Two Lori poems from the Qajar period

This article investigates two Lori poems dating back to the Qajar period, one composed in the Nahavandi dialect and the other in Bakhtiari. Both poems are preserved in a collection of official and private correspondence as well as treaties related to the Qajar era, currently held under catalogue number 2415 in the Central Library of the University of Tehran. The composition of these poems is estimated to have taken place approximately 150 to 200 years ago.
The first poem, entitled “Ghazal in the Nahavandi Language,” consists of eight couplets and was composed by a poet known as Sheyda. The second poem, bearing the title “Qasida from Ali-Akbar Khan, Son of Khosrow Khan Sarlak, in the Language of the Lors,” comprises twenty-one couplets.
Based on McKinnon’s (2011) classification, the Nahavandi and Bakhtiari dialects belong respectively to the Northern and Southern branches of Lori. Distinct morphological differences and clearly identifiable isogloss boundaries can be observed between these two varieties.
The authors of the present study aim not only to introduce and describe these two poetic works, but also to provide, insofar as possible, accurate readings of the lexical items and expressions employed in both poems. In order to clarify the interpretation of certain words, comparative evidence from other Lori varieties has also been taken into account.
It should be noted that, due to the absence of early written documentation for these two linguistic varieties, the phonetic transcription of the poems has been based primarily on their contemporary forms. Nevertheless, in certain instances, older forms of the dialects have been preserved and reflected where linguistic evidence has allowed