LORESTAN

also spelled Luristan , geographic and historic region, western Iran. Its name means Land of the Lurs and it extends from the Iraqi frontier and Kermanshah and separates the Khuzestan lowland from interior uplands. Extensive mountains stretch northwestsoutheast; between the higher ranges are well-watered pockets with lush pastures. Oak forest covers the outer slopes, together with elm, maple, walnut, and almond trees. The Lurs are of aboriginal stock with strong Iranian and Arab admixtures, speak a Persian dialect, and are Shi'ite Muslims. Under the Pahlavis the Lurs were settled, and only a few retain their pastoral nomadism. Lorestan was inhabited by Iranian Indo-European peoples, including the Medes, c. 1,000 BC. Cimmerians and Scythians intermittently ruled the region from about 700 to 625. The Luristan Bronzes, noted for their eclectic array of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Iranian artistic motifs, date from this turbulent period. The bronzes were found mainly in tombs near Kermanshah. Cyaxares, ruler of the Medes, drove out the Scythians in about 620. Under Cyrus the Great, Lorestan was incorporated into the growing Achaemenid Empire in about 540 and successively was part of the Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanid dynasties. Little Lorestan, the northern part, was governed by independent princes of the Khorshidi dynasty, called atabegs, from 1155 to the beginning of the 17th century, when the last atabeg, Shah Vardi Khan, was removed by the Safavid 'Abbas I the Great and government of the territory was given to the chief of a rival tribe, with the title of vali; his descendants retained the title. The southern part of Lorestan, or Great Lorestan, was independent under the Fadlawayh (Fazlaveye) atabegs from 1160 until 1424; its capital was Idaj, now only mounds and ruins at Malamir. Lorestan proper stretches between the Dez valley (used by the Trans-Iranian Railway) and the Upper Karkheh River, and northward to near Imamshahr and Nehavend. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy; crops include rice, wheat, barley, cotton, oilseeds, sugar beets, vegetables, and fruits. Industries produce cement, sugar, processed foods, carded wool, and ginned cotton. Iron ore and molybdenum are mined. Roads and railways link Khorramabad with Borujerd and Aligudarz.