Koroshi

The Korosh (also called Darghe) are a tribe of Baloch origin scattered across southwestern Iran, from Hormozgan through Fars to Khuzestan and the plateau, numbering well over 10,000. Some trace their name to the Arab Quraysh or to Cyrus (Kourosh). Oral accounts bring them several centuries ago from Bampur, Dalgan, Irandegan and Lashar near Iranshahr along the Makran coast to Bandar Abbas, and another strand from Rudbar in Kerman; elders say part of the tribe moved on into Fars during Imam Qoli Khan's campaign against the Portuguese in the 1620s, where clans joined Qashqai tribes and gained their pastures. Their language, Koroshi, is a distinct subgroup of Balochi close to the southern Balochi of Jask and Sirik, with a northern (Fars) and a southern (Bandar Abbas) dialect. Identity varies: some Korosh affirm a Baloch connection, many in the south see the Korosh as an autonomous tribe, and in northwestern Fars many count themselves part of the Qashqai confederation, whose members call Korosh clans 'Korosh' or 'Darghe'. Unlike the Sunni Baloch, the Korosh are Shia.

The Korosh were camel and goat herders. In the south they herded for themselves; clans that moved northwest after droughts became the camel herders of the Qashqai confederation, migrating between winter quarters at Abgarm in Mamasani and summer pastures near Shiraz. Camel herding is fading: many now farm, and urban Korosh work in industry and trade. Northern herders play the kalam, an end-blown flute used when driving camels and identical to the Baloch nal, while in Hormozgan they share the saz shawm and big dohl drum of their Bandari neighbours. Northern Korosh women dress like Qashqai women and may sing in front of men; in the south women wore Baloch dress until about 1979 and now wear the black chador and the Bandari face mask. Weddings now follow Qashqai custom in the north and Bandari custom in the south, while funerals and commemorations of the dead remain elaborate. Women weave carpets and jajim mats in Qashqai patterns. Koroshi is spoken by all ages in the Hormozgan villages where the Korosh are the majority, but in Fars it is confined to the home and children are shifting to Qashqai and Persian.

The Korosh are Shia Muslims, which sets them apart from the Sunni Baloch of their ancestral homeland and aligns them with their Qashqai, Persian and Bandari neighbours; they share the Muharram mourning, shrine visits and vows of rural Fars and the Gulf coast, and give great weight to funerals and commemorations of the dead. A Persian encyclopaedia mentions Sunni Korosh as well, without naming a community. No study of Korosh religious life exists.

There are no Scripture, film or audio resources in Koroshi. Southern Balochi has some Scripture and recordings, and all Korosh also speak Persian (and in Fars, Qashqai), in which the Bible, the JESUS Film, satellite television and online ministries are available. No known believers; the group is unengaged.