Achomi people (, , Pahlavi: 𐭠𐭰𐭬𐭭𐭩𐭠, Avestan: 𐬀𐬗𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬀), known by their self-designated pseudonym as Khodmooni (), commonly known as Laris () or Larestanis (), are a Persian and Iranic group said to be descended mainly of Utians, and/or of a tribe of Persians known as "Ira" () according to Sasanian sources, who primarily inhabited southern Iran in a region historically known as Irahistan (presently Larestan region), in some of them migrated to Shiraz, and the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region. They speak the Achomi language which has reported eight dialects and it is unintelligible with New Persian/Farsi, (Dari, Tajiki, and Iranian). They are predominantly Sunni Muslims, with a Shia minority.
Origins They are considered Persian or Perside/Persoid (Southwestern Iranic) in origin. In the Achemaenid Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great, a land in Southern Persis called "Vautiya" or "Yautiya" is described. Leading scholars to believe that might they be the same as the homeland of the people Herodotus called "Utians".
According to later Sassanian sources, Irahistan was inhabited by an ancient Persian tribe known as "Ara" or "Ira" or "Irah" people, which are said to be a large tribe of Persians of Aryan origins.
Similarly to the House of Sasan, the later Lari-ruled Miladian dynasty which ruled Laristan during the Medieval Ages traced their origins to Gorgin Milad, a descendant of the cycle of the legendary Kay Khosrow of the Kayanian dynasty.
Their dance indicates at least a cultural connection to Bakhtiaris.
Author Mehran Kokherdi suggests that Achomis/Khodmoonis/Lari people mainly have their roots in Utians with possible Persian, Parthian, Jewish, Scythian, and Indian/Dravidian influences.
According to local traditions, some Abbasid Khodmoonis claim an ancestral link to Ibn Abbas.
There is an ongoing genetic study project for the Achomi people.
Etymology Achom/Achum/Acham: In Avesta the holy book of Zoroastrianism, "Achum" () is one of the names of God (Ahuramazda), and it means "self created" and "without cause." Native speakers often refer to their language as "ačomī", Achem () means "I go" in the language. Other explanations for this name are the language's frequent usage of the [tʃ] consonant. Arabs, with whom these people traded, called them 'Ajam', which means non-Arab, Masnsour (2003) believes that it was eventually changed into "Ajami" and "Achumi". Thus it is very plausible that Achum, evolved into Ajam. possibly due to the initial non-existent "ch" character in Arabic (although Gulf Arabic does include "ch" «چ» and "ga-" «گ» sounds now). Khodmooni (): Achum/Acham people refer to themselves as Khodmooni, a term literally meaning "part of ourselves" Their language is also sometimes referred to as Khodmooni. Lari (): This language is sometimes called Lari. To reiterate, 'Lar' originates from 'Lad' which means "the origin of everything". It is also important to note that Lari can be used to refer to a dialect (e.g. Lari dialect of Achomi/Lari/Khodmooni), the language itself, or the people.
The ancient Persians; not to be confused with present-day Persian-speaking people (, ) who are of diverse origins, were an ancient Iranian people who migrated to the region of Persis (corresponding to the modern-day Iranian province of Fars) by the 9th century BCE. The 1939 survey of ethnic groups in Iran, particularly Southern areas such as Laristan indicates the area is inhabited by Persians (Iranis) who work as farmers, whilst the coastal areas are inhabited by Sunni and Shia Arabs. This may explain why the term "Ajam" stuck to the Achomis/Khodmoonis in the Persian Gulf area. Although in the Arab states in the Persian Gulf, this was later used to denote Non-Arabs of a Shia background particularly, similarly to the modern usage of the word "Persian". This was before the Persian nationalism of the former Pahlavi Dynasty and the concurrent Islamic Republic which have both attempted to erase ethnic diversity in Iran (the Kurds, Azeris, and Baluchs being the most affected), with many non-Persian minorities nowadays identifying as "Persian" now.
In GCC states surrounding the Persian Gulf, Achum/Achams are referred to as Khodmooni'. This translates to "of our own kind". In the UAE and Qatar they are known as Ajam/Ajamis, which is the standard name for GCC citizens of Iranian origin. In Bahrain Sunni Achum/Achams are referred to as "Huwala" (not to be confused with the Huwala Arabs), and their language is sometimes referred to as "Holi," While Shia Achum/Achams are known as Ajam. In Kuwait, they fall under the name 'Ayam which is what Kuwaitis of Iranian origin are called; the Shia Achum/Acham are known as "Tarakma". The most notable Sunni family is Al-Kandari ().
Language
The Achum/Achomi people speak the Achomi language, sometimes referred to as Lari, or Larestani language. The language has reported eight dialects (Bastaki, Evazi, Gerashi, Khonji, Ashkanani, Lari, ...) and is mostly unintelligible with modern Persian (Farsi), and is considered an unattested living branch of Middle "Pahlavi" Persian, derived from various unattested Middle Persian (Parsig) dialects spoken by the Zoroastrian and Jewish inhabitants of Fārs province prior to the spread of New Persian (Farsi). The UNESCO website indicates that it has around a million speakers, and classifies it as an endangered language, whilst the Ethnologue website indicates it has 10k to 1 Million speakers.
They additionally speak Farsi as the official language in Iran. In Gulf GCC countries they speak Gulf Arabic (Bahraini, Kuwaiti, Emirati, etc...) along with Achomi, some of them also speak English fluently. Some Achomis in Bahrain speak a local "Bushehri derived" dialect of Farsi; which was formed by socializing with Bushehris (Lurs/Ajams, and minority Arabs, etc...). Mainly in part due to the fact that the migration from Bushehr, Bander Abbas, Bander Lingah, happened around the same time.
