MILĀN, a Kurdish tribe in western Persian Azerbaijan. Its territory borders that of the Jalāli tribe. Its winter quarters are on or near the southern bank of the Aras river, in the rural districts (dehestāns) of Sāri-subāsār, Aras-kanār, Čāy-bāsār and Gečlarāt, from northeast to southeast of Māku (Razmārā IV, pp. 26, 196, 258, 401, 443, 463). Its summer quarters are in the mountains on the Turkish-Persian border, southwest of Māku (Razmārā, 463; Irānšahr, I, p. 119).
The clans(tiras) of the Milān tribe are: Šeyḵkānlu, Dudkānlu, Dalāʾi, Beruki, ʿAmuʾi, Mandula, Kānlu, Kečlānlu, Qarduʾi, Beruʾi, Kalikānlu, Ḵezuʾi, and Qeliki (Irānšahr, I, p. 119). According to the same source, the tribe comprised some 2,030 households in 1963 (p. 119). Iraj Afšār-Sistāni, in his remarks on the Milān tribe, gives us much information on their daily life and customs (pp. 141-48). The Milān are Sunni and speak Kurdish.
There is a Kurdish tribe by the name of Milānlu in Khorasan (Afšār-Sistāni, p. 1000). It is possible that this tribe is related to the Milān tribe of Azerbaijan.
Bibliography:
Iraj Afšār-Sistāni, Ilhā, čādornešinān wa ṭawāyef-e ʿašāyeri-e Irān, Tehran, 1987, p. 1079.
Komisiun-e melli-e Yunesko (UNESCO) dar Irān, Pub. no. 22, Irānšahr, 2 vols., Tehran, 1963-65.
Ḥosayn-ʿAli Razmārā, Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi-e Irān. Ābādihā, 10 vols., Tehran, 1949-54.
(PIERRE OBERLING)
March 19, 2004
(Pierre Oberling)
Originally Published: July 20, 2004
Last Updated: July 20, 2004
