Ayrums

In 1828, after the signing of the Treaty of Turkmenchay by which Iran lost the khanates (provinces) of Erivan and Nakhchivan, Iranian Crown Prince Abbas Mirza invited many of the Turkic tribes that would be otherwise subjected to rule by the Russian Empire to move inside Iran's newly established borders. The Ayrumlu were one of them and were settled in Avajiq, a district to the west of Maku. They are associated with numerous villages in Iran's West Azerbaijan province and are completely sedentary in contemporary times. During the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, some more migrated to Iran and Turkey. The Ayrums also live in the westernmost reaches of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, where they live as a semi-nomadic people. About six towns in northwestern Azerbaijan and northeastern Armenia may have been named after the tribe, while for some, alternative etymologies exist: Ayrum, Mets Ayrum, Bağanis Ayrum, Quşçu Ayrım, Yuxarı Ayrım, Mollaayrım. They predominantly follow the Shia branch of Islam. There is no relation between Ayrums and the Greek Orthodox Turkic-speaking Urum people.