By Dr. Farshid Moradipour, Professor of Iranian Studies, University of Ahvaz
The sun beats down relentlessly as I stand at the edge of the marshlands in southwestern Khuzestan, watching local fishermen navigate their traditional boats through the dense reeds. This scene, seemingly unchanged for millennia, is just one small snapshot of a province that has witnessed the rise and fall of empires, the birth of civilizations, and the complex interweaving of diverse peoples and cultures throughout its storied history.
I have spent twenty years studying Khuzestan, and yet each visit reveals new layers of complexity in this fascinatingly diverse region. As I travel through its cities, villages, and wilderness areas, I am struck by how this land serves as both Iran’s historical cradle and its modern industrial heartland. The juxtaposition is striking: ancient ziggurats standing sentinel over vast oil fields, traditional Arab mudhif reed houses within sight of sprawling petrochemical complexes.
A Land of Many Names, Many Peoples
“What would you like to know about our home?” asks Hamid, a middle-aged Arab-Iranian teacher I meet in Ahvaz, the provincial capital. His question captures the essence of Khuzestan’s complexity – it is a place claimed and named by many throughout its history.
Known as Elam in ancient times, then as Khuzestan (land of the Khuz people), later as Arabistan under Ottoman influence, and now returned to Khuzestan – the province’s very nomenclature reflects its contested history and identity. Today’s Khuzestan covers approximately 64,000 square kilometers in southwestern Iran, sharing borders with Iraq to the west and the Persian Gulf to the south.
As we sit in a local café in Ahvaz, drinking strong, cardamom-infused tea, Hamid tells me about the province’s demographic tapestry. “We are like a miniature Iran here,” he says with pride. “Arabs, Persians, Bakhtiari, Lurs, Qashqai – we all call this place home.”
Indeed, Khuzestan’s population of nearly 5 million represents one of Iran’s most diverse provinces. The largest ethnic groups are Arabs and Persians, but substantial communities of Bakhtiari, Lurs, Qashqai, and other ethnic groups contribute to a rich multicultural environment that distinguishes Khuzestan from other Iranian provinces.
“My grandfather spoke Arabic at home, Persian at work, and knew enough Bakhtiari to trade with nomads who came down from the mountains,” Hamid continues. “This is how we’ve lived for generations – between worlds, between cultures.”
Where Civilization Began
The next day, I find myself standing amid the ruins of Chogha Zanbil, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the few extant ziggurats outside of Mesopotamia. Built around 1250 BCE by the Elamite king Untash-Napirisha, this massive structure once rose 52 meters into the sky, though now only about half that height remains.
“You’re walking where civilization began,” says Mehri, my archaeological guide. Her statement is hardly an exaggeration. Khuzestan’s alluvial plains, nourished by the Karun, Karkheh, and Jarrahi rivers, witnessed some of humanity’s earliest experiments with agriculture, urban settlement, and state formation.
Archaeological evidence from sites like Chogha Mish and Haft Tappeh reveals that this region was part of the fertile landscape where humans first transitioned from hunting and gathering to settled agricultural life – the Neolithic Revolution that would transform human existence forever.
The ancient kingdom of Elam, centered in what is now Khuzestan, developed contemporaneously with Mesopotamian civilizations, maintaining its distinct identity despite frequent conflicts with its powerful neighbors. Susa (modern-day Shush), one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, served as Elam’s capital and later became an important administrative center for the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
“Look at this cuneiform inscription,” Mehri points to markings on a fragment of glazed brick. “It’s written in three languages – Elamite, Babylonian, and Old Persian. That tells you everything about this region’s role as a crossroads of peoples and cultures.”
As we walk among the ruins, I’m struck by the realization that this land witnessed not just the early flourishing of civilization but also pioneering developments in governance, art, and technology. The Elamites developed sophisticated irrigation systems, created distinctive artistic traditions, and established one of the world’s first female-centered religious systems, with goddesses like Kiririsha and Pinikir holding prominent positions in their pantheon.
Rivers of Life, Rivers of Conflict
The following morning finds me on a small boat navigating the mighty Karun River, Iran’s only navigable waterway. My companion, a local environmentalist named Reza, points out fishing skiffs, commercial barges, and the occasional traditional boat crafted from reeds.
“Everything in Khuzestan revolves around water,” Reza explains as we glide past the riverside neighborhoods of Ahvaz. “Our blessing and our curse.”
The Karun, along with the Karkheh and other rivers, has shaped settlement patterns in Khuzestan for millennia. These waterways enabled the development of sophisticated irrigation systems that transformed the region into an agricultural powerhouse, producing wheat, barley, rice, sugarcane, and a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Yet water has also been a source of conflict. The marshlands of southern Khuzestan, shared with neighboring Iraq, became strategic battlegrounds during the devastating Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). More recently, dam construction projects, industrial pollution, and climate change have threatened traditional ways of life dependent on these waters.
“My father was a fisherman, as was his father before him,” says Abbas, an elderly man we meet selling fish at a small market along the river. “But my sons had to find other work. The fish are fewer now, and the water isn’t what it once was.”
