KHUZISTAN (formerly Arabistan), a province of Persia bounded west by the frontier of 'Iraq and the Shatt al Arab, north by the provinces of Burujird (Luristan) and Gulpaigan, east by those of Isfahan and Fars, and south by the Persian gulf. Khuzis tan, meaning the "land of the Khuz," was a part of the Biblical Elam and corresponds largely to the ancient Susiana. It is watered and drained mainly by the Karun (q.v.) and the Karkheh river, whose waters are dissipated in the Hawiza marshes. Other independent but smaller streams are the Jerrahi, and Hindian or Tab rivers. All these rivers bring down much silt from the Zagros range and its offshoots in the north, and this goes to create exten sive mud-flats in the south towards the coast of the Persian gulf. Thus, broadly, the province falls into two natural physical divi sions: the northern mountainous part where the country slopes gently down from the Bakhtiari highlands, bare and shingly; and the southern part, which consists, to a great extent, of open allu vial plains or morasses which in places are fertile and grassy and in other parts wholly barren or else thickly sprinkled with desert scrub.
The population of Khuzistan has been estimated at about 230,000 settled, and 120,000 nomadic people, but in these figures no account is taken of the Bakhtiaris and Lurs who enter the north-eastern districts in winter, the most important numer ically being probably the Sagwand Lurs who encamp in the district of Dizful, sometimes to the number of 15,000. The bulk of the population of Khuzistan is either pure Arab or, more frequently, a mixture of Arab and Persian, and the tribes are settled, or nomadic, or in a transitional stage between the two modes of life. Speaking generally, the tribal system of Khuzistan is rather loose and does not rest upon a rigid basis of race. Whole tribes are sometimes merged and disappear, or are distributed as sections among other tribes. Among the more powerful or numerous of the tribal communities are the Kaab, probably numbering 5o,000, located in southern Khuzistan around Mohammerah, Jerrahi dis trict and Ahwaz; the Dizfuli around Dizful; the Muhaisin in the Mohammerah and Ahwaz districts ; the Shushtari in Shushtar dis trict ; the Tamim, Qanawati, and Khamis, nomadic. The Kaab claim to be Awamir or Bani Amir whose original home is stated to have been in Nejd; their political influence, formerly very powerful, has declined in recent years, whilst that of the Muhaisin has risen. Mention should also be made of the tribes who dwell in the Hawizeh district and who, in summer and autumn encamp in the marshes and in winter roam the deserts with their flocks and herds and who are regarded as turbulent elements.
The soil of Khuzistan is naturally very fertile, but since the Shandurwan weir across the Karun at Ahwaz was swept away and the numerous canals which diverted the water of the river for irrigation purposes became useless, a great part of that district, once accounted among the richest in Persia, has become uncultivated. A dam across the Karkheh, also,
gave way in 1837 and its waters dissipated in marshes, submerged and ruined large areas in the neighbourhood of Hawizeh. Most of the crops depend for water on rainfall or wells. The climate is hot, the relative humidity high and the low-lying swampy districts unhealthy. The prevailing winds are north-west and south-east : the former hot and dry from the arid regions west of Mesopo tamia, the latter bearing much moisture from the Persian gulf. Khuzistan is productive in patches. Wheat and barley are the more general crops in their distribution, but rice, cotton, sesame, beans and sugar cane are grown in a number of districts, while linseed, maize and pulse are produced in other localities. Special crops are indigo in the Dizful district, opium and pepper in Shushtar, and tobacco around Ram Hormuz and Aqili.
Ahwaz was, and still is, the most important road centre in the province, being in direct com munication with Shiraz by way of Ram Hormuz on the east, with Wasit and Baghdad on the west, with Shushtar, Qum and Tehran on the north (a large part of this road being fit for motor traffic), with Isfahan on the north-east, and with Mohammerah and Basra on the south. The other chief centres of trade and distribution are Dizful, Shushtar and Ram Hormuz, the latter being the market for the produce of the adjacent Bakhtiari and Lur country. The foreign trade of Khuzistan is carried on almost exclusively through Mohammerah (q.v.) ; a smaller port is Bandar Mashur, but it is without steamer communication. By far the most important mineral product is petroleum, from the extensive oilfields of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, situated east of Shushtar, which is exported from Abadan (q.v.).
revenue of the province amounted to 12,049,291 krans (L St. = 45 krans) in 1926-7.
H. Layard, "A description of the province of Khuzistan," J.R.G.S., 5842, XII.; H. C. Rawlinson, "Notes on a march from Zohab, . . . along the mountains to Khuzistan," etc., J.R.G.S., 1839, ix.; L. Pelly, "Remarks on the tribes, trade, and resources around the shore line of the Persian Gulf," Trans. Bomb. Geogr. Soc., 1863, XVII.; P. J. C. Robertson, Memorandum on the topography, etc., of Khuzistan (1879) ; A. H. Layard, Early adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylon (1887) ; G. N. Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question (1892) ; J. de Morgan, Mission scientifique en Perse, Vol. II. (1894 1904) ; L. Capitan, "L'histoire de l'Elam," etc., Rev. ecole d'anthropol ogie de Paris (1902) ; G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (1905) ; P. A. Buxton and V. H. W. Dowson, "The Marsh Arabs of Lower Mesopotamia," Indian Antiquary, 1921, I.; Persian Gulf Pilot (1924) ; A. T. Wilson, "The delta of the Shatt al 'Arab and proposals for dredging the bar," Geogr. J., 1925, Mar., and The Persian Gulf, An historical sketch (1928) ; F. R. Maunsell, "The land of Elam," Geogr. J., 1925, May ; see also KARUN. (P. Z. C.)