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{{Short description|Region of southwestern Asia}} |
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:''This article is about the region known as Balochistan. For the Pakistani province, see [[Balochistan (Pakistan)]]. For the Iranian part of Balochistan, see [[Balochistan (Iran)]].'' |
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{{About|the geographic region|other uses|Balochistan (disambiguation)}} |
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{{Infobox settlement |
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<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name = Balochistan |
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| native_name = بلۏچستان |
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| native_name_lang = bal |
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| settlement_type = [[Region]] |
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| image_skyline = Balochistan Map.jpg |
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| image_map = Balochistan Map Khanate Age.jpg |
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| map_caption = Balochistan map 1758-1794 |
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| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Countries]] |
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| subdivision_name = {{plainlist| |
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*[[Afghanistan]] |
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*[[Iran]] |
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*[[Pakistan]]}} |
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| population_total = c. 18–19 million<ref name="Iran Profile, Library of Congress">[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Iran.pdf Iran], ''Library of Congress, Country Profile'' . Retrieved December 5, 2009.</ref><ref name="CIA Afghanistan">[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan/ Afghanistan], ''The World Factbook'' . Retrieved December 5, 2009.</ref><ref name=EthnicGroups>{{cite web|last=Central Intelligence Agency|title=The World Factbook: Ethnic Groups|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003008/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 13, 2007|access-date=3 November 2014|year=2013}}</ref> |
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| population_as_of = 2013 |
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| population_density_km2 = auto |
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| demographics_type1 = Demographics |
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| demographics1_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags --> |
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| demographics1_title1 = [[Ethnic groups]] |
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| demographics1_info1 = [[Baloch people|Baloch]], [[Pashtuns]],[[Hazaras|Hazara]], [[Sindhis|Sindhi]] |
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| demographics_type2 = |
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| demographics2_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags --> |
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| demographics1_title2 = Languages |
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| demographics1_info2 = [[Balochi language|Balochi]]<br><small>''Minor: [[Brahui language|Brahui]], [[Jadgali language|Jadgali]], [[Dehwari language|Dehwari]], [[Pashto]], [[Lasi dialect|Lasi]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]], [[Hazaragi dialect|Hazaragi]], [[Khetrani language|Khetrani]]''</small> |
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| blank_name = Largest cities |
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| blank_info = {{Collapsible list |
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| list_style = text-align:left; |
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|1 = {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Quetta]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Kharan, Pakistan|Kharan]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Turbat]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Iran}} [[Zahedan]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Khuzdar]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Afghanistan}} [[Zaranj]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Uthal]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Iran}} [[Iranshahr, Iran|Iranshahr]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Dera Allah Yar]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Sibi]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Kalat, Pakistan|Kalat]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Dera Murad Jamali|D.M. Jamali]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Dera Bugti]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Gwadar]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Zhob]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Iran}} [[Chabahar]] <br /> |
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{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Nushki]] <br /> |
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}} |
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| official_name = |
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}} |
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'''Balochistan'''<ref>Other variations of the spelling, especially on French maps, include ''Beloutchistan'' and ''Baloutchistan'' also ''Baloch Land''.</ref> ({{IPAc-en|b|ə|ˈ|l|oʊ|tʃ|ᵻ|s|t|ɑː|n|,_|b|ə|ˌ|l|oʊ|tʃ|ᵻ|ˈ|s|t|ɑː|n|,_|-|s|t|æ|n}} {{respell|bə|LOHTCH|ist|a(h)n|,_-|A(H)N}}; {{lang-bal|بلۏچستان|Balòcestàn}}, {{IPA-xx|baˈloːt͡ʃest̪ɑːn}}), also spelled '''Baluchistan''' or '''Baluchestan''', is a [[historical region]] in [[Western Asia|Western]] and [[South Asia]], located in the [[Iranian plateau]]'s far southeast and bordering the [[Indian Plate]] and the [[Arabian Sea]] coastline. This [[arid]] region of [[desert]] and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic [[Baloch people]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dashti |first1=Naseer |title=The Baloch and Balochistan: A Historical Account from the Beginning to the Fall of the Baloch State |date=October 2012 |publisher=Trafford Publishing |isbn=978-1-4669-5896-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xIjyLNpusbAC&q=baloch+live+in+balochistan |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The History of Baloch and Balochistan: A Critical Appraisal |url=http://journals.pu.edu.pk/journals/index.php/IJSAS/article/view/3087 |journal=South Asian Studies |date=22 September 2020 |volume=32 |issue=1 (2017) |via=University of the Punjab |last1=Ahmed |first1=Manzoor |last2=Khan |first2=Gulawar }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dames |first1=Mansel Longworth |title=The Baloch Race: A Historical and Ethnological Sketch |date=1904 |publisher=Royal Asiatic Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4RCAAAAIAAJ&q=baloch+are+living+in+Balochistan |language=en}}</ref> |