His words highlight one of Khuzestan’s central challenges – balancing industrial development with environmental sustainability and the preservation of traditional livelihoods. The province produces approximately 85% of Iran’s oil and contains about 75% of its natural gas reserves, making it the country’s industrial heartland but also subjecting it to significant environmental pressures.
The Soul of Khuzestan: Cultural Kaleidoscope
That evening, I find myself at a wedding celebration in a village near Dezful. The air is filled with the haunting melodies of the ney (reed flute) and the rhythmic percussion of the dohol drums. Women in colorful local dress perform traditional dances while men engage in the dramatic movements of the choob bazi, a stick dance that simulates combat.
“This is the real Khuzestan,” whispers Fereshteh, a local cultural heritage expert who has accompanied me to the celebration. “Not the oil fields or factories, but these traditions that have survived for generations.”
Indeed, Khuzestan’s cultural landscape is as diverse as its geography and demography. The province’s Arab majority has preserved distinctive traditions in music, dance, poetry, and cuisine. The mesmerizing sounds of the buzuq (long-necked lute) and rebab accompany epic poems and love songs in the local Arabic dialect.
Meanwhile, Bakhtiari and Lur communities maintain their own rich cultural traditions, including the spectacular annual migration of Bakhtiari nomads across the province’s mountains and valleys. Their black tents, intricate handicrafts, and oral traditions represent living links to ancient pastoral practices.
“We don’t see these differences as divisions,” explains Karim, a Bakhtiari elder I meet the next day in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. “They are what make Khuzestan special – we have many colors in one carpet, many notes in one song.”
This metaphor aptly captures the province’s cultural synthesis. In Khuzestan’s bazaars, one finds Persian carpets alongside Arabic calligraphy, Bakhtiari felt goods next to modern industrial products. The cuisine reflects this same fusion – Arabic influences evident in dishes like mutabbaq (folded pastry) and samak masgouf (grilled fish) exist alongside distinctly Persian flavors and Bakhtiari cooking traditions.
Echoes of Empire: Khuzestan Through the Ages
The next morning, I visit the Museum of Anthropology in Ahvaz, where exhibits trace Khuzestan’s journey through successive imperial projects. From the Elamites to the Achaemenids, from Alexander’s conquest to the Sasanian Empire, from the Arab-Islamic expansion to the Safavid state – each left its mark on this strategic province.
“Khuzestan has always been too valuable to ignore,” explains Dr. Nouri, the museum’s curator. “Its agricultural wealth, its position controlling access to the Persian Gulf, its role as a buffer zone between Mesopotamia and the Iranian plateau – these factors have made it central to every empire’s calculations.”
The Achaemenid Persians incorporated the region into their vast empire, with Susa serving as one of their royal capitals. Alexander the Great fought one of his decisive battles against Darius III at Gaugamela, near modern Khuzestan, before capturing Susa with its legendary treasures. The Sasanian Empire established sophisticated irrigation systems that transformed Khuzestan into their empire’s agricultural center.
With the Arab-Islamic conquests of the 7th century CE, Khuzestan entered a new cultural sphere. The region became known as Ahvaz during the early Islamic period, then increasingly as Arabistan, reflecting the gradual demographic shift as Arab tribes settled the lowland plains while Persian and other Iranian peoples remained predominant in the highlands.
Ottoman and Safavid empires contested the region for centuries before it was fully incorporated into the modern Iranian state in the early 20th century. Each of these imperial projects left behind architectural landmarks, linguistic influences, religious practices, and cultural traditions that continue to shape Khuzestani identity today.
Black Gold: The Modern Transformation
“Everything changed with oil,” states Mahmoud, a retired engineer from the National Iranian Oil Company, as we tour Masjed Soleyman, site of the first oil discovery in the Middle East in 1908. “For better and worse, oil remade Khuzestan.”
The discovery of oil transformed this primarily agricultural region into Iran’s industrial powerhouse. Cities like Abadan, home to what was once the world’s largest oil refinery, and Masjed Soleyman grew from small settlements into modern industrial centers. New infrastructure – roads, railways, ports, airports – connected the province more tightly to national and global networks.
This transformation brought dramatic changes to Khuzestan’s social fabric. Workers from across Iran and beyond migrated to the province, further diversifying its population. New class divisions emerged between industrial workers, traditional farmers and fishermen, and a growing professional class.
“My grandfather was a simple farmer near Shushtar,” Mahmoud continues. “My father became an oil worker. I became an engineer. My daughter is an environmental scientist studying pollution from the very industry that educated me. This is the story of modern Khuzestan – constant change, constant adaptation.”
The nationalization of Iran’s oil industry under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1951, though short-lived due to the CIA-backed coup of 1953, remains a source of pride for many Khuzestanis. The subsequent development of the oil industry under the Pahlavi dynasty further transformed the province.
Today, Khuzestan accounts for a substantial portion of Iran’s industrial output, hosting not only oil and gas facilities but also steel plants, petrochemical factories, and large agribusiness operations. This economic significance gives the province outsized importance in national politics and planning.
