Sonqor County ( fa, شهرستان سنقر) is located in

Kermanshah Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...

province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The capital of the county is

Sonqor Sonqor ( fa, سنقر; also known as Sanghūr and Sūnqūr,) is the capital city of Sonqor County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 43,184, comprising 11,377 families. It is located in the Zagros Mountains, about ...

. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 95,904, in 23,755 households. Retrieved 1 November 2022 At the 2016 census, the county's population was 81,661, in 25,554 households. The majority of the people in this county are

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

and

Turkics The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging to the ...

Administrative divisions

Demographics

Sonqor county is made up of two distinct population elements. The city of

and the villages of Qalʿa-ye Farhād Khan and Qorva are predominantly populated by

, whose ancestors reportedly arrived during the Mongol domination of Iran. The Turkic people of Sonqor originally speak the

Sonqori dialect Sonqori, also known as Sonqori Turkic, is a dialect of Southern Oghuz Turkic spoken in Sonqor (Sunqur), east of Kermānšāh, in a large valley separated from the rest of Kurdistan. According to the ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', Sonqori is one of n ...

. The dialects of Sonqori spoken in Qalʿa-ye Farhād Khan and Qorva differ barely from this main dialect. The other areas within Sonqor County are predominantly populated by

most of whom have originally been agriculturalists. The chiefs of the Kurds of Sonqor County belonged to the Kulya'i tribe. These Kurdish feudal lords (''

khans Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

'') were in control of the Kurdish-populated parts of the county until early 20th century

Qajar Iran Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

, and were reportedly scions (in the eighth generation) of a certain Safi Khan who lived in the later Safavid period. In 1786, the district was ceded to

Ardalan Ardalan ( ku, میرنشینی ئەردەڵان) was a hereditary Kurdish vassaldom in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan Province ...

as a gift from

Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ( fa, آقا محمد خان قاجار, translit=Âqâ Mohammad Xân-e Qâjâr; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (, ), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, rul ...

. In 1798, Ali Hemmat Khan and his brother Baba Khan of the Nanakali tribe were executed by Iranian ruler

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, فتحعلى‌شاه قاجار, Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irr ...

(1797-1834) as they had supported Soleyman Khan, the pretender to the Iranian throne. The Kulya'i Kurds of the Sonqor District speak a Kurdish dialect that resembles the dialect of

, and, according to the second edition of the ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' are thought to be affiliated to the

Ahl-e Haqq Yarsanism, Ahl-e Haqq or Kaka'i ( ku, یارسان, translit=Yarsan or ; fa, اهل حق, ar, كاكائي), is a syncretic religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of followers of Yarsanism i ...

syncretic religion. At least 177 villages in the county speak the Kulya'i dialect, 112 of these are in the

Kolyai District , native_name_lang = fa , settlement_type = District , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_alt = ...

References

Sources

* * * {{Sonqor County, state=collapsed Counties of Kermanshah Province