'Military Report on South-West Persia, Including the Provinces of Khuzistan (Arabistan), Luristan, and Part of Fars' [‎92] (127/466)

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The peculiar religion of the Lurs consists in tlie belief of a series of suc
cessive incarnations witli a number of local superstitions of remote antiquity
superinduced.
They do not affect the slightest veneration for Muhammad and the
Koran; their only general object of worship is their great saint Baba Buzurg;
but there are also several holy men amongst them, who are considered the
living representatives of the divine principles, and who are thus regarded,
by their particular disciples, with a reverence little short of adoration. Their
sacrifices and their mystical meetings form a subject of much interest, for
many of their observances are certainly to be traced to a source long anterior
to the institution of Muhammadanism.— Rawlinson.
As above remarked, judging by the religion of the Sag wand tribe formed dur-
ing an intercourse of three weeks with them, the religion now professed by the
Feili Lurs is Muhammadanism [see page 10), The chief of the tribe is a Hdjji;
all his sons are, by profession, devout followers of the false prophet. All the
chiefs of the Bakhtians and Kuhgehlu met with were of the same persuasion and
all were anxious to make pilgrimages io t\\QSJiiya shrine at iCarbala and to Mecca.
All regarded the unholy pig with the greatest detestation and the young of
the wild boar, wherever met, were stoned to death. A Mula, a noted man
known as the Sherif-ul-din, travelled with the Sagwand tribe and at the camp
of Mula Ali Khan at Bassaki {see 'page 23) were several mendicant Mubamraa-
dan preachers and reciters of the Koran. Intermarriage between the Lur
families is general {seepages 22, 95, 105.)
Saiyids are, throughout Luristan, held in the greatest respect, and, wand
ering amongst the tribe, live upon their charity.
Vol. IX, Journal of Sir H. Bawlinson thus recounts the early history of the
B. G. Society, 1839. Walls of Luristan :—
History.
Between the 12th and 17th centuries the province of Lur-i-Kuchak was
governed by a race of independent princes, who were named Atabegs. The last
prince of this royal race, Shahwerdi Khan, was removed by Shah Abbas the
History Great, and the government was granted to the chief of
a rival tribe, Husain Khan, with almost unlimited
authority, and with the title of Wall in exchange for that of Atabeg. His de
scendants have retained the title, which in Persia is almost equivalent to
royalty,* and, though their power is now greatly weakened, they still affect
a royal style in their manners and establishment. Owing to the intestine
divisions of the family, Pish-Kuh, which is by far the fairest portion of Lur-i-
Kuchak, has been wrested from them and placed under the direct control of
the Karmanshah government. Pusht-i-Kuh, however, still acknowledges the
sway of the Wall, and since the death of Mahammed All Mirza, Hasan Khan,f
who had enjoyed this dignity, had yielded a mere nominal allegiance to the
crown of Persia. Shortly before my visit, however, a breach had taken place
in the family between Hasan Khan and his two eldest sons, and the tribes
being divided, the Karmanshah government had taken advantage of the
moment to interfere, by supporting the sons against the father, and thus
to establish a partial influence over the country. Hasan Khan therefore ^ had
been formally deposed, and Ali Khan and Ahmad Khan appointed joint
# The title of Shahinshah, or King of Kings, was assumed by the Persian monarch as lord
paramount over four tributary princes, the Walis of Guriistan (Georgia), Ardelan, Luristan, an
Hawizah.
f Husain Khan.