Tested by Fire: Khuzestan in War and Peace
As we drive along the western borders of the province, remnants of the Iran-Iraq War are still visible. Abandoned bunkers, memorial cemeteries, and occasional signs warning of unexploded ordnance serve as somber reminders of the conflict that devastated Khuzestan from 1980 to 1988.
“This land knows suffering,” says Javad, a veteran of the war who now works as a guide at a war museum in Khorramshahr. “But it also knows resilience.”
Khorramshahr, near the Iraqi border, became a symbol of both the war’s destruction and Iran’s determination. The city fell to Iraqi forces in October 1980 after a fierce 34-day resistance but was recaptured by Iranian forces in May 1982 in what Iranians call the “Liberation of Khorramshahr.” The city, once known as the “Bride of the Persian Gulf” for its beauty and prosperity, was almost completely destroyed.
“When we returned after the war, we found nothing standing,” Javad tells me as we walk through rebuilt neighborhoods. “No houses, no mosques, no schools. We rebuilt everything you see today from ruins.”
The war profoundly impacted Khuzestan’s demographic composition. Many Arab-Iranians and other residents of border areas were internally displaced, some never returning to their home regions. Simultaneously, the province received refugees from Iraqi attacks on other parts of Iran.
In the post-war period, Khuzestan has faced new challenges. Environmental degradation, including desertification, dust storms, and water shortages, has become increasingly severe. Economic disparities between different ethnic communities have fueled occasional social tensions. Infrastructure development has struggled to keep pace with population growth.
Yet through these challenges, the province continues to reinvent itself while maintaining its distinctive regional identity. Investment in education has produced a generation of Khuzestani scholars, artists, and professionals who are contributing to both regional development and national progress.
Living Heritage: Khuzestan Today
On my final day in the province, I visit the ancient water structures of Shushtar, where ingenious hydraulic systems dating back to the Sasanian era continue to function alongside modern water management infrastructure. These “Historical Hydraulic Systems,” recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, include bridges, dams, mills, and irrigation channels that represent a remarkable marriage of engineering and architectural beauty.
“We don’t just preserve these structures because they’re beautiful or historic,” explains Farideh, a heritage conservation specialist. “We preserve them because they still have wisdom to teach us about living sustainably in this environment.”
Her perspective captures something essential about Khuzestan’s approach to its heritage – not as dead artifacts but as living traditions with continued relevance. This same philosophy applies to cultural practices throughout the province.
In Ahvaz’s cultural centers, young musicians learn traditional instruments alongside modern compositions. In villages along the marshlands, ecological knowledge accumulated over centuries guides contemporary conservation efforts. In urban workshops, ancient crafts like kilim weaving and pottery making are being revitalized with contemporary designs.
“We face forward, but we walk in the footsteps of those who came before us,” says Saeed, a young entrepreneur developing ecotourism projects in the province. “This is what makes Khuzestan different – we don’t choose between tradition and modernity; we find ways to embrace both.”
This balancing act is visible in everyday life throughout the province. In Ahvaz’s universities, scholars produce cutting-edge research while also documenting and preserving local knowledge systems. In rural communities, agricultural practices combine traditional methods with modern technologies. In religious observances, ancient pre-Islamic elements often coexist with orthodox Islamic practices.
Conclusion: A Province of Contradictions and Possibilities
As my journey through Khuzestan comes to an end, I find myself reflecting on the contradictions that define this remarkable province. It is simultaneously Iran’s most industrialized region and home to some of its most traditional communities. It has witnessed tremendous wealth generation through its natural resources yet struggles with poverty and underdevelopment in many areas. It has been a coveted prize for empire-builders yet maintains fiercely independent local identities.
“We are used to being many things at once,” says Leila, a poet and cultural activist I meet on my last evening in Ahvaz. “This is not a confusion of identity but its richness. We are Arabs and Persians and Bakhtiari and Lurs. We are farmers and oil workers. We are ancient and modern. This multiplicity is our strength.”
Her words remind me of something I’ve observed throughout my travels in the province – the remarkable resilience of Khuzestani identity despite centuries of imperial projects, economic transformations, environmental challenges, and devastating conflicts. This resilience stems not from rigid boundaries but from a remarkable capacity for cultural synthesis and adaptation.
As Iran navigates its complex position in the contemporary world, Khuzestan’s experience offers valuable lessons. The province demonstrates how diversity can be a source of strength rather than division, how traditional knowledge can complement modern development, and how distinct regional identities can contribute to rather than detract from national cohesion.
The sun sets over the Karun River as I prepare to depart, casting golden light across waters that have witnessed the entire span of human civilization. I think of all the peoples who have called this land home, all the empires that have coveted it, all the cultures that have left their mark upon it. Khuzestan contains multitudes – it always has, and likely always will.
For this province, so often at the crossroads of history, the path forward will surely involve continuing to embrace its contradictions and finding strength in its remarkable diversity. As I leave Khuzestan behind, I carry with me not just the memories of its landscapes and monuments but the living spirit of a place where past and future, tradition and innovation, diversity and unity coexist in dynamic balance.
Dr. Farshid Moradipour is a Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Tehran and the author of several books on the cultural geography of southwestern Iran. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Khuzestan province over the past two decades.
