// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Delfan say? "I'm fin with my tribe.

The Delfan (Persian: دلفان) are a collection of tribes living mainly in western Iran. They mostly live around the region of Delfan in northern Luristan, but are also dispersed in other regions. They speak Laki and follow Shia Islam and Yarsanism.

History

The northern part of Lorestan province was known as the district of Delfan. The native tribes of Delfan spoke Laki. The name Delfan was often said to derive from Abu Dulaf al-Ijli and the Dulafid dynasty who historically ruled over the region. It was claimed that a local man, who was imprisoned by the Dulaf tribe, had returned to his family who nicknamed him Dulafi, and he reputedly had five sons, Ivat, Muma, Bijan, Kaka, and Mir Beg, each of whom founded a tribe named bearing his name, in addition to the Chavari tribe. Others derived the name Delfan from the Persian "del-e fâni" (دل فانی) meaning "mortal heart" and suggested it was related to their religion of Yarsanism. Others suggested that it was the name of the ancestor of the tribe. Minorsky also claimed that the tribes of Delfan were named after their historic ruler Abu Dulaf al-Ijli and lived around the plains of Khaveh in northern Luristan. Oskar Mann and Rabino estimated the Delfan population at 7,470 families. The tribes of Delfan were historically entirely Yarsani. Minorsky listed the main groups of Lur as the Tarhan, Delfan, Selseleh, and Bala Gariva, adding that the first three were Lak while the last was truly Lur. The Delfan and Selseleh were the two most significant Lak subgroups according to 19th and 20th century literature. Although the names and number of tribes in each group sometimes varied or overlapped, the Kakavand were consistently considered Delfan. Most of the Delfan tribes became Shia Muslim afterwards, although some of the Kakavand and Chavari remained Yarsani.

Minorsky added that the Delfan were the most important Yarsani tribe in Northern Luristan, and Yarsani saint Khan Atash was from the tribe. He added that some historically Gurani-speaking communities later assimilated into the Delfan which spoke Laki. According to the Kalâm-e Saranjâm, Shah Kushin had marched against Baba Bozorg, a pretender who challenged his authority, and later Baba Bozorg offered him two boys as a sign of his submission, with the two boys becoming the ancestors of the Delfan tribes. The Delfan tribes were also dispersed as far as Mazandaran. In 1891, Agha Sam of the Delfan tribe led a revolt in Kelardasht.

The Delfan tribes of Lorestan were listed as Kakavand, Itivand (Ivatvand), Balavand, Bijanvand, Owlad-e Qobad, Mirbeg, Mumavand, Mal Muma, Nur Ali, Musavand, Karam Ali, Qala'i, Falak-al-Din, Sanjabi, Khair Ghulam, Chavari, Basharamad, Bavari, Padirvand, Ghayb Ghulab, Tajoddinvand, and Barikvand. The Sanjabi of Delfan were originally from the Kurdish Sanjabi tribe of Kermanshah and Kurdistan.