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The Balochistan region is split among three countries: [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]]. Administratively it comprises the Pakistani province of [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]], the Iranian province of [[Sistan and Baluchestan]], and the [[Balochistan, Afghanistan|southern areas]] of Afghanistan, which include [[Nimruz Province|Nimruz]], [[Helmand Province|Helmand]] and [[Kandahar Province|Kandahar]] provinces.<ref name="A Brief History of Balochistan">{{cite web|last1=Pillalamarri|first1=Akhilesh|title=A Brief History of Balochistan|url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/02/a-brief-history-of-balochistan/|website=thediplomat.com|publisher=THE DIPLOMAT|access-date=18 June 2016|date=12 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Human Rights in Balochistan: A Case Study in Failure and Invisibility">{{cite news|title=Human Rights in Balochistan: A Case Study in Failure and Invisibility|url=http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/9541436.html|access-date=18 June 2016|work=HuffPost|date=25 March 2016}}</ref> It borders the [[Khyber Paktunkhwa]] region to the north, [[Sindh]] and [[Punjab region|Punjab]] to the east, and [[Geography of Iran|Iranian regions]] to the west. Its southern coastline, including the [[Makran Coast]], is washed by the Arabian Sea, in particular by its western part, the [[Gulf of Oman]]. |
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[[Image:Pakistan ethnic 80.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Major Ethnic Groups in Pakistan and surrounding areas, 1980. The Baloch (Baluch) are shown in pink.]] |
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==Etymology== |
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'''Baluchistan''' (or '''Balochistan'''), also known as "Greater Baluchistan" is an arid region which sits on the [[Iranian Plateau]] in [[Southwest Asia]], presently split between [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]]. The area is named after the numerous [[Baluch]] (or Baloch, Balouch) tribes, an [[Iranian people]], who moved in to the area from the west some time around [[1000]] A.D. The southern part of Baluchistan is known as [[Makran]]. |
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[[File:Balochi-speakers by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6| |
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<div style="text-align: center">The proportion of people with [[Balochi language|Balochi]] as their [[mother tongue]] in each Pakistani [[Districts of Pakistan|District]] as of the [[2017 Pakistan Census]]</div>]] |
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[[File:Brahui-speakers by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6| |
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<div style="text-align: center">The proportion of people with [[Brahui language|Brahui]] as their [[mother tongue]] in each Pakistani [[Districts of Pakistan|District]] as of the [[2017 Pakistan Census]]</div>]] |
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The name "Balochistan" is generally believed to derive from the name of the [[Baloch people]].<ref name="A Brief History of Balochistan"/> Since the Baloch people are not mentioned in pre-Islamic sources, it is likely that the Baloch were known by some other name in their place of origin and that they acquired the name "Baloch" only after arriving in Balochistan sometime in the 10th century.<ref name="Elfenbein Iranica">{{citation |first= J. |last= Elfenbein |chapter= Baluchistan iii. Baluchi Language and Literature |title= Encyclopaedia Iranica |chapter-url= http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baluchistan-iii |year= 1988}}</ref> |
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Johan Hansman relates the term "Baloch" to ''[[Meluhha|Meluḫḫa]]'', the name by which the [[Indus Valley civilisation]] is believed to have been known to the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Sumerians]] (2900–2350 BCE) and [[Akkadian civilization|Akkadian]]s (2334–2154 BCE) in [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>{{harvnb|Parpola|2015|loc= Ch. 17}}: "The identification of Meluhha with the Greater Indus Valley is now almost universally accepted."</ref> ''Meluḫḫa'' disappears from the Mesopotamian records at the beginning of the second millennium BCE.{{sfn|Hansman|1973|p= 564}} However, Hansman states that a trace of it in a modified form, as ''Baluḫḫu'', was retained in the names of products imported by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] (911–605 BCE).{{sfn|Hansman|1973|p= 565}} [[Al-Maqdisi|Al-Muqaddasī]], who visited the capital of Makran, [[Bannajbur]], wrote {{circa}} 985 CE that it was populated by people called ''Balūṣī'' (Baluchi), leading Hansman to postulate "Baluch" as a modification of ''Meluḫḫa'' and ''Baluḫḫu''.{{sfn|Hansman|1973|pp= 568–569}} |
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Before the arrival of the Baluch, the region was populated by [[Pashtun]]s and [[Brahui]]s. The Pashtuns are now concentrated in [[Sibi]], [[Bolan]], [[Quetta]], [[Pishin]], [[Killa Abdullah]], [[Killa Saifullah]], [[Loralai]], [[Zhob]], [[Ziarat]] and [[Harnai]]. Many Brahuis live in [[Kalat]]. [[Language]]s spoken in the region include [[Baluchi language|Balochi]], [[Pashto language|Pashto]], [[Persian language|Persian]], and [[Brahui language|Brahui]]. |
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[[Asko Parpola]] relates the name ''Meluḫḫa'' to Indo-Aryan words ''[[mleccha]]'' ([[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]) and ''milakkha/milakkhu'' ([[Pali language|Pali]]) etc., which do not have an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] etymology even though they were used to refer to non-Aryan people. Taking them to be [[Dravidian languages|proto-Dravidian]] in origin, he interprets the term as meaning either a proper name ''milu-akam'' (from which ''tamilakam'' was derived when the Indus people migrated south) or ''melu-akam'', meaning "high country", a possible reference to Balochistani high lands.{{sfn|Parpola|Parpola|1975|pp= 217–220}} Historian [[Romila Thapar]] also interprets ''Meluḫḫa'' as a proto-Dravidian term, possibly ''mēlukku'', and suggests the meaning "western extremity" (of the Dravidian-speaking regions in the Indian subcontinent). A literal translation into [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]], ''aparānta'', was later used to describe the region by the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]].{{sfn|Thapar|1975|p=10}} |
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== Recent History == |
