LURISTAN, a province of Persia which extends westward for about 270 miles, from the borders of Fars, in lat. 31° 51' N., to those of Kermanshah, about lat. 34° 5' N., with an ordinary width of about 70 miles. Luristan is divided into two provinces, Luri-buzurg and Luri-kuchuk, or the Greater and Lesser Luristan.. The former is the mountainous country of the Bakhtiari, stretching from the frontiers of Fars to the river Dizful ; the latter is situated between the river and the plains of Assyria, being bounded to the north and south by Kermanshah and Susiana. The province of Luri kuchuk is again subdivided into two districts, Pesh-koh and Pusht-i-koh, Cis and Trans-Alpine Luristan, referring to the great chain of Zagros. The Luristan mountains west of Irak, between Shuster and Isfahan, and from Shuster to near Kermanshah, are occupied by the Bakhtiari tribe, who often wander to other parts. The Mehmasani have branches in Seistan and the bills of Luristan. Luristau-kuchuk is bounded on the north by Burujird and Kermanshah ; the river Dizful separates it on the east from the Baklitiari of Luristan-buzurg, but the boundary line on the south and west is much more uncertain, as the Lur tribes, in their winter migrations, disperse with their flocks over the plains of Dizful, lying to the southward of their mountains, and meet with the wandering Arabs on the Turkish frontier on the west, in the vast Assyrian plains. Luristan-pesh koli lies east, and Luristan-pusht-i-koh west of the great Zagros chain. The Lur are a great family, their principal divisions being the tribes of Koghilu, the Lek, and the Kurd. They are not of Arab or Turkish descent, but seem to have always occupied the hilly country which runs from the south-east to north-west of Persia. The Lux do not receive Mahomed and the Koran. They worship Baba Buzurg, and have amongst them seven holy men, whom they regard with little short of adoration. Many of their observances are traceable to a time long prior to Mahomed. They have had attributed to them the custom of formerly meeting at night, supposed to be a remnant of the physiological worship of Anaitis and Mithra.
The four principal tribes who occupy the Pesh koh are the I Lek tribes. Lur tribes.
Dilfun, ' J Amalah, Bala•gheriveh, The Silasile and Dilfun amount to about 30,000 families; the former are the more powerful, also the more unmanageable. The Amalah were formerly very numerous, but have been much reduced since Aga Muhammad Khan, the founder of the present Kajar dynasty, transplanted them into Fars. After his death, it is true, the greater part returned, but their force was broken. A portion of the Amalah Iliyat was found by De Bode encamped at the foot of Mount Istakhr, in the plains of Persepolis. They are styled worshippers of violence, who always submit tamely to any sort of authority, good or bad ; whereas the other Lur tribes cannot easily brook oppression. Their number is held to be between 2000 and 3000 families, but it appears to be rather underrated. The Bala-gheriveh do not exceed 4000 families, but are a very trouble some tribe. The Pusht-i-koh tribes, who bear the name of Feili, arc less numerous than those of Pesh-koh ; Major Rawlinson estimated them at 12,000 families. They consist of the Kurd, Din arved, Shuhon, Kalhur, Badrai, Maki. The Feili clan inhabit a portion of the province of Khuzistan. They have two sections, the Pesh-koh and Pusht-i koh. The Pesh-koh are notoriously predatory, and single travellers or caravans cannot travel with safety. Luristan could raise 4000 or 5000 horse men, and 20,000 matchlockmen.
The Feili pretend to have more respect for an oath, and to be less bloodthirsty, than their neigh bours the Bakhtiari ; but there is little difference between them.
Independently of the tribes mentioned in Pesh and Pusht-i-koh, there live in the plains of Hum, between Burujird and Khorremabad, the Bajilan and the Beiraneveued, who belong to the Lek family.—Layard ; MacGregor, iv. pp. 287-297 ; De Bode's Luristan ; Ferrier's Jour. ; Rawlinson, Royal Geog. Jour. ix. ; Strabo, xi. ; Euphrates and Tigris, by Col. Chesney ; Kinneir.