Fereydan is a region of Isfahan Province, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

.

Georgians in Fereydan

The Fereydan Georgians ( pereidnelebi) are an ethnographic group of the Georgian people

Georgians

The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....

 who mostly live in the city of Fereydoon Shahr

Fereydoon Shahr

Fereydunshahr is a city in and the capital of Fereydunshahr County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 13,475, in 3,622 families....

 and in the Fereydan region of Iran.

Origins

During the Persian invasion of eastern Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 by Shah Abbas

Abbas I of Persia

Shāh ‘Abbās the Great was Shah of Iran, and generally considered the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son of Shah Mohammad....

 in 1612, the region of Kakheti

Kakheti

Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...

 was devastated, and some of its population forced into exile. Upon the Shah's return to Persia, more than 300,000 ethnic Georgians from Kakheti

Kakheti

Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...

 were expelled to Isfahan province and the Fereydan county. Under the forced labor, Georgians constructed bridges and organized the rehabilitation of the farmlands in the Fereydan valley. Since the forced migration

Forced migration

Forced migration refers to the coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region...

 and islamisation, none of the Fereydan Georgians had any contacts with their motherland. However, they managed to maintain the Georgian language

Georgian language

Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...

, which they call Phreidnuli (and is intelligible with East Georgian dialects). Today, Fereydan Georgians (5,000,000) are more than Georgians, which live in Georgia. (Less than 4,000,000).

Armenians in Fereydan

Fereydan (or Peria) was and still partially populated by Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 who were brought to this part of Iran by Shah Abbas

Abbas I of Persia

Shāh ‘Abbās the Great was Shah of Iran, and generally considered the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son of Shah Mohammad....

 of Safavid dynasty in 1603 and 1604, However the Armenian settlement in Fereydan dates back at no earlier than 1608.

The following is a list of villages inhabited by Armenians, which were part of Peria:

1. Boloran or Zarneh (still inhabited by Armenians)
2. Gharghon (still inhabited by Armenians)
3. Upper Khoygan (still inhabited by Armenians)
4. Singerd (still inhabited by Armenians)
5. Chigan
6. Drakhtak
7. Khong
8. Lower Khoygan
9. Millagerd
10. Namagerd
11. Sangbaran (BarfAnbar)
12. Shooreshkan
13. Savaran
14. Hazarjerib
15. Khoshgaleh
16. Hadan

Many Armenian villages are not totally deserted. From time to time they are visited by Fereydani Armenians who still possess properties there.

See also

• History of Armenia
  History of Armenia
  Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the Biblical mountains of Ararat. The original Armenian name for the country was Hayk, later Hayastan , translated as the land of Haik, and consisting of the name Haik and the suffix '-stan' ....
  
  
• History of Georgia
  History of Georgia (country)
  The nation of Georgia was first unified as a kingdom under the Bagrationi dynasty in the 9th to 10th century, arising from a number of predecessor states of ancient Colchis and Iberia...
  
  
• Bourvari
  Bourvari
  Bourvari is a collection of villages in Iran, between the city of Khomein and Aligoodarz .Bourvari was mainly populated by Armenians who were brought to the region by Shah Abbas of the Safavid dynasty in 1603 and 1604....
  
  
• Kakheti
  Kakheti
  Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...