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[[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Pakistani Baluchistan]] was conquered by the [[British Empire]] on [[October 1]], [[1887]]. In [[1948]], it became part of [[Pakistan]]. Since then, some separatist groups in the province have engaged in armed violence, first led by '''"Prince Karim Khan"''' in 1948, and later [[Nawab Nowroz Khan]] in [[1968]]. These tribal uprisings were limited in scope. A more serious insurgency was led by Marri and Mengal tribes in [[1973]]-[[1977]]. They have a view of "Greater Baluchistan," presently split between [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]] as one independent state ruled under ''tribal jirgas'' (a tribal system of government). |
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During the time of [[Alexander the Great]] (356–323 BCE), the [[Classical Greece|Greeks]] called the land ''[[Gedrosia]]'' and its people ''Gedrosoi'', terms of unknown origin.<ref name="Bevan2015">{{citation |last= Bevan |first= Edwyn Robert |title= The House of Seleucus |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EWdSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA272 |date= 12 November 2015 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 978-1-108-08275-4 |page= 272}}</ref> Using etymological reasoning, H. W. Bailey reconstructs a possible [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] name, ''uadravati'', meaning "the land of underground channels", which could have been transformed to ''badlaut'' in the 9th century and further to ''balōč'' in later times. This reasoning remains speculative.<ref>{{harvnb|Hansman|1973|at= Appendix C. Gadrōsia, by H. W. Bailey}}</ref> |
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==Accession Problem 1948== |
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==History== |
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The ruler of the [[Khanate of Balochistan]], Mir Ahmad Yar Khan,might have been coerced by [[Jinnah]] to sign the document of accession. Balochi nationals support this claim, however critics dispute such claims as unrealistic and contrary to popular support for Jinnah, as the Khan of Kalat ruled even after death of Jinnah with the support of the government. However, The Khan was not an absolute monarch; he was required to act under the provisions of the [[Rawaj]] (the Baloch constitution). |
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{{main|History of Balochistan}} |
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[[File:Baluch mid 19th C..jpeg|thumb|Large Baluch carpet, from the mid 19th century. Alternating rows depict cypress trees and [[Turkmens|Turkmen]] Gül motifs in offset coloration. The somber background colors are characteristic of Baluch weavings. This likely was a commission for a tribal Khan or chieftain for ceremonial use.]] |
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The earliest evidence of human occupation in what is now Balochistan is dated to the [[Paleolithic]] era. Evidence includes hunting camps, [[lithic scatter]], and chipped and flaked stone tools. The earliest settled villages in the region date to the ceramic Neolithic ({{circa|7000}}–6000 BCE) and included the site of [[Mehrgarh]] in the [[Bolan District|Kachi Plain]]. These villages expanded in size during the subsequent Chalcolithic when interaction was amplified. This involved the movement of finished goods and raw materials, including [[Turbinella|chank shell]], [[lapis lazuli]], [[turquoise]], and ceramics. By 2500 BCE (the Bronze Age), the region now known as [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Pakistani Balochistan]] had become part of the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus Valley civilization]] cultural orbit,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/what-did-harappans-eat-how-did-they-look-rakhigarhi-has-the-answers/article1-1348101.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517092306/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/what-did-harappans-eat-how-did-they-look-rakhigarhi-has-the-answers/article1-1348101.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 17, 2015|date=17 May 2015|first=Riddhi|last=Doshi|title=What did Harappans eat, how did they look? Haryana has the answers|work=Hindustan Times}}</ref> providing key resources to the expansive settlements of the Indus river basin to the east. |
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=== Classical period === |
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The incorporation of the Khanate resulted in a few anti-Pakistani rallies and meetings in certain areas of the Khanate. To subdue the anti-Pakistani sentiments, the Army of Pakistan was placed on alert. The Government of Pakistan decided to take complete control of the administration of Balochistan (Khanate) on 15 [[April]] 1948. The A.G.G. in Balochistan conveyed the orders of [[Mohammad Ali Jinnah]] that the status of the Khanate, "would revert back to what it was during the preceding British rule. Besides the policy of the central government of Pakistan towards the Khanate, Jinnah also refused to give Autonomy to Balochistan." |
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From the 1st century to the 3rd century CE, the region was ruled by the [[Paratarajas|Pāratarājas]] (lit. "Pārata Kings"), a dynasty of [[Indo-Parthian]] kings. The dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the [[Paradas|Pāradas]] of the [[Mahabharata]], the [[Puranas]] and other Vedic and Iranian sources.{{sfn|Tandon|2006|p=183}} The Parata kings are primarily known through their coins, which typically exhibit the bust of the ruler (with long hair in a headband) on the obverse, and a [[swastika]] within a circular legend on the reverse, written in [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] (usually silver coins) or [[Kharoshthi]] (copper coins). These coins are mainly found in [[Loralai]] in today's western Pakistan. |
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During the wars between [[Alexander the Great]] (356-323 BCE) and Emperor [[Darius III]] (336-330 BCE), the Baloch were allied with the last [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] emperor. According to Shustheri (1925), Darius III, after much hesitation, assembled an army at Arbela to counter the army of invading Greeks. His cousin Besius was the commander, leading the horsemen from Balkh. Berzanthis was the commander of the Baloch forces, Okeshthra was the commander of the forces from [[Khuzestan province|Khuzistan]], Maseus was the commander of the [[Syrians|Syrian]] and [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] contingent, Ozbed was the commander of the [[Medes]], and Phirthaphirna was leading the Sakas and forces from [[Tabaristan]], Gurgan, and Khurasan. Obviously, as part of a losing side, the Baloch certainly got their share of punishment from the victorious Macedonian forces.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Britannica {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> |
