Khuzestani Arabs

Arab ethnic minority in Iran

Ethnic group

Khuzestani Arabs

عرب خوزستان

Ahwazi Sheikhs Autumn 1948

Total population
1,600,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Khuzestan province, Iran
Languages
Khuzestani Arabic, Persian
Religion
Predominantly Shia Islam
Related ethnic groups
Baharnah • Huwala Arabs

Ahwazi Arabs[2][3] or Khuzestani Arabs (Arabic: عرب خوزستان) are the Arab inhabitants of the Khuzestan province and the largest Arabic speaking community in Iran which primarily reside in the western half of Khuzestan.[4] The capital of Khuzestan is Ahvaz.[5] As of 2010, Khuzestani Arabs numbered around 1.6 million people.[1]

## History

[edit]

The map of the Kingdom of Characene encompasses the western regions of present-day Khuzestan and the south eastern regions of Iraq

According to Encyclopedia Iranica The Arab presence in Khuzestan dates back to centuries before the Common Era. During the Kingdom of Characene, established in Khuzestan around 129 BCE after the decline of the Seleucid Empire, the region known as Characene was home to a predominantly Arab population. The kingdom was ruled by Hyspaosines, who was referred to as the king of the Arabs of that area.[6] According to Iranian Scholars, including Ahmad Kasravi, Iraj Afshar Sistani and Javad Mashkour, referring to the historical account of al-Tabari during the Parthian period, the Sasanian monarch Ardashir I sought the assistance of Arab tribes in Khuzestan (Banu al-'Am) in his military campaigns against the Parthians leading to the defeat and eventual downfall of Ardavan, the last king of the Parthian Empire.[7][8][9][10]

Folio from Tarikh al-Tabari (History of the Prophets and Kings) recording Muslim commander Aswad bin Sari's poem praising Ahwazi Arabs for their role in defeating Hurmozan in Souq al-Ahwaz battle

During the Islamic conquests in 638 CE, according to Muslim scholars such as al-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir, local Ahwazi Arab tribes already present in Khuzestan supported the Muslim armies against the Persian forces. Their involvement was extremely helpful to the Muslim Army leading to the defeat of the Sasanian commander Hormuzan and the subsequent muslim control of the region.[11][12][13]

Since the 16th century, Khuzestan was slowly becoming arabized, due to new Arab settlers arriving from Mesopotamia, such as the Banu Ka'b.[14] Due to influx of Shia Arab tribes invited by the Safavids to act as a bulwark against the Ottoman Empire, the western part of Khuzestan became known as Arabestan.[15] According to the Iranologist Rudi Matthee, this name change took place during the reign of Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629).[16][a] Like the provinces of Kurdistan and Lorestan, the name of Arabestan did not have a "national" implication.[15]

Later on, the whole Khuzestan province came to be known as Arabestan. It is uncertain when this change occurred. According to Rudi Matthee, it was first during the reign of the Afsharid ruler Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747), that this happened.[20] The Iranologist Houchang Chehabi considers this to have taken place in the second half of the 18th century.[15]

Another Iranologist, Roger Savory, considers this change to have happened later, by the 19th century. The name was reverted back to Khuzestan by Reza Shah in 1925[21] under his campaign which included the central government ordering the change of names of many cities and towns during the 1930's; these orders changed names of many towns from their native names to Persianized names, to the new name of Reza Khan, naming himself Pahlavi in honor of the Pahlavi scripts, and changing names to historical Persian names which included changing names of Arab towns to Persian ones to encourage the Arab population to feel more part of the Iranian nation, especially after the collapse of Arab autonomy in Iran. [22]

The ancient port city in Khuzestan, known as the Emirate of Muhammara, which was autonomously ruled Khazʽal Ibn Jabir, was renamed from its Arabic name after the sheikh was driven out and his oil lands were confiscated by the government.

