Хұзістан атауының тарихы мен этимологиясы

Although Herodotus and Xenophon referred to the entire region as Susiana, the name Khuzestan is what has been referred to the southwesternmost province of Persia (Iran) from antiquity.

In some instances, sugar and sugar cane have been given as the meaning of Khuz. The fertile soil of Khuzestan has optimal potential for growing this plant, making excellent harvests for sugar cane possible here. However, most experts believe the name Khuzestan to be derived from Khūzī, the name of the original Elamite people who inhabited the region, whose distinctive language reportedly survived until Sassanid times. Every author of the early Islamic period, whether Arabic, Persian, or African, referred to the entire region as Ahvaz. The word "Khuzestan", however, seems to have been widely used to refer to the region by the 9th century. Some scholars believe Ahvaz and Khuzestan are related to the name Ooksin, a city established during the era of the Elamite civilization, and are the altered forms of the words Ooks, Ookz, Hookz, Huz and Khuz. Iraj Afshar in his Nigāhī bih Khūzistān : majmū`ah´ī az awzā` i tārīkhī, jughrāfiyā'ī, ijtimā`i, iqtisādī i mintaqah states that Uxi was the Greek counterpart of the Elamite word Ūvja. According to Jules Oppert, the word Ūvja, was pronounced as Xuz or Khuz in the Elamite language. The word Ūvja appears abundantly in many texts and on Achaemenid inscriptions at Naqsh e Rustam, and on Darius's epigraphs at Persepolis and Susa among others Ūvja, or its Greek counterpart Uxi, were names used to refer to the land or the peoples inhabiting the land of Khuzestan. Furthermore, Ibn Nadeem, in his book al Fihrist (الفهرست), mentions that all the Median and Persian lands of antiquity spoke one language. In his book he quotes the Abdullah Ibn al Muqaffa:

"The Iranian languages are Fahlavi, Dari, Khuzi, Persian, and Suryani." He then adds that Khuzi is the unofficial language of the royalty and comes from Khuzestan. In Majma ul Tawarikh wa al Qesas ("The Collection of histories and Tales") written in 1126CE, Khuzestan appears with such names as Hajuestan, Hobujestan, and Ajar, which seem to be derived from Hobujestan and Hujestan in Pahlavi language. The Old Persian word Hūjiya "Elam" appears abundantly in many texts and on Achaemenid inscriptions at Naqsh e Rustam, were names used to refer to the land or the peoples inhabiting Susiana. In Middle Persian, Hūjiya "Elam, Susiana Province" became Huź "Susiana", and the modern form of this word is Xuz. In 1441, Muhammad ibn Falah, founder and leader of the Msha'sha'iya, initiated a wave of attacks on Khuzestan, and the cities of Hoveizeh, Khorramshahr, Ahvaz, and Susa started seeing large increases in Arab populations. The term Arabistan thus came into use to refer to the Arab populated areas of this region. At this time, many texts started using both Khuzestan and Arabistan as the region's name. Examples are Majalis Al Mumineen written by Ghadhi Nurollah Shushtari in 1585, Giti Gosha by Mirza Muhammad Sadigh Musawi, Nasikh Al Tawarikh by Lisan Malek Sepehr, Muntazam Naseri and Mar'at ul Baladan by Sani ol molk, Sharh Waghi'a by Ismail Mirza Dorughi, and the Afsharid era work Jahan goshay i Naderi. The Safavid era account History of Alam Aray Abbasi speaks of dispatching troops to "Khuzestan wa Arabistan" during the 8th year of Shah Abbas' reign. The name Arabistan, however, became more prevalent over time as the British became gradually involved in the Persian Gulf region. By the time of the Qajar Mozaffareddin Shah, the name Arabistan was meant to completely refer to all of Khuzestan. With the centralized Pahlavi government of Iran gradually strengthening, Reza Shah restored the name of the province to its original in 1923.

The following is a list of sources that specifically use, describe, or discuss the word "Khuzestan". Almost all are written in the Arabic language.

Nizami Ganjavi's works. Majmal al Tawarikh wa al Qasas (مجمل التواریخ و القصص) written in 1126 by an unknown author. al Ansab (الانساب) by Abu Saeed Abdulkarim al Tamimi al Sama'ani, written in 1166. Rahat al Sodur wa Ayat al Sorur (راحه الصدور و آیه السرور) by Najmideen Abubakr al Rawandi, in 1173. Ajayib al Makhluqat (عجایب المخلوقات) by Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn Ahmad al Tusi. Fars Nama by Ibn Balkhi, 1116. Tadhkirat ul Awliya by Farid al Din Attar.