 The western part of Khuzestan was called "Arabistan" from this point on, due to the increasing Arab population.The eastern part of Khuzestan was known as "Khuzestan" and was mostly inhabited by Lurs people thus sometimes incorporated into Greater Lur.It was often contested between the Safavids and the Ottoman Empire, which held the neighboring town of Basra on the other side of the Shatt al-Arab river in modern-day Iraq.