Laks (Kurdistan)

Lak () is a Kurdish tribe native to Western Iran. They speak Laki, which is considered a Kurdish dialect by most linguists.

Laks inhabit a large part of Lorestan province where they constitute over 65% of the population and most of the eastern regions of the neighboring province of Kermanshah, some parts of western Ilam province (Poshte-Kuhi Laks), and around western Hamadan. The area to the east of Mount Kabir is known as Pishe-Kuh, and west of the mountain is known as Poshte-Kuh.

The majority of the Laks consider themselves followers of the Shia branch of Islam.

Origins Mohammad-Ali Emam-Shooshtari divided the Lurs into four groups, Luristani, Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh, and Lurs of Fars, and added that a large part of the Luristanis were of Lak origin, and that Laks were considered Kurds.تاریخ جغرافیائی خوزستان، محمدعلی امام شوشتری، ص. ٨١. Abdollah Shahbazi wrote that the tribes of Luristan comprised two groups, the Lur and Lak, which differed in language, culture, and some religious aspects, and that the Laks were originally considered the southernmost group of Kurdish tribes, but later intermingled and assimilated with the Lur tribes.مقدمه‌ای بر شناخت ایلات و عشایر، عبدالله شهبازی، ص. ١٣٣-١٣٤، نشر نی، چاپ اول ١٣٦٩. Parviz Rajabi described the Laks as a branch of the Kurds but counted with the Lurs.کریم خان زند و زمان او، پرویز رجبی، 1973, pp. 30, . Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda wrote in his dictionary that "Lak" was "the name of a tribe of nomadic Kurds" and "a tribe from the Kurdish tribes of Iran, which lives in Kolya'i, Kermanshah, Hamadan, Isfahan, Kurdistan, Esfandabad, Chaharkaveh, and Aliverdi", also adding that "Lak" was "a name of a tribe of the Qashqai tribes."لغتنامه دهخدا، جلد ١٣: گیاه-معتم، علی اکبر دهخدا، ١٣٧٧، ص. 19756, . Mohammad Moin wrote the same in his review of Burhan-i Qati.برهان قاطع، محمدحسین بن خلف تبریزی، ۱۰۶۲ هـ.قـ.، دکتر محمد معین، جلد ٣: ش - ل، ص. ١٩٠٠، چاپ ٢ فروردین ۱۳۳۳، انتشارات ابن‌سینا. Dehkhoda also described the Laks as "Kurds living in Lorestan, well-built and sturdy. Their complexion is wheatish and their hair is black or dark brown."لغتنامه دهخدا، جلد ١٣: گیاه-معتم، علی اکبر دهخدا، ١٣٧٧، ص. 19763-19764, .

There was little linguistic information on Lurs and Kurds until the early 20th century when Oskar Mann undertook a study and visited almost every tribe,Minorsky, V. “The Tribes of Western Iran.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 75, no. 1/2, 1945, pp. 76. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2844282. Accessed 4 Sept. 2026. grouping the Laks with the Kurds, after which Karl Hadank and Vladimir Minorsky also did the same. Minorsky described the Lak tribes as a Kurdish island in Luristan,Minorsky, V. (1986). "Lur". 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. which lived interspersed among the population of northern Luristan, and spoke a variety of Kurdish, distinct from the Luri dialects which were closer to Persian. He also described them as the southernmost group of Kurdish tribes, with origins from further north.Minorsky, Vladimir (2012). "Lak". Encyclopaedia of Islam (Second ed.). Brill Publishers. Minorsky noted that the Lak Kurds, mainly comprising the tribes of Tarhan, Delfan, Selseleh, and Beyranvand, were only considered Lurs in an administrative sense.Vladimir Minorsky, "Notes sur la secte des Ahlé-Haqq", pp. 57, in Revue du monde musulman, Volumes XL-XLI, Septembre-Décembre 1920, Mission scientifique du Maroc. John R. Perry wrote that the Lak tribes, whose language resembled Kurdish more than Luri, apparently immigrated to northern Luristan or were settled there by Shah Abbas, and by the later Safavid period, they were mentioned alongside the Zands as Lurs.Karim Khan Zand: A History of Iran, 1747-1779, John R. Perry, 2015, pp. 17, . According to The Cambridge History of Iran, the "northern Lur or Lak tribes" may have been immigrants of Kurdish origin, nevertheless distinct from the Feyli Lurs of Khorramabad.The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 7, From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic, Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly, Charles Melville, pp. 64, . Kaveh Farrokh also wrote that the "Lak, or northern Lurs" were "most likely of Kurdish origin" and "distinct from Khorramabad's Faili Lurs."Iran at War: 1500-1988, Kaveh Farrokh, 2011, pp. 130,