Reza Khan Shah eliminated the use of Arabic as much as was humanly possible and also relocated tribes to elsewhere in the province[23]

Hamid Ahmadi noted that the Arabs of Khuzestan Province are direct descendants of the ancient non-Arab population of the area, having adopted the Arabic language and identity with the spread of Islam,[24] although there are numerous immigrant Arab tribes of Khuzestan with origins from the Arabian Peninsula,[25] such as the Banu Ka'b at Dawraq, the later Fallāhīya and present-day Shadegan, the Musha'sha' at Hoveyzeh,[26] Banu Tamim, and more from southern Iraq.[25]

## Language

[edit]

Main article: Khuzestani Arabic

Mehdi Yerrahi, a Khouzestani Arab singer who sings in both Arabic and Persian Yousef Azizi (Bani-Torof) , a Khouzestani Arab journalist

Nearly all Khuzestani Arabs are bilingual, speaking Arabic and Persian (the official language of the country).[1] In the northern and eastern cities of Khuzestan, Luri is spoken in addition to Persian, and the Arabic of the Kamari Arabs of this region is "remarkably influenced" by Luri.[1]

## Geography

[edit]

Ethnographic map of Khuzestan by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (2009), showing Arabs in green as the dominant ethnic group in the Khuzestan.

Arabic speakers are estimated to be scattered through 65% of the area of Khuzestan Province, which they share with Lurs, Bakhtiaris, Kowlis and Persian-speakers.[4] Cities that have significant Arabic speaking population include Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Abadan, Shadegan, Hoveyzeh and Susangerd.[4]

## Demographics

[edit]

A 2010 survey found that Arabs constitute 33.6% of the population in Khuzestan Province,[1] the largest nationwide

Shahbaz Shahnavaz noted that the Arabic speaking population in Khuzestan is "a hybrid race with a considerable infusion of Persian blood",[27] and observed that "as a result of generations of contacts, the Arabs of Khuzestan had more in common with their fellow Persian countrymen than with their brethren across the border in the Ottoman territory".[25] He wrote that Arabs in Khuzestan had adopted Iranian customs, manners, ceremonious occasions, and even dress (with the exception of headgear).[28]

### Religion

[edit]

While the majority of Arabs in Khuzestan follow the Shia branch of Islam, there are also a few Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews and Mandaeans.[4]

### Tribes

[edit]

Tribalism is a significant characteristic of Arab population in Khuzestan.[29] Although tribal bonds have been weakened during the 20th century, it is still regarded important.[29] Social units among Khuzestani Arabs include beyt (household or group of families), hamule (clan), ‘ashire (tribe), as well as tayefe and qabile (tribal confederacies).[29]

According to John Gordon Lorimer, the most important Arab tribes at the turn of the 20th century were:

Transliterated name  | Name in Arabic  | Territory  | Estimated population (1908)

|
|
|

Āl-e Kaṯīr  | آل کثیر | Between Karkheh and Karun[30] | 8,000[30]
Banū Lām | بنی لام | Between Karkheh and Iraq border[30] | 45,000[30]
ʿAbd-al-Ḵān  | عبدالخان | Near Kheyrabad on Karkheh[30] | Unknown[30]
Salāmāt  | سلامة | East of Gargar between Ab Gonji and Haddam[30] | 1,600[30]
Bayt-e Saʿd  | بیت سعد | Both banks of Dez[30] | 14,100[30]
ʿAnāfeǰa  | عنافجة | Both banks of Dez, right bank of Karun[30] | 5,000[30]
Ḥamayd  | حمید | south of the territory of the ʿAnāfeǰa[30] | 6,000[30]
Āl-e Bū Rawāya  | آل بو رواية | around Ḡoreyba on Karkheh[30] | 700[30]
Banū Ṭorof  | بنی طرف | southern loop of Karkheh and Western marshes of Kūt Nahr Hāšem[30] | 20,000[30]
ʿEkreš  | عکرش | North of Ahvaz and between the city and Hoveyzeh[30] | 5,000[30]
Ḥardān  | حردان | West and north of Ahvaz and between the city and Hoveyzeh, right bank of Karun[30] | 2,500[30]
Zarqān  | زرقان | Northeast of Ahvaz[30] | 1,500[30]
Banū Sāla  | بنی سالة | Southwest of Ahvaz, Karkheh marshlands[30] | 15,000[30]
Bāvīya  | باویة | Bavi[30] | 20,000[30]
Banū Tamīm | بنی تمیم | Between Hoveyzeh and Ahvaz toward the south[30] | 10,000[30]
Āl Ḵamīs  | آل خمیس | Southwest of Ramhormoz[30] | 2,500[30]
Moḥaysen  | محیسن | Between Karun and Iraq border[30] | 12,000[30]
Banū Kaʿb | بنی کعب | Southeastern half of Abadan to Mahshahr[30] | 55,000[30]
Šarīfāt  | شریفات | Left bank of Jarahi[30] | 1,000[30]
Qanawātī  | قنواتی | Around Mahshahr[30] | 5,250[30]

