'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎107] (116/568)

INHABITANTS 107
11 semble the Bakhtiyari, but they live a more secluded life than the
' latter, and are wilder and more lawless. They are more or less
nomadic, but their annual migrations are shorter than those of the
Bakhtiyari, and are often restricted to movements between the valley-
bottoms and the neighbouring mountain-slopes.
L-j There are also Kuhgalu in the plains under the hills between
' ;iif' an d the Gulf near Bandar Dilam. Some of these are
nomadic, but most are sedentary.
The numbers of the non-sedentary Kuhgalu are quite uncertain.
An estimate of 1910 gives them 25,000 families (100,000 souls?),
* but this is probably an exaggeration.
Some ot the Bahmai Kuhgalu in the Eamuz district are subject to
the Bakhtiyari chiefs. The main body of the Kuhgalu are hostile
to the Bakhtiyari.
(h) The JBaJchtiydri occupy a great area of very difficult mountain-
i _i country between the plains ot Arabistan and the Isfahan province,
u i From the northern borders of Kuhgalu. their territory extends NW.
' F' to the upper Diz and the Faridan district. They are for the most
id m part semi-nomadic, cultivating patches of crops, but moving every
year considerable distances between their high pastures (e. g. on the
it: ; ' northern or north-eastern side of the Garreh mountain) and the
jsM lower valleys bordering Arabistan. Recently their chiefs have
acquired a good deal of fertile land in northern Arabistan ; and
*4f settled Bakhtiyari are to be found here as well as in parts of the
: : a0if lower hill-country. The Bakhtiyari are of muscular build, but
many of them are more or less broken by fever, rheumatism, and
i(«ii eye-diseases. They are described as having the qualities usual
perimiH among highland tribesmen—loyalty to tribal ties, courtesy and
tkeitfe hospitality, dirt, thievishness, and a capacity for outbreaks of
jltete savagery. Their chiefs have some tincture of civilization.
The title of the paramount chief of the Bakhtiyari is Ilkhan The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. ; sub-
ibj ordinate to him is the Ilbegi; and under these are a number of
minor chiefs. The paramount chieftainship resides in two families—
1 fiaC Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. and Haji Ilkhani—belonging to the Haft Lang, the northern
te iist' division of the Bakhtiyari. The custom is that the Ilkhan The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. be
j is Hi chosen from one of these families, the Ilbegi from the other.
Before the war the Bakhtiyari chiefs farmed the tolls on the
Lynch Eoad from Ahwaz to Isfahan, and had an agreement with
pjit Messrs. Lynch for the upkeep of the road and its bridges. They also
had an agreement with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company by which
jgjlifi they furnished a guard for the protection of the company's oil-fields
and pipe-line.
The numbers of the Bakhtiyari are unknown. An estimate gives