Richard N Frye considered the "Lakki dialects" as "south Kurdish dialects", suggesting that "speakers of Lakki dialects in northern Luristan are probably relatively late intruders, as are the Kurds in their homeland to the north of the Kermanshah-Hamadan road",The History of Ancient Iran, Volume 37, Richard Nelson Frye, 1984, pp. 29. and that the Kurdicization process of the Laks slowly proceeded throughout the Islamic period.The History of Ancient Iran, Volume 37, Richard Nelson Frye, 1984, pp. 30. Gernot L Windfuhr wrote that "the Lori and South Kurdish Lakki tribes" comprised the population of Lorestan. According to Andrew Dalby, "although there are Kurd tribes in Luristan, the true Lurs speak dialects which belong to the south-western Iranian group, like Persian and the dialects of Fars."Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages, Andrew Dalby, 1998, pp. 371, . The Laks were also described as a Kurdish tribe by Roger Savory, and Willem M Floor.Titles & Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, ʻAlī Naqī Naṣīrī, Willem M. Floor, 2008, pp. 270-271, . Pierre Oberling included the Laki speaking tribes of Selseleh, Delfan, Beyranvand, and the Amra'i tribe of Tarhan in his article about Kurdish tribes. Jean-Pierre Digard wrote that the Bakhtiari confederation included some Turks, Arabs, and "Lak Kurds" who had integrated among them.Digard, Jean-Pierre. “Jeux de Structures: Segmentarité et Pouvoir Chez Les Nomades Baxtyâri d’Iran.” L’Homme, vol. 27, no. 102, 1987, pp. 19. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25132467. Accessed 4 Sept. 2026.

According to Wilhelm Eilers, Iranian nomadic groups speaking southwestern dialects and northwestern dialects were classified as Lurs and Kurds respectively, adding that the "dividing line is aligned south of Kermanshah and Hamadan", with the "contact area of northwest and southwest dialects, precisely in northern Luristan" being inhabited by the Lak tribes who "still linguistically belonged to the north" as they spoke "southern Kurdish dialects".Eilers, Wilhelm. “Vierzeilerdichtung, Persisch Und Außerpersisch.” Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes, vol. 62, 1969, pp. 227–228. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23868631. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026. According to A. H. Schindler, the "Akrâd nâme" mentioned that the Lurs originated in the region of Manrud, and were later joined by many Kurdish families who came from Jabal al-Sumaq and settled in Luristan as Khorshidi subjects, and were called Laks by the local Lurs. While the Laks eventually integrated and were even called Lurs by outsiders, there remained a distinctions between the people themselves, as the tribes of Delfan were hated by the Lurs, who considered them immigrants, and the Kurzebur, another tribe, was divided into sections based on Lur or Lak origin.Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin, Volume 14, 1879, pp. 87-88. Friedrich von Spiegel mentioned the Laks as Kurdish tribes who lived all around Iran and were headquartered in Qazvin, Fars, and Mazandaran,Erânische Alterthumskunde: Erster Band (Volume 1), Geographie, Ethnographie und Älteste Geschichte, Friedrich Spiegel, 1871, pp. 744. although Otto Günther von Wesendonk simply regarded the Lak tribes as "Kurds in Luristan"."Das kurdische Problem", Otto Günther von Wesendonk, pp. 124, in "Preußische Jahrbücher: Zweihundertdreiundzwanzigster Band (Volume 223)", January–March 1931, Verlag von Georg Stilke, Berlin. Xavier de Planhol described the Laks as Kurdish tribes neighboring the Lurs and Guran, and following Yarsanism.Minorités en Islam: géographie politique et sociale, Xavier de Planhol, 1997, pp. 136, . Jacques de Morgan had also noted the "Laki Kurds" and the "Feyli Lurs" as neighboring but distinct communities.Mission scientifique en Perse, Volume 2, Études Géographiques, pp. 234, Jacques de Morgan, Paris, 1895.

