The Bakhtiari Sub-Tribe is among the largest Sub-Tribes of the south-west of Iran and has played an important part in the Iranian history.

 

It is formed by two branches, names Haft-Lang and Chahar-Lang. The Bakhtiari Province is mainly the summer territory of the Haft-Lang branch.

 

There are various reports on the size of this Sub- Tribe. According to 27 different available sources, the number of their Khanevars (households) in the 180 year period from 1807 to 1987 has varied from 12,000 to 100,000. However, according to a recent census, they now have 27,960 Khanevars with a total population of 181,777. Of these, 660 Khanevars spend the winter in the Bakhtiari Province and the rest go to Khuzestan Province.

There is no exact information on the background of this Sub-Tribe, but historians and travellers consider them to be a branch of the Arian race on the basis of the monuments and paintings left from ancient times in the Bakhtiari province.

Bainvehsen, the French archaeologist, puts emphasis on the antiquity of this Sub-Tribe on the strength of a statue found in Izeh belonging to the Sassanid era, depicting a man dressed like a Bakhtiari.

The Bakhtiari’s language is Farsi with a Bakhtiari dialect. Besides sheepherding they engage in crafts like carpet weaving, kelim weaving, jajim weaving, cap making, felt making, giveh making (traditional shoes), namakdan making (salt container), and sofrehnan making (special cloth for keeping bread).

Men’s costumes include choogha (coats with large shoulders), khosravi Hats (bowel-like cap), dabits (loose black trousers) and giveh. Women are clad in pleated trousers, long dresses, kaljeh (waistcoat), meyna (headdresses) and giveh.