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In April 1948, several political leaders from Balochistan such as [[Mohammad Amin Khosa]] and [[Abdul Samad Achakzai]] were arrested. The [[Anjuman-i-Watan Party]] (pro-congress), headed by Samad Achakzai, was declared unlawful. |
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[[Herodotus]] in 450 BCE described the ''Paraitakenoi'' as a tribe ruled by [[Deiokes]], a Persian king, in northwestern Persia (History I.101). [[Arrian]] describes how [[Alexander the Great]] encountered the ''Pareitakai'' in [[Bactria]] and [[Sogdiana]], and had them conquered by [[Craterus]] (Anabasis Alexandrou IV). The [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]] (1st century CE) describes the territory of the ''Paradon'' beyond the Ommanitic region, on the coast of modern Balochistan.{{sfn|Tandon|2006|pp=201–202}} |
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==First Baloch National Resistance 1948== |
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=== |
=== Medieval period === |
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During the reign of Arab dynasties, medieval Iran suffered the onslaught of [[Ghaznavids]], [[Mongols]], [[Timurid Empire|Timurids]], and the incursions of [[Oghuz Turks|Guzz Turks]]. The relationship between the Baloch and nearly all these powers were hostile, and the Baloch suffered enormously during this long period. The Baloch encounters with these powers and the subsequent Baloch miseries forced the Baloch tribes to move from the areas of conflicts and to settle in the farflung and inaccessible regions. The bloody conflicts with [[Buyid dynasty|Buyids]] and [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuqs]] were instrumental in waves of migration by the Baloch tribes from [[Kerman province|Kerman]] to further east.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pillalamarri |first=Akhilesh |title=A Brief History of Balochistan |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/02/a-brief-history-of-balochistan/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}</ref> |
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The Hindu Sewa Dynasty ruled parts of Balochistan, chiefly [[Kalat, Pakistan|Kalat]].<ref name="FowleRai1923">{{cite book |last1=Fowle |first1=T. C. |last2=Rai |first2=Diwan Jamiat |title=Baluchistan |date=1923 |publisher=Directorate of Archives, Government of Balochistan |page=100 |language=en |quote=The Hindus of Kalat town may indeed be far more indigenous since they claim descent from the ancient Sewa dynasty that ruled Kalat long before the Brahui came to Baluchistan.}}</ref><ref name="Nisa1979">{{cite book |title=Balochistan Through the Ages: Geography and history |date=1979 |publisher=Nisa Traders |page=316 |language=en |quote=The country up to and including Multan was conquered by the Arabs and the Hindu dynasty of Sind and probably also the Sewa dynasty of Kalat came to an end.}}</ref> The [[Sibi Division]], which was carved out of [[Quetta Division]] and [[Kalat Division]] in 1974, derives its name from Rani Sewi, the queen of the Sewa dynasty.<ref name="Quddus1990">{{cite book |last1=Quddus |first1=Syed Abdul |title=The Tribal Baluchistan |date=1990 |publisher=[[Ferozsons]] |isbn=978-969-0-10047-4 |page=49 |language=en|quote=The Sibi division was carved out of the Quetta and Kalat Divisions in April, 1974, and comprises districts of Sibi, Kachhi, Nasirabad, Kohlu and Dera Bugti. The Division derives its name from the town of Sibi or Sewi. The local tradition attributes the origin of this name to Rani Sewi of the Sewa dynasty which ruled this part of the country in ancient times.}}</ref> |
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The refusal to grant autonomy and the continued existence of the ''Sandeman system'' resulted in unrest. Thus, on the night of 16 [[May]] 1948, [[Prince Abdul Karim Khan]], the younger brother of the Khan, decided to lead a national liberation movement. |
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[[File:1730_Ottens_Map_of_Persia_(Iran,_Iraq,_Turkey)_-_Geographicus_-_RegnumPersicum-ottens-1730_(Mecran).jpg|thumb|Map of independent Balochistan under the Brahui [[Kalat Khanate]] in 1730.]] |
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The region was fully Islamized by the 9th century and became part of the territory of the [[Saffarid dynasty|Saffarids]] of [[Zaranj]], followed by the [[Ghaznavids]], then the [[Ghorids]]. The relation between the Ghaznavids and the Baloch had never been peaceful. Turan and Makuran came under the Ghaznavids founder Sebuktegin's suzerainty as early as 976-977 CE (Bosworth, 1963). The Baloch tribes fought against Sebuktegin when he attacked Khuzdar in 994. The Baloch were in the army of Saffarids Amir Khalaf and fought against Mahmud when the Ghaznavids forces invaded Sistan in 1013 (Muir, 1924). Many other occasions were mentioned by the historians of the Ghaznavids era in which the Baloch came into confrontation with the Ghaznavids forces (Nizam al-Mulk, 1960).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Regions of Sind, Baluchistan, Multan and Kashmir: the Historical, Social and Economic Setting {{!}} Programme des Routes de la Soie |url=https://fr.unesco.org/silkroad/node/591 |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=fr.unesco.org}}</ref> |
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There are only passing references of Baloch encounters with the Mongol hordes. In one of the classical Balochi ballads, there is mention of a Baloch chieftain, Shah Baloch, who, no doubt, heroically resisted a Mongol advance somewhere in Sistan.{{cn|date=August 2023}} |
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He invited the leading members of nationalist political parties, (the [[Kalat State National Party]], the [[Baloch League]], and the [[Baloch National Workers Party]]) to join him in the struggle for the creation of an independent ''"Greater Balochistan"''. Apart from his political motives, the Prince was a member of the royal family and the former governor of the [[Makran]] province; the recognition of [[Sardar Bay Khan Gichki]] as a ruler of Makran by Pakistan upset him. |
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During the long period of en masse migrations, the Baloch were traveling through settled territories, and it could not have been possible to survive simply as wandering nomads. Perpetual migrations, hostile attitudes of other tribes and rulers, and adverse climactic conditions ruined much of their cattle breeding. Settled agriculture became a necessity for the survival of herds and an increased population. They began to combine settled agriculture with animal husbandry. The Baloch tribes now consisted of sedentary and nomadic population, a composition that remained an established feature of the Baloch tribes until recently.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Engaged review of contemporary art and thought |url=http://www.nakedpunch.com/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=www.nakedpunch.com}}</ref> |