Mohammad-Amin Riahi claimed the Laks were generally counted as Kurds and Lurs and had elements from both."فرمان شاه عباس دوم در بارۀ ایل لك و سه سند تاریخی دیگر"، محمدامین ریاحی، در "یکی قطره باران: جشن‌نامۀ استاد دکتر عباس زریاب خوئی"، احمد تفضلی، ص. 25، تهران، ١٣٧٠. In "Mamassanī dar goḏargāh-e tārīḵ", a major study on southern Iran, Hasan Habibi Fahliyani, describing Lak elements among the Qashqai, adding that the Laks, who he called "Kurd-Lurs", were of Kurdish ancestry and their language was closer to Kurdish than Luri, but since they were settled in northern Lorestan by Shah Abbas, they were commonly mistaken for Lur tribes.ممسنی در گذرگاه تاريخ، حسن حبیبی فهلیانی، 1992, pp. 248-249. انتشارات نوید. Manouchehr Kayani gave the same explanation.سيه چادرها: تحقيقى از زندگى مردم ايل قشقائى، منوچهر کیانی، 1992, pp. 164. According to Bahman Karimi, the Laks were neither Kurds nor Lurs but emerged from an amalgamation of both. G. B. Akopov also believed the Laks included both elements, and wrote that the question was not about whether they were Kurds or Lurs, but rather about clarifying the direction of their ethnic development. He claimed that while scholars variously considered the Laks as Kurds or Lurs, it was evident in 19th-century sources that the Laks were clearly distinct from Lurs and were not shifting towards them, also noting that J. M. Kinnier mentioning Laks in Lorestan who "were actually Lurs" was a different topic. By the 20th century, the rise of Persian influence in Iran affected both the Kurds and Lurs alike.كردان گوران و مسأله كرد در تركيه: از آغاز جنبش كماليان تا كنفرانس لوزان، G. B. Akopov (Hakopian), M. A. Hasarof, translated by Sirus Izadi, 2007, pp. 91-93, .

Etymology The name of the Laks was commonly believed to derive from "lak", a Persian word meaning "one hundred thousand", which was said to have been the original Lak population.Minorsky, Vladimir (2012). "Lak". Encyclopaedia of Islam (Second ed.). Brill Publishers. It was also suggested that "Lak" emerged as an ethnic term emerged after a process of cultural and ethnological amalgamations between the migrant tribes and people of the region, and that the term was originally used to refer to certain nomadic tribes before developing into an ethnic term for a large population, both settled and nomadic. Scholars generally agreed that it derived from the Persian numeral for 100,000 used in the Safavid era, dismissing a prominent folk etymology among many Laks claiming that "Lak" (لک) was formed by the letter "L" (ل) representing Lurs and the letter "K" (ک) representing Kurds.The Laki Variety of Harsin: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon, Sara Belelli, 2021, pp. 24, .دستور زبان لكى، ضرب المثلها و واژه‌نامه، کامین عالی‌پور، 2005, pp. 16, . Tribal names coming from numerals was a "widespread ancient and modern practice" in Iran. The term "Laklak", also attested in the names of some villages, was possibly a reduplication of "Lak".Dariush Borbor. “Notes on the New Iranian Toponomastics (The Element -Būr).” Iran & the Caucasus, vol. 6, no. 1/2, 2002, pp. 192. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030720. Accessed 1 Sept. 2026.