Who were the first inhabitants of Iran before the Aryans? This is a question that concerns the mind of every Iranian. In history books, we have read a lot about the Aryan peoples and their entry into the Iranian plateau. But the less talked about are the tribes that lived in this region before the arrival of the Aryans in Iran, and each of them had their own civilization and culture. The civilization and culture that influenced the Aryans after they entered Iran. In fact, our ancestors were influenced by these tribes. If you are also curious to know more about these civilizations, stay with Sights Iran in this article.
Paleolithic era in Iran plateau
Before dealing with the early inhabitants of Iran who lived in this land before the arrival of the Aryans, it is better to go back a little and start from the Paleolithic era.
The first behaviors related to civilization and culture in Iran started with the making of different stone tools in the Paleolithic era. It should be noted that the Paleolithic era itself includes three periods: ancient, middle and modern. The artefacts obtained from this period in the Iranian Plateau are mostly related to the New Paleolithic period and were obtained from sites such as Khorasan River Discovery, Ladyz Sistan, Humian Kohdasht and Helilan Valley in Lorestan and some other areas. In the modern Paleolithic era, besides gathering food and hunting, humans stored part of their food.
Neolithic era in Iran plateau
Now that we know a little about the early inhabitants of Iran in the Paleolithic era, we should talk a little about the Neolithic era. After passing through the Paleolithic and Trans-Paleolithic eras, the inhabitants of the Near East region, including Iran, entered the period of Neolithic culture and civilization about twelve thousand years ago. In the Neolithic era, one of the human activities was the domestication of animals and the cultivation of plants and the final formation of villages. This period lasted until the fifth millennium BC. Among the advances of human civilization in the Neolithic era, we can mention the making of pottery, the creation of architectural spaces, and the improvement of the level of industry and technology. There are monuments from this era in Iran, such as Silk Hill in Kashan, Cheshme Ali in Tehran, Hesar Damghan Hill, Gyan Nahavand Hill, Bakun Hill in Fars, Sarab, Godin and Goran cities, and Ganjadera in Kermanshah and Shush in Khuzestan.
The age of metal in the plateau of Iran
The main discussion of this article about the early inhabitants of Iran actually starts from this part. After the Neolithic period, Iran, like the surrounding lands in Western Asia, entered the metal age. This era was associated with the mass production of metal, the transition from rural to urban, the use of handwriting and signs, the expansion of commerce, architecture, and the benefit of history, literature, and art.
The Iron Age is actually the peak of innovation and urbanization in Iran. Amazing monuments such as Chaghazanbil Ziggurat (1250 BC) and Babajan Temple were built during this period. With the beginning of the 1st millennium, governments such as the Medes, the Elamites (modern Ilam) were formed in different regions of the Iranian plateau. These governments deal with the Assyrian aggressor rule in Mesopotamia. The early inhabitants of Iran gradually united to defeat the Assyrian rule and their encroachments on Iran in the form of the Median rule. In the following, we introduce these tribes in more detail.
Elamites
One of the most important early inhabitants of Iran who greatly influenced the neighboring tribes and civilizations after them were the Elamites. Elamites or Elamites (both spellings are used to write this word) lived in the southwest of Iran and had very large cities and civilization. Their civilization continued to live from 3500 BC to 645 BC. The people of Mesopotamia, the Akkadians, and the Sumerians gave the name Elam to the tribes that lived in the current Khuzestan. The Elamites called themselves by another name, “Haltameti”. Elam in the language of the Mesopotamian peoples means people who live in the heights.
Elamites and Achaemenians
The name Elam (Hilam or Ilam) is also found in Persian and Achaemenid inscriptions. The same people were among the first inhabitants of Iran who built the city of Shusha and taught calligraphy to the Achaemenid kings. Before the formation of the Achaemenid government, the Elamites fought many times with Mesopotamian tribes such as Babylonians, Assyrians and Sumerians, and sometimes they won and sometimes they lost. According to the Assyrian inscriptions, this tribe, one of the early inhabitants of Iran, was finally defeated and weakened by the Assyrian Banipal.
The main territory of the Elamites, who were among the first inhabitants of Iran before the arrival of the Aryans, was parts of Fars, Lorestan and Bakhtiari, Bushehr and modern Khuzestan province. The Elamites became subjects of the Achaemenids in 538 BC. Elamite language was the first official language of Achaemenid. They used this language for writing and business. Some believe that the Elamites came to Iran by boat from the Indus Valley in 3500 BC, and some believe that they migrated to Iran from Pakistan. Elamites had black skin and were similar to Arabs.
Caspians
Among the other tribes related to the early inhabitants of Iran are the Caspians. The territory of this tribe was in the South Caucasus, the Republic of Azerbaijan and around Talash and Gilan, and in East Azerbaijan and to some extent Zanjan. It is interesting to know that the European name Caspian for the Caspian Sea is also derived from the name of the Caspians.
Caspians had their own customs and rituals. A custom that also affected the Aryans. This tribe, one of the early inhabitants of Iran, while being advanced and having a peaceful way of life, were interested in collective work and effort. They put their dead bodies in a desert far from their place of residence and watched over them from a distance. According to them, if a vulture eats a corpse, the dead person will be happy and forgiven in the afterlife. If the body was eaten by terrestrial animals such as wolves and dogs, the dead person would be less forgiven, and the worst situation would be a dead person who was not eaten by any animal or bird!
