The tribes of Kharaqan and Saveh Districts (Henry Field, 1939)

The tribes of Kharaqan and Saveh Districts

 The Inanlu and Baghdadi nomad Shahsavan are the largest tribes in the districts of Kharaqan and Saveh. Both are Turki and were introduced into these regions at the end of the eighteenth century. The Inanlu are said to have been moved from the Mughan plain by Agha Mohammed Khan Qajar. The Baghdadi are believed to have migrated from Iran during the Safavid period and settled near Baghdad, whence they returned to Shiraz during the reign of Nadir Shah. Under Karim Khan Zend they had no fixed abode until they joined Agha Mohammed Khan Qajar, who settled them in their present habitat.

The Inanlu tribe has consisted of two main sections, the Yangijak and Guqbar, together comprising 5,000 to 6,000 families. Their qishlaq were around Gudash and the fort of Mohammed Ali Khan near the Tehran-Qum road, and the adjacent districts of Saujbulagh (Tehran), Zarand (Saveh), and Zahrah (Kazvin), while their yailaq were in Kharaqan, especially near Gamishlu in the Qutalu district.

The 4,000 to 6,000 families of Baghdadi Shahsavan spent the summer in Kharaqan and Khalajistan (Hamadan) as far as the borders of Khamseh, and the winter in the vicinity of the Tehran-Qum-Sultanabad and Tehran-Saveh roads. In 1920 the Baghdadis embraced two sections, Lek and Arikhlu, 2,050 and 1,770 families, respectively.

The Leks included several subsections, which are given here with the numbers of their families (in parentheses): Kusehlar (500), Yarijanlu (400), Karaquyunlu (350), Yaramishlu (300, Aliqurtlu (200), Ahmadlu (200), and Satlu, Qutulu, and Daulatvand (100).

The Arikhlu were made up of 16 subsections, the largest of which was the Kalavand with 630 families, divided into Bazlu, Buruchilu, Iskandarlu, Jalallu, Muhammadlu, Musulu, Shaikhlar, and Zaghal. Another subsections of the Arikhlu was the Qasimlu, subdivided into Hajilu, Alamardashlu, and Zairallu ― used to number 500 families but the majority finally settled in villages. The remaining subsections with the numbers of their families were: Alvarlu with the Karunlu (100); Atakbasanlu (10); Dugar (60); Gharibalklu (30); Hasanlu (30); Husain Khanlu (200); Khadarlu (50); Medhilu (30); Mehrablu (30); Nilghaz (70); Qarallu (50); Sulduz (250); and Ziliflu (30).

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. 171―172.