that few Europeans had visited the area before her, partly due to its remoteness, but also because of the dangers one could expect to encounter among lawless tribespeople.[21]

Soltani Mosque Boroujerd

• Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi, religious man
• Prof. Shahin Shojai, leading economist
• Shahmirza Moradi, sorna player
• Nasrollah Kasraian, photographer
• Abdolhossein Zarrinkoob, writer, historian, and critic
• Sayyed Jafar Shahidi, writer, historian, and critic
• Parviz Shahbazi, writer and filmmaker
• Loris Tjeknavorian, Armenian-Iranian composer and conductor
• Mehdi Karroubi, politician
• Qadam Kheyr, local heroine
• Narges Rashidi, actress

• Lorestan University
• Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi University of Borujerd
• Lorestan University of Medical Sciences
• Islamic Azad University of Khorram Abad
• Islamic Azad University of Aligudarz
• Islamic Azad University of Borujer
• Islamic Azad University of Dorood
• Payam Nour University of Poldokhtar
• Payam Nour University of Alashtar
• Payam Nour University of Borujerd
• Al-ghadir Applicational Scientific Comprehensive University
• Shahid Madani school of Khoramabad
• Ma’soumeh School of Khoramabad

• Chehel Minbari
• Luristan bronze
• 2006 Borujerd earthquake

• W. Barthold (1984). "Luristan and Khuzistan". An Historical Geography of Iran. Translated by Svat Soucek. Princeton University Press. pp. 180–194. ISBN 978-1-4008-5322-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lorestan Province.

• Attractions in the province