Feyli Kurd . we are a group of southern kurds living in Baghdad and around khanaqin and Mandali.
Feyli Kurds speak the feyli dialect of the kurdish language. Som say that the roots of the Feyli Kurds go back to the iranian immigrants of the first millennium BC. They embraced Islam in the early stages of the Islamic conquest and colonisation of Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Iran.
As for the name of "Feyli", there is more than one explanation. In his book (The lexicon of countries, in Arabic Mujam al-Buldan) Yaqout al-Hamawi mentions in 13th century that the Feylis are those who reside the mountains separating Iran and Iraq. In addition, that they are as huge as "elephants", as the word "fil" means elephant in Arabic. Another explanation goes to a different direction as it says that the name belong to the ruler of the mentioned area. The historical fact on the roots of the name of the "Pahli" is fully clear. As M.R. Izady notes in his book (The Kurds: A Concise Handbook, London, 1992) the territory inhabited by the Feyli, Pahli, Feyli Kurds was known as "Pahla" meaning Parthia since the 3rd century AD. The Arabic texts recorded the name as FAHLA or BAHLA. Arabic lacks the letter "P" from Fahla and it has since then evolved to Faila and later Feyli.
But what can be assured is that the Feylis are still there in spite of the trials of those who deny their existence and want them to be loosed in other entities.
There are many who have discussed this subject in their books, such as Khesrau Goran who discussed it in his book "Kurdistan through your eyes" volume I Stockholm 1992 P 152: 161.
Kurdish Feyli's homeland
Since the ancient times, the Feylis have lived in the border area between Iraq and Iran, which consists of the Zagros Mountains and cliffs. They live on the two sides of this mountain in Iran and Iraq and they call it Kabir Kuh, in other words "The great mountain".
The areas in the Iraqi side from north to south are the following: Khanaqin, Shahraban (now it is called Al - Meqdadia), Mandalie, Badrah, Zorbateyah, Jassan, Al – kut and Al-Azizyah. In addition to number of cities in the area of Shaikh Sa'ad, Ali Sharqi, Ali Gharbi and Al – Kofah which is 170 km south of Baghdad.
However, as early as the first decade of the 20th century, many Failis moved to Baghdad and lived in its center. So there are some areas which are named after them such as the Kurdish quarter, the Kurdish alley, and the Kurdish Street.
On the Iranian side, the Kurdish live in the following area from north to south: Qassre Sherien, Kermanshah, Karand, western Islam Abad (former Shah Abad), sarepol-e-Zahab, Gilan,Ilam, Saleh Abad, Moseyan,Badrah, Dehloran and Andimashek.
The basic activity of the people of the border area is agriculture and sheep herding. They plant corn, barley, wheat, and summer vegetables as well as fruits on the mountains or on the flats. There are also some natural sources in the area such as oil (petroleum) at Naft Khanah (Iraq), Naft-Shahr, Dihluran (Iran), and natural gas at Tange Bidjar (Iran).
In the northern area people use the Al-Wand River which flows out from Harunabad & Gelan regions (Iran) towards Khaneqin before joining the Deyala River which pours into the Tigris River. There are also a few channels, wells and springs that help with the irrigation and domestic water use.
As for the weather, it is dry at summer but the mountains are usually covered with lays of snow, which melts in summer to irrigate the lands. In summer, many people move with their sheep to the tops of the mountains because there are wide areas of grass and when the winter comes, they go back to their villages. Some Kurds work in trade and goods exchange and other free works (urban professions).
The Kurdish people have proved to be so persistent and civilized as they studied hard to join the universities of the main cities and got good jobs. In his book "Ameroir of Baghdad" issued by Al-Rais publishing house, Cyprus 1993 the ex minister Mosa Al -Shabandar describes the life of the Faili Kurds. It is very difficult to give an accurate estimate of the Faili Kurds' population, as many of them in Iraq have been deported and ethnically clensed, however some estimate that about 2.5 millions lived in Iraq, and 3 million in Iran.