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===Beginning of Movement and Allies=== |
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The Khanate of Kalat was the first unified polity to emerge in the [[history of Balochistan]].<ref name=s/> It took birth from the confederacy of nomadic [[Brahui people|Brahui tribes]] native to the central Balochistan in 1666<ref name=q>{{Cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA48 |title=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-659-1 |language=en}}</ref> which under ''Mir Ahmad Khan I'' declared independence from the Mughal suzeraignty<ref name=s>{{Cite web |title=Brahui |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/brahui |website=Encyclopedia Irannica}}</ref> and slowly absorbed the [[Baloch people|Baloch]] principalities in the region.<ref name=q/> It was ruled over by the Brahui Ahmadzai dynasty till 1948.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bhc.gov.pk/district-judiciary/mastung/introduction/history|title=Mastung > History of district|access-date=28 June 2021|quote=The Brahui Khans of Qalat were dominant from the 17th century onwards until the arrival of the British in the 19th century.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Siddiqi |first=Farhan Hanif |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDb6i9x1FKgC&dq=brahui+khanate+of+kalat+sits+at+the+apex+of&pg=PA53 |title=The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-68614-3 |pages=53 |language=en|quote="The Brahui Khanate of Kalat sits at the apex of..."}}</ref> [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] made it vassal of the [[Durrani Empire|Afghan Durrani Empire]] in 1749. In 1758 the Khan of Kalat, Mir Naseer Khan I, revolted against [[Ahmed Shah Durrani]], defeated him, and made his Khanate independent from the Durrani Empire. |
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He decided to migrate to Afghanistan in order to get help and to organize the liberation movement. Prince Karim wrote to the Khan on 28 [[June]] 1948 explaining the causes of his migration. |
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Some of the prominent political leaders who joined him were ''Mohamed Hussain Anka'' (the secretary of the Baloch League and the editor of Weekly Bolan Mastung) • ''Malik Saeed Dehwar'' (the secretary of the Kalat State National Party) • ''Qadir Bakhsh Nizamami'', a member of the Baloch League and prominent members of the [[Communist Party]], Sind-Balochistan branch, and ''Maulwi Mohd Afzal'', a member of Jamiat-Ulm-e-Balochistan. |
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=== Tribalism and nomadism === |
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===Plan of Action=== |
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Baloch tribalism in medieval times was synonymous with pastoral nomadism. Nomadic people, as observed by Heape (1931), regard themselves as the superior of sedentary or agriculturist. It is, perhaps, because the occupation of nomads made them strong, active, and inured to hardship and the dangers which beset a mobile life.<ref name="Gale - Institution Finder">{{Cite web |title=Gale - Institution Finder |url=https://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?userGroupName=&origURL=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.gale.com%2Fps%2Fi.do&prodId=GVRL |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=galeapps.gale.com}}</ref> |
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The [[Baloch Mujahideen]] ( Baloch Holy Warriors), as they called themselves, entered Afghanistan and encamped at [[Sarlath]] in the Province of [[Kandahar]]. During their stay, the Baloch freedom fighters adopted the following measures to achieve their goal: |
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The areas of Balochistan where the Baloch tribes moved in had a sedentary population, and the Baloch tribes were compelled to deal with their sedentary neighbors. Being in a weaker position, the Baloch tribes were in need of constant vigils for their survival in new lands. To deal with this problem, they began to make alliances and organized themselves into a more structured way. The structural solution to this problem was to create tribal confederacies or unions. Thus, in conditions of insecurity and disorder or when threatened by a predatory regional authority or a hostile central government, several tribal communities would form a cluster around a chief who had demonstrated his ability to offer protection and security.<ref name="Gale - Institution Finder"/> |
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*Sending of messages to the Baloch chiefs of Eastern and Western Balochistan asking them to join in the '''armed struggle'''; |
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*Running of a '''truth revealing campaign''' in Balochistan, aimed at the educating the locals, teaching them to fight for their right,and fight as well as the enlistment of a national liberation force; |
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*Searching for '''international support''', particularly from contries who are supportive of democratic process and don't support army ruling over the country. |
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=== British occupation === |
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The British took over the area{{Which?|date=February 2023}} in 1839.<ref name="balochistan.gov.pk">{{Cite web |title=History – Government of Balochistan |url=https://balochistan.gov.pk/explore-balochistan/history/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |language=en-US}}</ref> |
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In the 1870s, [[Baluchistan Agency|Baluchistan]] came under control of the [[British Indian Empire]] in [[colonial India]].<ref name="Henige1970">{{cite book |last1=Henige |first1=David P. |url=https://archive.org/details/colonialgovernor0000heni |title=Colonial Governors from the Fifteenth Century to the Present: A Comprehensive List |date=1970 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=9780299054403 |page=[https://archive.org/details/colonialgovernor0000heni/page/89 89] |language=en |quote=The British began to assume control over the rough desert region in extreme western India known as Baluchistan in the 1870s. |url-access=registration}}</ref> The fundamental objective of the British to enter into a treaty agreement with the Khanate of Kalat was to provide a passage and supplies to the "Army of Indus" on its way to Kandahar through Shikarpur, Jacobabad (Khangadh), Dhadar, Bolan Pass, Quetta, and Khojak Pass. It is interesting to note that the British imperialist interests in Balochistan were not primarily economic as was the case with other regions of India. Rather, it was of a military and geopolitical nature. Their basic objective in their advent in Balochistan was to station garrisons so as to defend the frontiers of British India from any threat coming from Iran and Afghanistan.<ref name="balochistan.gov.pk"/> |