### Genetic studies

[edit]

See also: Genetic studies on Iranians and Iranian peoples § Genetics

Khouzestani Arab Children celebrating Gargee'an

According to Farjadian and Ghaderi who had studied HLA class II allele and haplotype frequencies, Khuzestani Arabs are genetically different from Arabs and their genetic affinity with other Iranian people "might be the result of their common ancestry".[31] Hajjej et al. found that Khuzestani Arabs have close relatedness with Gabesians.[32] Haplogroup J1-M267 reaches 33.4% in samples from Khuzestan, higher than in other parts of Iran. It also reaches a frequency of 31.6% in Khuzestani Arabs.[33]

## Discrimination allegations

[edit]

According to Amnesty International, Khuzestani Arabs face discrimination by the authorities concerning politics, employment and cultural rights,[34] whereas Iran completely rejects such accusations, and considers such charges exaggerated.[35][36]

There have also been allegations of arrests of Khuzestani Arabs who have converted to Sunni Islam, according to British activist Peter Tatchell.[37] Meanwhile, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran, there is no such crime or penalty in its law for converting to Sunnism.[38][39] According to the International Campaign for Sunni Prisoners in Iran (ICSPI), the crackdown is due to the Iranian government's alarm at "the rise of Sunni Islam among the Ahwazi Arabs in the traditionally Shia-majority Khuzestan province."[40] However, the wave of Sunni Islam in Khuzestan was described as a trend which had dissipated "just as quickly" as it had started, and was caused by a mixture of frustration with the Iranian government as well as a desire to be further welcomed in the Pan-Arab movement, as most Arabs are Sunni.[41]

## Politics

[edit]

See also: Politics of Khuzestan Province and Arab separatism in Khuzestan

Foreign actors such as the United Kingdom and the Ba'athist Iraq tried to exploit and spread ethnic sentiments as a leverage.[42] During Iran–Iraq War, Khuzestani Arabs rejected calls made by Saddam Hussein for siding with Iraq and resisted against his invasion.[43]

According to Yadullah Shahibzadeh, when Mohammad Khatami took power in the late 1990s, "Arab activists in Khuzestan used the reform movement as a ticket to display the mobilizing capacity of the Arab politics of identity".[44] 2003 Iranian local elections marked a victory for advocates of Arab identity politics in the southwest of Khuzestan province.[45]

