The Ethno-Religious Roots of the Syrian Alawites

Abstract

The article examines the religious features of the Alawite religion and briefly describes the religious situation in Iran in the 3rd – 9th centuries. By the comparative characteristic of religious and political currents in Iran in the 9th century the author has come to the conclusion that the ancestral home of the Alawites was the land of Caucasian Albania or Arran. The above conclusions are supported by the ethnic factor as the political activity of ethnic groups and the territories they occupy in Iran. In addition, the author considers other factors that confirm the correctness of determining the origin lands of the Alawite tribes.