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Messages were sent to [[Mir Ghulam Faruq]] of the [[Rudini tribe]], [[Sardar Mehrab Khan]], [[Sardar Mir Jumma]], [[Mir Wazir Khan Sanjrani]] of [[Chagai]], and several other chiefs. The propaganda campaign was to be carried out on two fronts: |
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(A) The National Cultural Front. |
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(B) The Religious Front. |
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Beginning from 1840, there began a general insurrection against the British rule throughout Balochistan. The Baloch were not ready to accept their country as part of an occupied Afghanistan and to be ruled under a puppet Khan. The powerful Mari tribe rose in total revolt. The British retaliated with excessive force, and a British contingent under the command of Major Brown on May 11, 1840, attacked the Mari headquarter of Kahan and occupied Kahan Fort and the surrounding areas (Masson, 1974). The Mari forces withdrew from the area, regrouped, and in an ambush wiped out a whole convoy of British troops near Filiji, killing more than one hundred British troops.<ref name="balochistan.gov.pk"/> |
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===Armed Struggle=== |
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During the time of the [[Indian independence movement]], "three pro-Congress parties were still active in Balochistan's politics", such as the [[Anjuman-i-Watan Baluchistan]], which [[Opposition to the partition of India|favoured a united India and opposed its partition]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Afzal |first1=M. Rafique |title=Pakistan: History and Politics 1947-1971 |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-579634-6 |page=40 |quote=Besides the Balochistan Muslim League, three pro-Congress parties were still active in Balochistan's politics: the Anjuman-i Watan, the Jamiatul Ulama u Hind, and the Qalat State National Party.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ranjan |first1=Amit |title=Partition of India: Postcolonial Legacies |date=2018 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780429750526 |language=en |quote=Furthermore, Congress leadership of Balochistan was united and there was no disagreement over its president, Samad Khan Achakzai. On the other hand, Qazi Isa was the president of the League in Balochistan. Surprisingly, he was neither a Balochi nor a Sardar. Consequently, all Sardars except Jaffar Khan Jamali, were against Qazi Isa for contesting this seat.}}</ref> |
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Besides the cultural and religious campaign, the Prince also organized a liberation force called the [[Baloch Mujahedeen]], consisting of the ex-soldiers and officers Of the Khanate’s army. The Prince was chosen as the supreme commander. |
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=== Post-colonial history === |
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The Prince issued an appeal to personages to help with the recruitment. A person recruiting 100 men was offered the rank of a major and a person recruiting 50 men was entitled to the rank of captain. The Baloch liberation army had a secret agency called ''[[Jannisar]]'' (devotee), whose duty was to provide information, destroy the communication system, and watch the activities of traitors. In addition to this, there was a secret unit ''[[Janbaz]]'' (darer), to kill all traitors. The ''Janbaz'' were subordinate to the ''Jannisar''. The headquarters of the agency was known as ''[[Bab-i-Aali]]'' (secret war-office) and headed by prince Karim. The total strength of Jannisar was recorded to be 30, while nothing is known about the strength of Janbaz. |
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{{Expand section|date=February 2023}} |
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Insurgencies took place in Pakistani Balochistan during 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and from 1973–1977. |
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===Soviets and Afghans=== |
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In 2021, there was an earthquake that killed dozens of people. This came to be known as the [[2021 Balochistan earthquake]]. There were other major earthquakes in 2013 ([[2013 Balochistan earthquake]] and [[2013 Saravan earthquake]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asian Disaster Reduction Center(ADRC) |url=https://www.adrc.asia/view_disaster_en.php?NationCode=&Lang=en&Key=2491 |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=www.adrc.asia |quote="A 5.9 magnitude quake struck Balochistan province, Pakistan at 03:01 am on 7 October 2021 local time at a depth of 20km. According to the Disaster Management Authority, at least 20 people were killed and about 300 injured."}}</ref>[[File:Baloch people (4).jpg|thumb|Baloch children photographed in [[Ashkutu]], [[Iran]], in March 2017]] |
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However, the Prince did not start a war of liberation because of Afghanistan’s refusal and the silence of the [[Soviet Union]] concerning assistance. During his stay in Sarlath, Prince Karim appointed [[Malik Saeed]] and [[Qadir Bakhsh Nizamani]] as his emissaries to contact the Afghan Government and to approach other embassies in order to get moral and material support. According to Nizamani, the Afghan authorities refused to provide any sort of help and told them either to reside as political refugees at Kandahar or to return. The Afghan authorities also refused to permit the rebel group to operate from Afghan soil. Nizamami informed the [[Iranian Embassy]] of the Baloch demands as well. Iranian diplomats showed their concern but did not offer any assistance, though they indicated their desire to provide, asylum to the rebel group in Iran. The last hope of the Prince’s representative was the Soviet Embassy. The Soviet diplomats listened to Nizamami carefully. Though they did not give any assurances, they did promise to inform [[Moscow]]. |
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The Afghans, since the rise of [[Ahmad Shah]], had treated Balochistan as a [[vassal state]] until the [[Baloch-Afghan war]] in 1758, when an agreement of ‘non-interference’ was signed between the parties. In the 19th century, Afghan rulers like [[Shuja]] and [[Amir Abdur-Rehman]] desired to occupy Balochistan. |