A few months later, the Islamic Reconciliation Party that championed defending the Arab community in Khuzestan, was split into two factions. The democratic faction that was committed to the reform movement and its democratization platform, and a traditional faction with radical Arab nationalist tendencies.[46] The former faction that coordinated their activities with the Islamic Iran Participation Front, left the party and founded Al-Afaq Party resulting in the Arab nationalist faction dominating the Islamic Reconciliation Party.[46] Arab politics of identity then became more radical and adopted a self-defeating strategy of political subjectivity that instead of "consolidating their status as Iranian citizens with full political and civil rights... challenged other groups who demanded equal rights for all citizens" and resulted in polarization of the local public sphere between Arabs and non-Arabs.[47] By 2005 and the time Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office, Arab politics of identity ceased to exist as a local political force in Khuzestan province.[48]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Other modern historians—such as P. Luft and E.J. van Donzel—also only considers Arabestan to have been used for the western part of Khuzestan during this period.[17][18] The Iranologist Willem Floor includes both Arabestan and Khuzestan separately amongst the jurisdictions of the Safavid realm.[19]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Bahrani, Nawal; Modarresi Ghavami, Golnaz (August 2021). "Khuzestani Arabic". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 51 (2): 299–313\. doi:10.1017/S0025100319000203. S2CID 235915108.
2. ^ Christy, Patrick; Zarate, Robert (2014). "FPI Fact Sheet: Iran's Human Rights Violations Under Rouhani". Foreign Policy Initiative. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
3. ^ Human Rights Watch (2016). "1". I (1st ed.). Bristol University Press. pp. 298–338\. doi:10.2307/j.ctvndv9bj.15. JSTOR j.ctvndv9bj.15.
4. ^ a b c d Elling 2013, p. 36
5. ^ "Iran: Defending Minority Rights: The Ahwazi Arabs". Amnesty International. 17 May 2006.
6. ^ "ʿARAB i. Arabs and Iran in the pre-Islamic period". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
7. ^ Kasravi, Ahmad (1996) [1375]. شهریاران گمنام The Unknown Kings. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Sweden: Arash Publishing. p. 153.
8. ^ Kasravi, Ahmad (1925). مجله آینده، عرب‌ها در ایران [Ayandeh Magazine, "Arabs in Iran"]. Iran: Iraj Afshar Yazdi. pp. 39–41.
9. ^ Afshar Sistani, Iraj (1987). نگاهى به خوزستان: مجموعه‌اى از اوضاع تاريخى، جغرافیایى، اجتماعى، اقتصادى منطقه [A Look at Khuzestan: A Collection on the Historical, Geographical, Social, and Economic Conditions of the Region]. Digitized by the University of Michigan. Iran: Honar. p. 112. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
10. ^ Mashkūr, Mohammad-Javād (1984). ایران در عهد باستان و تاریخ اقوام و پادشاهان پیش از اسلام [Iran in Ancient Times and the History of Pre-Islamic Peoples and Kings] (4th ed.). Iran: Ashrafi. p. 470.
11. ^ Nezhad, Shahin (2023). Farshid Delshad (ed.). Irānshahr and the Downfall of the Sassanid Dynasty: Persia at the Eve of the Arab Invasions. Translated by Farshid Delshad. Berlin: Logos Verlag Berlin. p. 114\. ISBN 9783832556112. "After Utbah capture of Ahvaz, The Arabs who lived nearby assisted the Muslims significantly and damaged hurmozan forces from the inside. Obviously the support and corporation of Ahvaz local Arabs who knew the region very well were extremely helpful to the Muslim Army. Ash'ari governor of Basra conquered the Ahwaz market and Nahr Tiri in battle, The Muslims and local Arabs advanced from village to village..."
12. ^ Shahbazi, A. Shapur (December 15, 2004). "Hormozān". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XII. pp. 460–461. Retrieved June 29, 2025. "The Arabs formerly subject to Persia assisted the invading forces in defeating Hormozān near Nahr-e Tirā, and this forced him to accept a treaty which ceded all territory west of the Dojayl (Kārun) River to the Arabs."
13. ^ Kasravi, Ahmad (1925). مجله آینده، عرب‌ها در ایران [Ayandeh Magazine, "Arabs in Iran"]. Iran: Iraj Afshar Yazdi. pp. 39–41\. "The Banu al-'Am arab clan, who lived in the two famous cities of "Nahr Tiri" and "Manadher al-Kubra" (in Khuzestan), in the year 638 CE when the Muslim armies came to conquer Ahwaz, that clan turned towards the Muslims due to race and blood bias, and on the day the battle began, they rebelled against the Iranians from their cities, and as al-Tabari wrote, it was the news of the rebellion of that tribe and the loss of the "Manadher al-Kubra" and «Nahar Tiri» cities that caused the defeat of Iranian leader Hormuzan and he couldn't resist."
14. ^ Matthee 2015, p. 450.
15. ^ a b c Chehabi 2012, p. 209.
16. ^ Matthee 2003, p. 267 (see also note 2).
17. ^ Luft 1993, p. 673.
18. ^ van Donzel 2022, p. 212.
19. ^ Floor 2021, p. 218.
20. ^ Matthee 2003, p. 267 (see note 2).
21. ^ Savory, R.M. (1986). "5. Khe - Mahi". Encyclopaedia of Islam. ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
22. ^ Lewis, Peter G. (January 1982). "The Politics of Iranian Place-Names". Geographical Review. 72 (1): 99–102\. Bibcode:1982GeoRv..72...99L. doi:10.2307/215071. JSTOR 215071.
23. ^ Lewis, Peter G. (January 1982). "The Politics of Iranian Place-Names". Geographical Review. 72 (1): 99–102\. Bibcode:1982GeoRv..72...99L. doi:10.2307/215071. JSTOR 215071.
24. ^ Ahmadi, Hamid (2013). "Political Elites and the Question of Ethnicity and Democracy in Iran: A Critical View". Iran and the Caucasus. 17 (1): 82. doi:10.1163/1573384X-20130106.
25. ^ a b c "ʿARAB iv. Arab tribes of Iran". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
26. ^ Towfīq, F. "ʿAŠĀYER "tribes" in Iran". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
27. ^ Shahnavaz 2005, p. 121
28. ^ Shahnavaz 2005, p. 123
29. ^ a b c Elling 2013, p. 37
30. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an Oberling & Hourcade 1986
31. ^ Farjadian & Ghaderi 2007
32. ^ Hajjej et al. 2018
33. ^ Kivisild, Toomas (18 July 2012). "Ancient Migratory Events in the Middle East: New Clues from the Y-Chromosome Variation of Modern Iranians". PLOS ONE. 7 (7): e41252. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...741252G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041252. PMC 3399854. PMID 22815981.
34. ^ "Ahwazi-Arabern droht unfaires Verfahren und Folter". Amnesty International. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
35. ^ Ahvaz people yjc.ir Retrieved 26 June 2018
36. ^ Ahwaz cloob.com Retrieved 26 June 2018
37. ^ Peter Tatchell (27 October 2007). "Iran's anti-Arab racism". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
38. ^ Officialism of Shia demonstration farsnews.com Retrieved 266 June 2018
39. ^ Shia Mdhhab officialism khabarfarsi.com Retrieved 26 June 2018
40. ^ Peter Tatchell (22 January 2015). "Sunni Muslims living in fear in Iran as state-sponsored persecution ramps up". International Business Times. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
41. ^ "The Shia Arabs of Khuzestan | The Washington Institute". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
42. ^ Elling 2013, pp. 38
43. ^ Elling 2013, pp. 112, 143
44. ^ Shahibzadeh 2015, p. 128
45. ^ Shahibzadeh 2015, pp. 130–131
46. ^ a b Shahibzadeh 2015, pp. 132
47. ^ Shahibzadeh 2015, pp. 136
48. ^ Shahibzadeh 2015, pp. 134

