In previous posts and articles we have shown that not all Sunni Iranians are of non-Persian (like Baloch, Kurdish etc.) ethnic backround. In fact vast landscapes of Iran are still inhabited by ethnic Persians, including unsuspected areas such as the outskirts of Mashad and and in general many towns in the Khorassan province of Iran (where Khorrassani Persian Sunnis represent a significant minority) and of course the southern provinces of Iran such as the Fars province (most towns south of Shiraz in the Fars province are majority Persian and Sunni) and the Bushehr (Abu Shahr) and Hormozgan province. The people in the southern part of the Fars province speak an ancient Persian dialect called Achomi.

The southern part of the Fars province (and traditionally even large parts of the Hormozgan province) are known as Larestan (not to be confused with Loristan which is a Shia area in south-west Iran). Most Larestanis refer to themselves as either Achomi or Khodmooni ( term literallymeaning “part of ourselves”/ “of our own” but figuratively used to refer to people from Gerash, Evaz, Khonj, Arad, Fedagh, Pishwar and other neighboring cities that share a common language known as “Achomi”).

The great Jame’ Sunni Mosque of Bandar Abbas.

A Qur’an competetion by the best Qur’an reciters of south Iran, Hormozgan.

One of the largest, in fact the largest Sunni city of south Iran is Bandar Abbas. Bandar Abbas has always been a port, and as such its various names have all addressed this function. The most common name over time (Gameroon) has traditionally been said to derive from Persian gümrük, customhouse (from Late Greek kommerkion, from Latin commercium, “commerce”), but is now speculated to be from Persian kamrūn, shrimp (which in Portuguese is camarão, similar to the former Portuguese name. During Alexander’s conquest of the Persian Empire, Bandar Abbas was known under the name of Hormirzad.

Bandari Sunni sisters and brothers, segregated in on of the lecture halls.

The great Jame’ Sunni Mosque of Bandar Abbas, at the Friday prayer.

The great Jame’ Sunni Mosque of Bandar Abbas, with a large conregation during Friday prayer.

Bandar Abbas was conquered by the Portuguese in 1514, and was an important location to protect their commerce in the Persian Gulf and India. They named the city Comorão, due to the presence of lobsters and crabs on its shores. In 1614, Comorão was taken by ‘Abbās the Safavid from the Portuguese and renamed Bandar-e ‘Abbās (“Port of ‘Abbās”). Backed by the English navy, ‘Abbās developed the city (known to the English-speaking world as Gombraun) into a major port. From 1740 onward, local Arab tribes who immigrated to Persia controlled the town under Persian rule until mid 1800s when their influence declined. Many Arabs still remained and live in Bandar ‘Abbas and many Bandari Persians (coastal Persians) have mixed with them, hence many Arab customs (including Arab traditional clothes – Dishdasha and Yemeni Izars -, headgears etc. Women are often seen wearing the exact same cloth as women in the Emirates and Bahrain etc.) are very common among Bandaris (many who are of a Persian, Arabic and even African backround).

Typical Bandari girl

Typicals Bandari clothes shared by all Bandaris.

The Izaar. A wrap clothing item commonly worn in Arabia, Horn of Africa, South and Southeast Asia elsewhere known as Futah, Sarong, Izār, Lungi, Macawwis (Somali) and Mundu. The Izaar is even common in south Iran as can be seen in this picture.

Traditional Sunni women cloth of Hormozgan is exactly the same traditional dress and facecover of Bahraini, Emirati and other Khaliji women.

A Qur’an competetion by the best Qur’an reciters of south Iran, Hormozgan.

An old picture of notable scholars (including Shaykh Ziyaie, rahimahullah) of Hormozgan.

Banner read: “The Sunnis of Hormozgan”

A few decades ago, the majority of its population were Sunni, however Reza Shah and his son (Mohammad Reza) both propagated a generally Anti-Islamic narrative of Persian nationalism, they both practiced the policy of migration and displacement of populations against the Arab people in the Khuzestan (Ahwaz) province and in Hormozgan where many Arabs still live to this day.