Urartos
The Urartos were among the other early inhabitants of Iran who lived in the Anatolian region, or Van, today’s Turkey, and together with the Hittites, they later formed the Turkic people. The Urartos were defeated by the Assyrians at first, but regained power 800 years ago and were considered one of the most important powers in Western Asia. You may wonder that if they lived in Türkiye, why are their names mentioned among the early inhabitants of Iran? It is necessary to know that at that time Anatolia included the Iranian plateau and that is the reason for their name.
This people had their own special script and script. The Urartos finally fell to the hands of the Aryans and especially the Medes and the attacks of the Scythians and the Cimmerians in the Caucasus. The survivors of this nation eventually formed the Armenian nation together with some other Indo-European nations.
Goths
Among the other early inhabitants of Iran are the Goths, who live in the central part of Zagros and the northern region of the Lulobis. It might be interesting for you to know that the Goths are actually the ancestors of today’s Kurds. They merged with the Aryans and some Median tribes and formed the Kurds. The Goths were actually a mountain people who, as mentioned, lived in a part of modern Kurdistan. From the spirit of this people, we can mention their fighting spirit. It is said that the name of the mountain “Judi” on which the ark sits in the story of Noah is derived from the name of the Goths.
Lulobyan
Lulobians are also one of the other early inhabitants of Iran and the ancestors of today’s Kurds who lived in the Zagros mountains and in the southern part of the Goti settlement and in the north of the Kashian settlement. Sculptors of this tribe remain in Kermanshah today. Lulobians live side by side with Urartos, Assyrians and Kashis or Kasis. The name of the famous Lulobian king was “Anubani-ni”. It is interesting to know that Sumerians and Babylonians took slaves from this people.
Based on the remaining inscriptions, it can be said that this group of early inhabitants of Iran finally attacked Babylon together with the Elamites and the Goths and took revenge. Lulobyan had a very good background in metalworking. It should be mentioned that many historians believe that Lulobians were the first race of Ler people. They consider the word “Lar” as a slang word. As mentioned, the territory of this tribe was located on the Zagros mountains and between the two lakes of Urmia and southern Iran.
Kashshus or Kasis
Among the other early inhabitants of Iran, we should mention the Kashis or Kashshus or Kasis. This people lived in the regions of Lorestan, Kurdistan and a part of today’s Ilam. They were very skilled in the industry of casting and using metals and making tools. Some researchers like George Cameron believe that the Kasi language was very similar to the Caucasian language. In fact, they were neighbors of the Elamites. Other skills of this people include riding. It is said that the customs and arts of this people, along with the Caucasians, had a great impact on the Aryans. Some believe that the Kasi are the ancestors of today. Although this breed has undergone many changes throughout history.
The Manaeans
Another early inhabitants of Iran are the Manaeans. The Manaians were the neighbors of the Goths, Urartos, and Mitanis, and they lived in West Azerbaijan and the southern shores of Lake Urmia. It should be said that the Hasanlu civilization is also a remnant of the Manas. Hasanlu Golden Cup is considered one of the most beautiful and famous remaining works of this people. The Urartos and Assyrians eventually defeated the Manaeans and caused their downfall.
Except for the tribes and civilizations that lived in the west of the Iranian plateau, many advanced and industrialized tribes and civilizations also lived in the east of the Iranian plateau. Unfortunately, little information and evidence has been obtained from these civilizations related to the early inhabitants of Iran. In fact, it can be said that only the burnt city and the civilization found in Jiroft have been discovered in these areas, which we will introduce below.
Burnt City
The burnt city is located near the present-day city of Zabul in Sistan and Baluchistan province. From the remains obtained from this civilization of the early inhabitants of Iran, it can be said that they were very advanced in various sciences and techniques. You may have heard that the world’s first artificial eye was obtained from this region. Also, remains were found in the burnt city, which shows that the first skull surgery in the world was performed in this area. Also, the first animation work in the world is considered to belong to a cup known as the Burned City Cup and the paintings on it. Many other firsts such as the first games, the first dice, and the first ruler came from Burnt City.
In the Babylonian inscriptions, the burnt city is mentioned with the name “Arte”. Despite many researches, the original origin of this tribe is still unknown and they are known as Hirmand tribe.
Jiraft civilization
Among the other early inhabitants of Iran is the Jiroft civilization in Kerman, which was discovered not long ago in Halilroud region. This people lived in the fertile plain of Halilrud in 3000 BC. Many different works have been obtained from this ancient civilization. From the remaining evidence, it can be said that they had trade relations with the burnt city civilization in Zabul. This group of early inhabitants of Iran had a primitive line and various stone artifacts, including stone vessels, have been discovered from their territory. Some believe that the name “Arte” in Sumerian inscriptions refers to the civilization of Jiroft and not to the civilization of the burnt city.
Conclusion
Aryans, who are the ancestors of our Iranians, were immigrant tribes who migrated to the great plateau of Iran many years ago. But before they came to this land, some ethnic groups lived in Iran. Civilizations that had their own advanced line and culture and greatly influenced the Aryans. In this article, we reviewed and examined these early inhabitants of Iran and their different civilizations. Civilizations such as the Elamites, the Caspians, the Urartos, the Goths, the Lulobians, the Cassis and the Manaeans.
