Fereydan

Fereydan is a province in central Iran, in the Bakhtiari Mountains, about 100 km from the city of Ispaan. At the beginning of the 17th century (1614-1617), Shahma Abbas I of Iran deported 200 thousand Georgians from Georgia and settled a large part of them in Fereydan. This is how Georgian villages were created in Middle Iran: Zemo Martfevi, Kvemo Martfevi, Chugureti (Choghiureti), Afusi (Ruispiri), Sibaki (Vashlovani) and others. Georgians live in one district of Fereydan (Gurji-Nahie - "Georgian district"), in the other 3 districts (Nahie-Chadegun, Nahie-Farsaghi, Nahie-Tohmahlu) — Persians, Kurds, Lurs, Bakhtiars, Armenians. By settling Georgians in Fereydan, Shah-Abbas I aimed to protect the capital Ispaan from the attack of nomads (Bakhtiars, Lurs, Kurds and others).

Georgians living in Fereydan kept their laws and customs in the early days, but then they were forced to change their faith, which changed their customs to a certain extent, although they have preserved the Georgian language and some Christian customs. According to the materials published in recent years, Georgian population is 12-14 thousand people.

Fereidan is the only Iranian district, where the forcibly displaced Georgians have preserved the Georgian language and Georgian customs to this day. In other regions (Khorasan, Mazandaran, Farsi) Georgian speech is no longer heard. The Georgians there gradually merged into other tribes of Iran. They speak of ferreidn kilo.