The Suramiri (, ; ) are a Kurdish tribe living in parts of Iran and Iraq. They speak Southern Kurdish and mostly follow Shia Islam and Yarsanism.
History
Jafar Khital, who documented oral tradition among the tribes of Ilam province, mentioned two stories about the Suramiri tribe. One of the stories he heard in Darrehshahr claimed that during the Abbasid era, a son of Musa al-Kazim fled to Posht-e-Kuh (then Jibal), and two men were sent to find him, but eventually took his side during a dispute and became his followers. One of them married into the Balu'i tribe, while the descendants of the other one entered the service of Sayyid Ibrahim (Surahim), a son of Muhammad al-Baqir, who had a shrine in Zarrinabad.طایفه پراکنده: بررسی تاریخی ایل سوره‌میری، ص 70-72، احمد لطفی، کیهان فرهنگی، شماره ٢٠٠، خرداد ١٣٨٢.سرخه‌مهری‌ها: ایل یا طایفه پراکنده تاریخ، ص 43-45، احمد لطفی، فرهنگ ایلام، شماره ٩ و ١٠، بهار و تابستان ١٣٨١. The other story he heard was from Suramiri elders descended from the historic tribe leader Hoseyn-Ali Khan bin Safar-Ali bin Hoseyn bin Nawruz-e Sorkhamehri, also in Darrehshahr in the Seymareh region, where some of the tribe settled after they were expelled from Posht-e-Kuh by the Vali dynasty. They claimed that during the Abbasid era, Sayyid Ibrahim ibn Musa al-Kazim, also known as Baba Bozorg, came to Jibal fleeing oppression, and sought refuge with in Posht-e-Kuh with a local elderly woman and her son, named Sorkheh-Mard or Sura-Mard, a young herder living in a tent. His name literally meant "red face", referring to his reddish tan from his pale complexion. The Abbasids, in pursuit of Baba Bozorg, attacked the tent, capturing Sura-Mard as they advanced towards Khorasan. His mother pursued the Abbasids and again encountered Baba Bozorg, who transformed into a merchant, and freed Sura-Mard after paying the Abbasids with red banknotes, and he became the ancestor of the Suramiri tribe.
The name of the tribe was variously spelled as Suramiri (سوره‌میری), Sorkhamehri (سرخه‌مهری), Sadamiri (ساده‌میری), Sayamiri (سایه‌میری), Suramehri (سوره‌مهری), Suramehdi (سوره‌مهدی), or Sormili (سرمیلی), and Surmali (سورملی). It was also spelled as Sorkhameri (سرخامری),دولت رضا شاه و نظام ايلی: تأثير ساختار دولت قدرت گراى رضا شاه بر نفوذ قبايل و عشاير، 2000، احمد نقیب زاده، pp. 59, .لرستان در عهد قاجار، 2004، سعادت خودگو، pp. 151, . Surameri (سوره‌مری),ʻAshāʼir al-ʻIrāq, vol. 2, al-Kurdiyah (Tribes of Iraq: vol. 2, the Kurds), pp. 215-216, ʻAbbās ʻAzzāwī, (Baghdad: Matba'at al-Ma'arif), 1947. https://hdl.handle.net/2333.1/2fqz6b7s and (سیوره‌میری) or (سویره‌میری), pronounced as Süramiri.ساختار اجتماعی-سیاسی ایل خزل ایلام در غرب زاگرس مرکزی از دیدگاه انسان شناسی، ص 182، علی نوراللهی، پژوهش‌های انسان‌شناسی ایران، دوره 13، شماره 1 - شماره پیاپی 24، شهریور 1402، ص 179-214. DOI: 10.22059/IJAR.2023.361624.459826. The various spellings of the name Suramiri also traced back to the early Iraqi state when the Arabs were less familiar with Kurdish dictation, often misspelling names on documents. According to the second story documented by Jafar Khital, Sura-Mard and his mother devoted themselves to Shia Islam after being freed from the Abbasids, and because their "love of Ali" (Mehr-e Ali) was "red and fiery", they were called "Sura-Mehr-Ali", which became the "Suramiri" over time with local pronunciation, and became the name of his descendants. The first story linked the name of the tribe to their service for Sayyid Ibrahim (Surahim). Others claimed that the name of the Suramiri tribe derived from "Sura-kar-mehri", meaning "Sura, son of Mehri", in the Laki dialect, referring to their ancestor, a man named Sura or Sorkheh, whose mother was named Mehri. Others claimed that Suramiri derived from Suramehdi, as the tribe was historically Shia and therefore awaiting the Mehdi. Those who traced the origin of the Suramiri tribe to Sorkhab Ayyar also derived their name from him, and several Suramiri elders recounted neighboring tribes calling them "Sorkhak-e Ayyar", as the Suramiri were historically known for their love of fighting and bravery, while the suffix "Mir" also denoted descent from a leader. Others derived the name of the Suramiri tribe from legends that their ancestors worshipped Mithra (Mehr) or Anahita.