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In 1947, the Afghan Government demanded the creation of [[Pashtunistan]]. Stretching from chitral and Gilgit to the Baloch coast in the [[Arabian Sea]].The Afghan Government called Balochistan ‘South Pashtunistan’ in statements and publications. The Afghan expansionist |
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policy reflected the economic considerations of a landlocked state. At the same time, it was impossible for the Afghan Government to neglect its own national interests and to support the movement of an independent Greater Balochistan,which claimed the Baloch region in Afghanistan. Stalin did not pursue Lenin’s policy in the East. Moreover, government of the [[Soviet Union]] was not ready to annoy the Afghans or the British, opponents of an independent Balochistan. |
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== Culture == |
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===Prince Karim's Legitimacy outlawed=== |
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{{Main|Culture of Balochistan}} |
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{{See also|Balochi clothing|Baloch cuisine||Balochi rug}} |
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The cultural values which are the pillars of the Baloch individual and national identity were firmly established during the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, a period which not only brought sufferings for the Baloch and forced them into en masse migrations but also brought fundamental sociocultural transformation of the Baloch society. An overlapping of pastoral ecology and tribal structure had shaped contemporary Baloch social values. The [[Pastoralists and Graziers Association of Western Australia|pastoralist]] [[Nomad|nomadic]] way of life and the inclination to resist the assimilation attempts of various powerful ethnic identities shaped the peculiar Baloch ethnic identity. It was the persecution by strong and organized religions for the last two thousand years that has shaped their secular attitude about religion in social or community affairs. Their independent and stubborn behavior as the distinctive feature of the Baloch identity is consistent with their nomadic or agro-pastoral past.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-05-29 |title=Balochi Culture |url=https://www.pakpedia.pk/balochi-culture/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=History Pak |language=en-US}}</ref> |
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Meanwhile the Prince and his party were regarded as a rebel group by a [[Farman royal order]] issued by the Khan on [[24 May 1948]], stating that no connection of any sort with the Prince and his party should be maintained nor should they be helped with rations, and that if any member of the rebel group committed an offence, he would be punished. The Government of Pakistan moved the army to the military posts of Punjab. [[Chaman chashme]],and [[Rastri]] near the Afghan borders aiming to control the rebels’ rations, which were being sent by the pro-liberation elements, as well as to control their activities or any attempt to invade. The Pakistan authorities confirmed two clashes between the army and the liberation forces. |
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Med o Maraka, for resolution of disputes among the Baloch, is a much-honored tradition. In a broader context, it is, in a way, accepting the guilt by the accused or offender and asking for forgiveness from the affected party. Usually, the offender himself does this by going to the home of the affected person and asking for forgiveness.<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web |title=Baloch {{!}} people {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baloch |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> |
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To avoid popular unrest in Balochistan, the Khan sent his maternal uncles [[Hajji Ibrahim Khan]] and [[Hajji Taj Mohammed]] at Sarlath to bring Prince Karim back to Kalat. Khan made his return conditional . |
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The Prince and the liberation movement failed to achieve internal and external support. |
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Moreover, the Baloch nationalists were divided into two groups.[[Anqa]] and [[Malik Saeed]] favored armed struggle in the form of guerilla war, while [[Mir Ghous Bux Bizenjo]] and other prominent leaders wished to resolve all issues with dialogue. |
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[[Balochi clothing|Dress]] code and personal upkeeping are among the cultural values, which distinguish a Baloch from others. The Baloch dress and personal upkeeping very much resemble the [[Medes|Median]] and [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] ways. Surprisingly, no significant changes can be observed in the Balochi dress since the ancient times. A typical Balochi outfit consisted of loose-fitting and many-folded trousers held by garters, bobbed hair, shirt (''qamis''), and a head turban. Generally, both hair and beard were carefully curled, but, sometimes, they depended on long straight locks. A typical dress of a Baloch woman consists of a long frock and trouser (''[[Salwar|shalwaar]]'') with a headscarf.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Balochi culture dress |url=https://aboutpakistanidresses.blogspot.com/2019/04/balochi-culture-dress.html |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=Balochi culture dress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/balochracehistor00damerich/page/8/mode/2up |title=The Baloch race. A historical and ethnological sketch|date=1904 }}{{source-attribution}}</ref> |
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===The Return of Prince Karim=== |
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=== Music === |
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{{expand section|date=September 2017}} |
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The Prince was forced to return to the Khanate and negotiate for his demands peacefully. On [[8 July]] [[1948]], when the news of the Prince’s arrival reached Kalat, the Prime Minister,[[ Mr.Fell]], accompanied by a Kalat State Force, went to meet the Prince at Earboi to deliver the Khan’s message. |
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{{See also|Balochi music}} |
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[[Zahirok]] is one of the most important and well-known balochi song genres, often described as the “Balochi classical music” by the Baloch themselves.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1754254 |title=CULTURE: BUDDING LOVE FOR MUSIC|date=21 May 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/9219983 |title=Zahirok: The Musical Base of Baloch Minstrelsy |last1=Khan |first1=Badal }}</ref> |