The Achomi language is in decline, mainly due to the dominance of Iranian, Tehrani New Persian (Farsi) and sociological Identity in Iran, which was a nationalist ideology invented by the Pahlavi regime, influenced by Aryanism, which sought to erase ethnic and linguistic diversity in favour of an exclusivist Persian identity, further affirmed by the Islamic Republic, similarly Arabization (dominating and social pressure to adopt an Arab identity and Gulf Arabic as a main language) in some of the Arab Gulf states, which in Bahrain was a gradual process initiated by the British protectorate, With no effort being made by either side to preserve this language beside the national language. Despite this, the language is still spoken widely even in the Gulf countries to some extent.
Religion They are predominately Sunni Muslims, with a minority of Shia Muslims, these exceptions being Lar which is 60% Shia Muslims and 40% Sunnis, and Gerash which is predominantely Shia as well, in addition to a small number of Jewish population, and secular and non-religious minority in some places.
Prior to Islam, the Achum people were of the Zoroastrian Religion.
Later, Lar was likely a Jewish settlement, a group of people from Lar followed Judaism, they were described in 1523 as "poor people, native to the same land" by A. Tenreiro, they got wealthier and larger in number in the first half of the 16th century due to the arrival of Sephardic Jews, attracted via Hormuz. With these groups came commercial contacts and this had brought Lar the reputation of a "seat of wealthy merchants." In the course of the 17th century, however, important sections of this community moved to the new Safavid capital, Isfahan.
Lar hosted a prosperous Jewish community as early as the 16th century. The French traveler Jean-Baptiste Thévenot reported that when he visited Larestan in 1687, most of Lar's inhabitants were Jewish silk farmers. Additionally, a Spaniard who visited the town in 1607 met a "messenger from Zion" named Judah. However, like other Jewish communities in Persia (except the Georgian Jewish deportees employed as silk worm farmers in Māzanderān), the Jews of Lar suffered under the Safavid rulers during the 17th and early 18th centuries. According to the Judeo-Persian chronicler Bābāi ibn Luṭf, persecutions began before 1613 during the reign of Shāh Abbās I and originated in Lar, where a local rabbi converted to Islam and took the name Abul-Hasan Lāri. This converted rabbi secured a royal edict (farmān) requiring every Jew in Persia to wear discriminatory badges and headgear, which led to the mass expulsion of hundreds of Jews from Isfahan due to their perceived "impurity."
The Jews of Lar resided in cities such as Lar, Juyom, Banaruiyeh, and Galehdar but later migrated to Shiraz, Tehran, and Isfahan. Many of them also emigrated—primarily to Israel, and a smaller number to the United States and other Western countries. The Jewish population of Galehdar entirely relocated to Israel at the time of its establishment, while Jews from Juyom, Banaruiyeh, and Lar settled in various locations as mentioned. Some Jewish families in Lar did not emigrate and remain there today. The estimated population of Khodmooni Jews is around 100 families.
Geographical distribution
The historical region of Irahistan consisted of several counties in: Hormozgan province: Parsian, Bastak (Central, Kuhij, Kukherdharang, Jenah, Kukherd), Bander Langeh, Khamir, Bandar Abbas, Hajjiabad, Rudan, Minab, Sirik, parts of Bashagard, and Jask. Fars: Mohr, Khonj, Lamerd, Gerash, Evaz, Juyom, Zarrin Dasht, Darab, Larestan. Bushehr province: Asaluyeh, Jam, Deir. Part of Kerman province.
Presently, most Laris/Achomis/Khodmoonis inhabit the historical Larestan region, which encompasses the areas of Lar, Gerash, Evaz, Khonj, Bastak, Lamerd, and surrounding villages and settlements in southern Fars Province and northern Hormozgan Province.
However, since the 1940s, due to the combination of harsh natural conditions and political factors has compelled the Garmsiris (Laris/Achomis/Khodmoonis) to emigrate, to earn a better living, avoid the harsh nature, and to avoid the Iranian central government imposed new import and export taxes. often moving northward to Shiraz, but more commonly heading south toward the coast, and further to India and the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf (UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf). In 1955, the Larestani scholar Ahmad Iqtidari () eloquently captured the plight of his homeland in his book Ancient Larestan (), to which he dedicated his work:
Sub-groups The main Khodmooni branches are as follows:
Lari لاری Bastaki بستکی Khonji خنجی Gerashi گراشی Evazi اوزی Eshkanani/Askhanani اشکنانی Aheli اهیلی Galedari/GallehDari گلهداری Lengeyi لنگیی Ashnezi اشنیزی Ruydari رویداری Abbasi عباسی or Gamberoni گمبرونی; aka Bandari بندری
Some ethnic groups are considered to be sub-groups or related to Achomis/Khodmoonis: The Gallahdaris (known as ) are of mixed Achomi and Luri ancestry and possibly Circassian ancestry, due to historical reasons of migrations that occurred, in The inhabitants of Minab are said to be of mixed Arab, Persian, Baloch, and Sub-Saharan African descent. Lamerdis are a mixture of Lurs, and Achomis/Khodmoonis, they speak a mixed dialect of Persian, Luri and Achomi.
History The Irahistan/Laristan region was nearly always an obscure region, never becoming involved in the politics and conflicts of mainstream Persia. This was due to independent rule during the Safavid times, but that has failed due to the British Empire "Anti Piracy Company" and continued to decline due to Reza Shah's centric policies and the Ayatollah policies.
Pre-Islamic times