There was a prominent claim that the ancestor of the Suramiri tribe was Sorkhab Ayyar of the Annazid dynasty. Some also claimed that the Suramiri tribe descended from Sari-Geri or Sari-Gerd, a son of Bahram Gur, and that the Rizavand and Ali-Beygi, two other nearby Kurdish tribes, descended from his two other sons. Others claimed the Suramiri tribe was of Sorani origin with historic affinities to the Soran Emirate, and that it was evident in their name.
As a Shia Kurdish tribe, the Suramiri were historically included under the Kordali label before it narrowed to just the Kordali tribe. According to the theory that the Suramiri were among the first tribes in Ilam to accept Shia Islam, they joined the supporters of Baba Bozorg, whose shrine was located around Delfan. However, historical records kept at the shrine of Baba Bozorg mentioned that he was killed in the region of Delfan by a certain "Sohrab Sorkhamili" (سهراب سرخه‌میلی). The Suramiri tribe were actively persecuted by the Vali dynasty, especially during the late Safavid and early Zand periods. During the rule of Shahverdi Khan and his son Ismail Khan, the Vali dynasty intensified the suppression of rebellious and insubordinate tribes, generally the Lak tribes. Some Suramiri elders claimed that the tribe had been oppressed since the arrival of Baba Bozorg who introduced them to Shia Islam.
The conflict between the Suramiri tribe and the Vali dynasty reached its worst during the rule of Hasan Khan. The Suramiri tribe had waged a rebellion which was brutally suppressed, and the tribe remained persecuted afterwards. The Suramiri tribe were dispersed and had largely been expelled from Posht-e-Kuh, while their tribal structure also collapsed.تاريخ سياسى اجتماعى كردهاى فيلى در عصر واليان پشتكوه (ايلام), مراد مرادی مقدم, 2006, pp. 188-189, .ساختار اجتماعی-سیاسی ایل خزل ایلام در غرب زاگرس مرکزی از دیدگاه انسان شناسی، ص 196، علی نوراللهی، پژوهش‌های انسان‌شناسی ایران، دوره 13، شماره 1 - شماره پیاپی 24، شهریور 1402، ص 179-214. DOI: 10.22059/IJAR.2023.361624.459826. The expulsions also caused divisions in the Suramiri tribe, with the Rizavand emerging as an independent tribe as a result of the dispersal. Others added that the tribes of Payravand and Bijanvand also emerged as independent tribes after the Suramiri were dispersed and had the same origin. The Suramiri tribe, having left their traditional land in Posht-e-Kuh, mostly settled in Khanaqin, as well as Miqdadiyah, and other districts of Diyala. Much of the region of Haftab (or Haftaw; around Heydarabad), belonged to the Suramiri tribe, where they lived alongside the Mishkhas tribe, although the region was associated with the Mishkhas after the Vali dynasty expelled the Suramiri tribe.
