ایران ترکمنلار Eýranly türkmenler | |
|---|---|
 Turkmens ofBandar-e Torkaman, Iran | |
| Total population | |
| 500,000–1,000,000[1] 790,000–1,600,000[2][3] 1–2.4 million[4] 1-2% of the total population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Golestan Province,Razavi Khorasan Province andNorth Khorasan Province | |
| Languages | |
| Turkmen,Persian | |
| Religion | |
| MainlyIslam (predominantlySunni Islam, minorityShia Islam) |
Iranian Turkmens (Persian:ترکمنهای ایران;Turkmen:ایران تۆرکمنلری,romanized: Eýranly Türkmenler) are a branch ofTurkmen people living mainly in northern and northeastern regions ofIran. Their region is calledTurkmen Sahra and includes substantial parts ofGolestan Province of Iran. The number of Turkmens in Iran is estimated at 0.5 to 2.4 million people.
Iranian Turkmens have represented a group of semi-nomadic tribes who retained a more traditional way for a long time. The followingTurkmen tribes live in Iran:Yomut,Goklen, andTeke.[5]
Representatives of such modern Turkmen tribes as Yomut, Goklen, Īgdīr, Saryk, Salar and Teke have lived in Iran since the 16th century,[6] though ethnic history of Turkmens in Iran starts with theSeljuk conquest of the region in the 11th century.[7][8]
Throughout the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, a process of resettlement of the Turkmen tribes took place in Iran. In the 17th century, it was associated with the intensified exploitation of Turkmens by theKhanate of Khiva and the raids of theKalmyk feudal lords.[9]
After what Iranian rulerNader Shah, himself an ethnic Turkmen, defeated Turkmens andKurds in 1728, he drove part of the Teke and Imreli tribes out and settled them in Khorasan, specifically in the steppe ofAstrabad. In the 1740s, Nader Shah conquered theBukhara andKhiva Khanates. Subsequently, most of the Turkmen Yomuds were forced to move from the Khiva Khanate to the coast of theCaspian Sea and to Astrabad.[9]
Until theRussian conquest of Central Asia, the situation in the areas of residence of Turkmens was turbulent. Under the pretext of jihad, the Khiva Khan repeatedly raided Iranian territory. As an Iranian writerReza-Qoli Khan wrote, he (the Khiva Khan) "at times led troops againstSerakhs andMerv, and sometimes ordered Turkmens to raid the regions of Khorasan". In turn, Iranian troops attacked theKhwarazm, mainly the Turkmen lands, robbing and taking people into captivity.[10]
The movement of the Turkmen tribes was also affected by intertribal contradictions, which quite often turned into serious conflicts. In 1855, Teke Turkmens captured theMerv oasis. The Saryks who lived there were expelled to theYoloten and Panjdeh oases, and they, in turn, drove theSalurs out of Yoloten. The latter were initially located in the area of present-daySerhetabat,Turkmenistan, and then migrated to Iran, and finally settled 120 km above Serakhs. Later, Iran exploited the struggle between the Saryks and Tekes to organize a campaign to theMerv oasis in 1861. However, it ended in a crushing defeat for the Iranian troops.[11]
Nearly one million Turkmens can be found living along the northern edges of Iran, just south of theTurkmenistan-Iran border. For centuries, Turkmens had lived as nomadic herdsmen. In more recent years, however, many of them have changed to a "semi-nomadic lifestyle," living in permanent homes as well as in tents. Today, most of them are farmers and cattle breeders. Turkmens still live in extended families where various generations can be found under the same roof, especially in rural areas. Many tribal customs still survive among the modern Turkmens.[12]
Iranian Turkmens speak primarily Southern Turkmen, a variant of theTurkmen language also spoken inAfghanistan.[13][14] It is currently written in thePerso-Arabic script, though some use the TurkmenLatin script, common in Turkmenistan since its independence in the 1990s.[15]
Southern Turkmen is mutually intelligible with the Turkmen variety spoken inTurkmenistan andUzbekistan, though it borrows heavilyPersian loanwords. There is also a strongArabic influence in Southern Turkmen.[13]
The main body of the Iranian Turkophone mass generally consists of two parts: proper Turkic groups—the Turkmen (from 0,5 to 1 million), partially the Qashqays (around 300,000), as well as Khalajes (currently Persian-speakers living in Save, near Tehran); and the Turkic-speaking population of the Iranian origin, predominantly the Azaris, inhabiting the north-west provinces of Iran roughly covering historical Aturpātakān.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Perhaps, the main heterogeneous group within the demographic texture of Iran are Turkmens who immigrated to the area at the turn of the I-II millennia A.D.
