Khorasani Kurds (Kurdish: کوردانی خۆراسان; Persian: کردهای خراسان) are Kurds who live in the provinces of North Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan in northeastern Iran, along the Iran-Turkmenistan border. Khorasani Kurds speak the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish and are Shia Muslims.[3] Many Khorasani Kurds are bilingual in Khorasani Turkic, mainly due to intermarriages with Khorasani Turks. However, Persian is the lingua franca.[4] There are about 696 Kurdish villages in the two Khorasan provinces.[5] Many tribes are closely connected to the Khorasani Turks.[6]
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 500,000[1] to 1,000,000[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| mainly North Khorasan, but also Razavi Khorasan, and Golestan province | |
| Languages | |
| Kurdish, Persian, Khorasani Turkic | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (Shia Islam) |
Deportations of Kurds from present-day Turkish Kurdistan and South Caucasus to Khorasan were initiated by Ismail I and continued under Tahmasp I in the early 16th century. A further 45,000 Kurdish families were deported from 1598 to 1601. In the following decades, five Kurdish domains were established in Khorasan by Abbas the Great stretching from AstarabadtoChenaran. During the reign of Nader Shah, Kurds from Ardalan and those already deported to Khorasan were settled in Gilan Province.[7]
The main reason behind the deportations was the desire to create a defense-line against Turkmen and Uzbek nomads from Central Asia.[8]
Khorasani Kurds have interacted with nearby Khorasani Turkic and Turkmen tribes. Some works of the most famous Khorasani Kurdish poet, Ja'far Qoli, of late 19th century, were modelled on the 18th-century Turkmen ashik Magtymguly's verses and also Khorasani Turkic verses.[9]
Khorasani Kurdish is a dialect of Kurmanji and lacks distinct sub-dialects.[6] It is influenced by Persian, Khorasani Turkic, and Turkmen languages.[10] Two of the four major Khorasani Kurdish tribes, Zafaranlu and Shadlu, mainly speak Khorasani Turkic.[6]
Major Kurdish tribes of Khorasan are Za'faranlu, Shadlu, Keyvanlu, and Sheikh Amarlu.[10][6]
According to Abbasali Madih, Kurdish tribes in Khorasan include the Amar, Baçvan, Badlan, Berivan, Bicervan, Çapeş, Davan, Hamazkan, Izan, Keyvan, Mamyan, Mastyan, Mozdegan, Palokan, Qaçkan (or Qoch-quyunlu), Qarabash, Qaraçur, Qaraman, Reşwan, Rudkan, Sevkan, Silsepuran, Şad, Şeyhkan, Şirvan, Torosan, Tukan, Topkan, Zafaran, Zangalan, Zaraqkan, Zardkan and Zeydan.[11] However, several tribes such as Qaramanlu and Silsepuranlu or Silsüpür ('sweep-clean' in Turkic) are of Turkoman origins.[12] Some tribes are mixed with the nearby Khorasani Turks and experience confusion of identity.[6]
Other tribes include the LakinKalat and Darragaz who still speak Laki.[13]
One Kurdish village exists in Torbat-e Jam County:[15]
In Khurasan the difficulty is still greater because there are no distinct sub-dialects, and the idiom of the Kurds appears practically uniform. Many sub-sections are closely connected with the Turks, and experience real difficulty whether they are of Kurdish or Turkish nationality(...) Of the four tribes which are traditionally regarded as the original, namely 'Amarlu, Za'faranlu, Shadillu and Kaiwanlu, the first and last appear to-day as small tribes, while the other two are mostly Turkish-speaking and have ceased to be regarded as Kurds.
Turcoman nomads such as Qaramanlu