The tribes in Zanjan Province (Henry Field, 1939)

The tribes in Zanjan Province

The Khamseh tribes, all Turki, are of mixed origin but appear to have been brought from Ardebil and other parts of Azerbaijan and to have been mingled with the Qizilbash tribes, already in Khamseh, into the Shahsavan confederation.

Two decades ago a few minor tribes, Dilaqada, Karaborglu, and Rashvand, lived in Tarum, but the principal tribes of Khamseh were the Duvairan and Afshar, called Afshar Duvairan to distinguish it from the Afshars of Sain Qal’eh in Azerbaijan and of Kharaqan in Kazvin.

(1) The Duvairan group, which was divided into 15 sections, lived in the Qizil Uzun Valley from Garus above Yangikand down to Qaplan Kuh bridge. Estimates of the number of houses varied from 1,500 to 3,000 and of the number of villages from 120 to 300.

The Duvairan were a strong Shahsavan tribe brought from Mughan and Ardebil by Fath Ali Shah, and settled in the fertile Qizil Uzun Valley for their qishlaq, with yailaq in the highlands west of the valley bordering on the Afshar district of Azerbaijan.

(2) The Afshar (Duvairan) living between Abharrud and Garus comprised the following sections: Badirlu, Jahanshahlu, Jumelu, and Qurasanlu. They had about 1,000 houses. The Afshar tribe, said to have moved from Azerbaijan simultaneously with the Duvairan, was divided into three independent sections: (a) the Afshar of Sain Qal’eh of Azerbaijan, (b) Afshar (Duvairan) of Khamseh, and (c) Afshar in Kharaqan (Kazvin). The Afshar (Duvairan) branch was the weakest of the three, but it was said to have numbered originally 5,000 families. They used to migrate to yailaq above Sultaniyeh and farther northeast into the hills of Tarum, west of the Qizil Uzun. These yailaq were, however, appropriated as private property and the tribe became sedentary and agricultural. They also owned some camels, but fewer than formerly as the result of war and famine.

Henry Field, Contributions to the Anthropology of Iran // Anthropological Series of the Field Museum of Natural History. Vol. 29. ― Chicago: Field Museum Press, 1939, pp. 169―170.