Ilam province

Lore & Background

During the Sasanian era, present-day Ilam comprised two states: Mehrjanqazaq (modern Darreh Shahr) and Masbasan.

Reader's Guide

The area was part of successive empires—Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian—and later came under Arab, Kurdish, and local dynasties. During the Qajar era, it was known as Poshtkuh, ruled independently from Lorestan. Geographically, it lies in the Central Zagros, with mountainous north and east and low plains in the southwest, and contains the Kabir Kouh range with the highest peak, Kan Seifi.

Did You Know?

• During the Iran–Iraq War, Ilam was a constant target for Iraqi bombing and suffered heavily.

Ancient Roots and the Elamite Legacy

The name Ilam traces directly to Elam, a prehistoric civilization that dominated the region spanning modern southwest Iran and southeast Iraq for over two millennia, from roughly 2700 BC until 539 BC. Archaeological evidence pushes human settlement in this area back to approximately 5000 BC, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited zones in the region. The civilization's trajectory was shaped by successive empires: Ashurbanipal of Assyria launched a devastating invasion in 639 BC that shattered Elam's unity, though the Elamite people persisted in the area. Between 612 and 546 BC the territory fell under Median control, and in 539 BC it was absorbed into the Achaemenid Empire, where it lost its independence permanently and was designated the third province after Persis and Media. Throughout the subsequent Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Parthian periods, the area's strategic position near Hamadan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Lorestan, and especially Susa kept it politically significant. By the Sasanian era the region had reorganized into two distinct states: Mehrjanqazaq in the east, corresponding to today's Darreh Shahr, and Masbasan in the west.

Arab Conquest and the Long Kurdish Reign

After the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia in 640 CE, Arab rulers designated the area Jibal, meaning the Land of the Mountains, with its capital at Seymareh. This kingdom operated under the authority of Baghdad and Basra and endured until 961 CE. The political landscape shifted through successive caliphates—the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid—before the Buyid Dynasty seized control of western Iran in 945 CE and held it until 1055. The most enduring chapter was Kurdish rule in the Zagros Mountains, lasting 270 years from 1155 to 1424. The Hazaraspids, known as the Lorestan Atabegs, split into the Little Lor of Lor descent and the Big Lor Atabegs of Kurdish descent, together governing parts of what are now Markazi, Hamedan, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Khuzestan, and Ilam. The Hasanwayhid dynasty, Kurdish Muslims linked to the Barzikani tribe, ruled from Dinawar between 961 and 1015, at its peak stretching from Khorramabad and Borujerd to Ahwaz, Ilam, Kermanshah, Hulwan, and even Kirkuk. They were overthrown by the Annazids, who held power until 1116 CE.

The Khorshidi Dynasty and the Vali Era

The Khorshidi dynasty, also called the Little Lor Atabegs, governed the region for an extraordinary 412 years, from 1184 to 1597 CE. Their capital was Shapourkhwast, the modern-day Khorramabad, particularly the Falak-ol-Aflak Castle. Their rule ended abruptly when Shah Abbas the Great executed the last Khorshidi ruler, Shahverdi Khan, and installed Shahverdi's nephew Hossein Beyg, inaugurating the Vali or Feyli dynasty. This new line of governors would hold power for another 332 years. During the Qajar period, Lorestan was split into two administrative regions: Poshtkoh, centered on Ilam city, and Pishkouh, centered on Khorramabad. The name Poshtkoh, meaning back of the mountain, reflected Ilam's position at the westernmost edge of the Zagros range, making it seem remote to the rest of the country. From this point Ilam was administered independently of Lorestan, with its governor reporting directly to the central government. Under Hossein Qoli Khan's rule of Deh-e Bala from 1863 to 1900, the area was renamed Hossein-Abad Poshtkuh. In 1908, the next Vali, Gholamreza Khan Feyli, commissioned the Vali Castle, which today stands as a nationally registered heritage site and houses the Ilam Museum of Anthropology.

Modern Statehood and the War Years

Following the Pahlavi dynasty's rise in 1925, Reza Shah moved to suppress local governance and centralize authority. In 1928, government forces took over Poshtkouh, and Gholamreza Khan Feyli, the last Feyli governor, departed for Iraq without resistance, ending 332 years of Feyli rule. The following year, in 1929, the name Hossein-Abad was changed to Ilam on the recommendation of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, reviving the ancient Elamite name. The province's administrative status evolved through a series of political divisions: a 1937 law placed Poshtkouh as a county within the West Province, but an amendment in January 1938 reorganized the country into ten provinces, making Ilam a county of the Fifth Province. In 1964, the counties of Darreh Shahr, Abdanan, and Dehloran from Lorestan, along with Mousian from Khuzestan, were annexed to Ilam, elevating it to a general governorate under Kermanshah Province. Ilam finally achieved full provincial status in March 1974. After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the province became one of the principal battlegrounds of the Iran-Iraq War, which began with Iraq's invasion of western and southwestern Iran on 22 September 1980.

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