### Sources

[edit]

* Chehabi, H. E. (2012). "Iran and Iraq: Intersocietal Linkages and Secular Nationalisms". In Amanat, Abbas; Vejdani, Farzin (eds.). Iran Facing Others: Identity Boundaries in a Historical Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 193–220\. ISBN 978-1137013408.
* Elling, Rasmus Christian (2013), Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini, Palgrave Macmillan US, doi:10.1057/9781137069795, ISBN 978-1-137-06979-5
* Farjadian, Shirin; Ghaderi, Abbas (2007). "HLA class II genetic diversity in Arabs and Jews of Iran". Iran J Immunol. 4 (2): 85–93\. PMID 17652848.
* Floor, Willem (2021). "The Safavid court and government". In Matthee, Rudi (ed.). The Safavid World. Routledge. pp. 203–224.
* Hajjej, Abdelhafidh; Almawi, Wassim Y.; Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio; Hattab, Lasmar; Hmida, Slama (9 March 2018). "The genetic heterogeneity of Arab populations as inferred from HLA genes". PLOS ONE. 13 (3): e0192269. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1392269H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0192269. PMC 5844529. PMID 29522542.
* Luft, P. (1993). "Mus̲h̲aʿs̲h̲aʿ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 672–675\. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
* Matthee, Rudi (2003). "The Safavid Mint of Huwayza: The Numismatic Evidence". In Newman, Andrew J. (ed.). Society and Culture in the Early Modern Middle East: Studies on Iran in the Safavid Period. Brill. pp. 265–294.
* Matthee, Rudi (2015). "Relations between the Center and the Periphery in Safavid Iran: The Western Borderlands v. the Eastern Frontier Zone". The Historian. 77 (3): 431–463\. doi:10.1111/hisn.12068. S2CID 143393018.
* Oberling, Pierre; Hourcade, Bernard (1986), "ʿARAB iv. Arab tribes of Iran", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. II, pp. 215–220
* Savory, R.M (1986). "K̲h̲ūzistān". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume V: Khe–Mahi. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 80–81\. ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
* Shahnavaz, Shahbaz (2005), Britain and South-West Persia 1880-1914: A Study in Imperialism and Economic Dependence, Routledge, ISBN 9781138869776
* Shahibzadeh, Yadullah (2015), The Iranian Political Language: From the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present, Palgrave Macmillan New York, doi:10.1057/9781137536839, ISBN 978-1-137-53683-9
* van Donzel, E.J. (2022). Islamic Desk Reference: Compiled from The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill. ISBN 978-9004097384.

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