Zand (tribe)

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The Zand tribe (Persian: طایفه زند) is a Laki-speaking Kurdish tribe[1][2][3] mainly populating the countryside of Khanaqin in Iraq and in the provinces of Kurdistan and Hamadan of Iran.[4][5][1]

History edit

The Zand tribe is originally from the Khanaqin area and settled in Malayer near Hamadan.[3][6] Incorporated into the army of Iranian ruler Nader Shah (r.1736-1747), they were moved to Khorasan.[6] The Zands and other tribes of the Zagros Mountains managed to return home following Nader's assassination in 1747.[6] Many returned to Lorestan according to M. Reza Hamzeh'ee,[2] while Soane notes that parts of tribe ultimately returned to Khanaqin.[3]

The tribe is most known for their member, Karim Khan Zand, who founded the Zand dynasty, ruling from 1751 till his death in 1779. His death was followed by internal conflicts for his succession which resulted in the weakening of the dynasty, ending with the defeat of Karim Khan's nephew Lotf Ali Khan by the Qajar ruler Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (r. 1789-1797).

The tribe was also known as one of the few where women fought alongside their husbands.[7]

Origins edit

According to Tucker, the Zands "were a branch of the Laks, a subgroup of the northern Lurs, who spoke Luri."[8] Perry also states that the Zands "belonged to the Lakk group of Lurs".[9] Frye, likewise, states that the Zand tribe "spoke the Lakk dialect of the Lur language".[6] When Soane visited the tribe around 1918, the tribe denied any connection to Lurs.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "نگاهی به تغییرات زیستی و اسمی قوم لک به گواهی قدمت تاریخ" (in Persian). ILNA. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b Hamzeh'ee, M. Reza (1990). The Yaresan: A Sociological, Historical and Religio-historical Study of a Kurdish Community. p. 62. ISBN 9783922968832.
  3. ^ a b c d Soane, E. B. (1918). Notes on the tribes of Southern Kurdistan. Baghdad. p. 37.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Archibald Roosevelt (1944). "Kurdish tribal map of Iraq : showing the Iraq portion of Kurdistan and the major Kurdish tribal divisions within Iraq". Yale University.
  5. ^ Edmonds, Cecil John (1957). Kurds, Turks, and Arabs. Oxford University Press. p. 279.
  6. ^ a b c d Frye, Richard N. (2009). "Zand Dynasty". In Esposito, John L. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford University Press.
  7. ^ The Zands are notable as one of the few Kurdish ruling bodies to allow women in their military. Zand women often fought alongside their husbands against invading Afghan forces Lortz, Michael (2005). "Willing to Face Death: A History of Kurdish Military Forces - the Peshmerga - From the Ottoman Empire to Present-Day Iraq". Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations. 1038: 108. Archived from the original on 2015-07-27. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  8. ^ Tucker, Ernest (2020). "Karīm Khān Zand". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
  9. ^ Perry, J.R. (2002). "Zand". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume XI: W–Z. Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-12756-2.

Further reading edit