Kurds of Khorasan


The Kurds of Khorasan or Khorasani Kurds are Kurds native to northeastern Iran, along the Iran-Turkmenistan border. They inhabit some parts of North Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, and Golestan province. They speak a Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish and are mostly adherents of Shia Islam.

History

The ancestors of the Kurds of Khorasan were transferred to these areas during the reign of Shah Abbas I of the Safavid Dynasty, supposedly to protect the eastern borders of Iran from Uzbek and Turkmen attacks. In the face of the devastating attacks of the Uzbeks and the Turkmens, they migrated to the greater Khorasan region.

Notable figures