The Suramiri then established itself as one of the main Kurdish tribes in Khanaqin, and Iraq in general. They were often listed as a tribe of Holeylan. Frederick Charles Maisey also listed them among the tribes of Holeylan, and added that they were casually included as part of Kermanshah.Central Asia: Part 4, Fredrick Charles Maisey, Charles Ellison Bates, 1995, pp. 289, . Mehmed Hurşîd Paşa, a member of the Russian-Ottoman-Persian commission to survey the borders from 1848 to 1852, mentioned the tribe of "Sûremerî" among the Kurdish tribes of Khanaqin who were Ottoman subjects,Seyâhatnâme-i Hudûd, Mehmed Hurşîd Paşa, Alâattin Eser, 1997, pp. 145, 158, . but also mentioned the "Sûre Merî" or "Sûrha Merî" among the Feyli tribes who were Iranian subjects and were "entirely Kurds" (kâffesi Ekrâd).Seyâhatnâme-i Hudûd, Mehmed Hurşîd Paşa, Alâattin Eser, 1997, pp. 67-69, . He also spelled their name as "Süre Mîrî", "Sürha Mîrî",Seyâhatnâme-i Hudûd, Mehmed Hurşîd Paşa, Alâattin Eser, 1997, pp. 88-89, . and "Süremeri".Seyâhatnâme-i Hudûd, Mehmed Hurşîd Paşa, Alâattin Eser, 1997, pp. 148, . In April 1918, the Suramiri tribe, alongside the Bajalan and Dilo tribes in Khanaqin, comprised a British contingent of two hundred Kurdish tribal auxiliaries, and fought the Ottomans along the Diyala River.The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development, Wadie Jwaideh, 2006, pp. 161, . The tribe leader at the time, Muhammad Bey Suramiri, was a fierce anti-Turkish commander close to the British.I. Dünya Savaşı Yıllarında İngiliz İstihbarat Raporlarında Fişlenen Türkiye, Bülent Özdemir, 2008, pp. 126, . Abbas al-Azzawi, writing about Kurdish tribes in Iraq, claimed that the Suramiri tribe was part of the Lak confederation and followed Yarsanism, and also stressed that they were not considered part of the Feyli tribes, historically subjected to the Vali dynasty, despite living together. Others also described the Suramiri as Kurdish and Shia Muslim but not Feyli.
The subgroups of the Suramiri tribe were unclear as the tribe was historically dispersed in small groups across a vast region. In Tarikh-e Mardukh, the Suramiri were listed as a Kurdish tribe consisting of the Tutak, Antar, Ayina, Mamajan, and Kalhuri clans, numbering around 2,025 households, and living on the edges of Khanaqin, with the Antar clan also present between Miqdadiyah and Abu Jisra.تاریخ مردوخ، تألیف: آیت‌اله شیخ محمد مردوخ کردستانی (فاضل شهیر)، ص 108، سازمان فرهنگی سیاحتی کوثر، ١٣٧٩، چاپ اول، . Muhammad Amin Zaki listed the same information about the Suramiri tribe as Tarikh-e Mardukh, although with only 225 households.زبده‌ی تاريخ كرد و كردستان، جلد اول، از آغاز تاريخ تا امروز، ص ٢۴٩، ترجمه: يدالله روشن اردلان، توس ١٣٨١، تهران، . Ely Bannister Soane, in 1918, also wrote the same information, but added that the Suramiri had migrated to Khanaqin around 100 years earlier from Zohab, having earlier migrated to Zohab from Holeylan. He added that when the Bajalan left Zohab to migrate to Turkey, the Suramiri followed it before settling in Khanaqin.Notes on the Tribes of Southern Kurdistan, Ely Banister Soane, 1918, pp. 31. A report titled "Kurdistan and the Kurds", a summarized collection of British military records in the region, mentioned the Suramiri as having "came originally from Hulailan in Luristan, followed the Bajlan from Zohab and settled round Khaniqin; its chiefs are Muhammad Bey and Husein Bey; its five sub-tribes are called Kalhuri, Tutik, Mamajan, Aina and Antar.""Kurdistan and the Kurds", pp. 114, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/22. Qatar Digital Library. Accessed July 10, 2026. Sediq Safizadeh wrote that "Suramiri is one of the Kurdish tribes that live in Khanaqin, Aliabad, Haji Qara, and Qala-e-Werik. They have the clans of Qaytul, Tutak, Kalavani, Mamajan, and Kheyvelian. The leader of this tribe in the past was a person named Sura-Mir, who was a subject of the Ottoman government, and most of them are engaged in animal husbandry and agriculture."ص‍ف‍ی‌زاده، ص‍دی‍ق، تاریخ کُرد و کُردس‍ت‍ان. ص 374-375. تهران: آت‍ی‍ه، ۱۳۷۸. .