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===His Capture=== |
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Instruments in traditional [[Balochi_Music|Balochi music]] include [[suroz]], [[donali]], [[ghaychak]], [[dohol]], [[sorna]], [[Rubab (instrument)|rubab]], [[kemenche]], tamburag and [[benju]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Frishkopf |first=Michael |date=2006 |title=Music of Makran: Traditional Fusion from Coastal Balochistan |url=https://sites.ualberta.ca/~michaelf/Makran |journal=Asian Music |publisher=University of Texas Press |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=164–171 |doi=10.1353/amu.2007.0002 |access-date=January 5, 2024 |via=[[University of Alberta]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Massoudieh |first=M. T. |date=2016-06-21 |title=BALUCHISTAN iv. Music of Baluchistan |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baluchistan-iv |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Regional Music|url=https://pakistanstudies-aips.org/node/61 |access-date=January 5, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khan |first=Badal |title=Zahirok: The Musical Base of Baloch Minstrelsy |url=https://www.academia.edu/9219983}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hafeez |first=Somaiyah |date=2023-01-01 |title=Baloch music through history and time |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2393692/baloch-music-through-history-and-time |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}</ref> |
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Abdul Karim entered Balochistan with Afghan help and organized a rebellion against Pakistan in the area of [[Jallawan]] with the aid of [[Mir Gohar Khan Zahrri]], an influential tribal leader of the [[Zarkzai clan]]. Further, it is stated that [[Major General Akbar Khan]], who was in charge of the [[Seventh Regiment]], was ordered to attack the insurgents and forced them to surrender. Prince Karim with his '''142''' followers were arrested and imprisoned in the [[Mach Central Jail|Mach]] and [[Quetta]] jails. |
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A detailed and interesting statement comes from General Akbar Khan, in his article published in the daily ‘Dawn’,dated [[14 August]] [[1960]], under the title: “Early reminiscences of a soldier’. General Akbar confirms here that there was a plan to invade the Khanate and describes the clash between the Pakistan army and the liberation force headed by Prince Karim. Akbar says that '''[[Jinnah]]''' had issued instructions that this news should not be published in the press. |
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== Religion == |
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===Trial and Sentencing=== |
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Historically, there is no documented evidence of religious practices of the Baloch in ancient times. Many among the Baloch writers observed that the persecutions of the Baloch by the Sassanid emperors [[Shapur II]] and [[Khosrow II]] had a strong religious or sectarian element. They believed that there are strong indications that the Baloch were the followers of Mazdakian and [[Manichaeism|Manichean]] sects of [[Zoroastrianism]] religion at the time of their fatal encounters with Sassanid forces. No elaborate structure of religious institutions has been discerned in the Baloch society during the Middle Ages. The Baloch [[Conversion to Islam|converted to Islam]] (nearly all Baloch belong to the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] sect of Islam) after the [[Early Muslim conquests|Arab conquest]] of Balochistan during the seventh century.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Is There an Ethno-religious Aspect in Balochi Identity? |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ic/20/3-4/article-p397_10.xml |access-date=2022-04-21 |journal=Iran and the Caucasus|date=19 December 2016 |volume=20 |issue=3–4 |pages=397–405 |doi=10.1163/1573384X-20160309 |last1=Boyajian |first1=Vahe S. }}</ref> |
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==Governance and political disputes== |
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After the arrest of the Prince and his party, the A.G.G. gave an order for an inquiry, to be conducted by [[Khan Sahib Abdullah Khan]], the Additional District Magistrate Quetta. He submitted his report on [[12 September]] [[1948]]. His report was based on the activities of the Prince and upon the letters and documents published by the liberation force. After the inquiry, R.K.Saker the District Magistrate at Quetta, appointed a special Jirga (official council of elders) consisting of the following persons: |
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{{Further|Insurgency in Balochistan|Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency}} |
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The Balochistan region is administratively divided among three countries, [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[Iran]]. The largest portion in area and population is in Pakistan, whose largest province (in land area) is [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]. An estimated 6.9 million of Pakistan's population is Baloch. In Iran there are about two million ethnic Baloch<ref name=g>{{cite news |last1=Grassi |first1=Daniele |date=20 October 2014 |title=Iran's Baloch insurgency and the IS |work=Asia Times |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-201014.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020195321/http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-201014.html <!--|url-status=unfit--> |archive-date=20 October 2014 |access-date=26 June 2015 }}</ref> and a majority of the population of the eastern [[Sistan and Baluchestan Province]] is of Baloch ethnicity. The Afghan portion of Balochistan includes the [[Chahar Burjak District]] of [[Nimruz Province]], and the [[Registan Desert]] in southern [[Helmand Province|Helmand]] and [[Kandahar Province|Kandahar]] provinces. The governors of Nimruz province in Afghanistan belong to the Baloch ethnic group. President [[Pervez Musharraf]] and the military are responsible for the worsening of the conflict in Balochistan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-05 |title=Ex-president Pervez Musharraf: From Pakistan military ruler to fugitive in murder cases |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/pakistan/pervez-musharraf-biography-8425000/ |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> |
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The Balochistan region has also experienced a number of insurgencies with separatist militants demanding independence of Baloch regions in the three countries to form "Greater Balochistan".<ref>{{cite news |title=Who are Baloch Liberation Army? Insurgents who killed 30 in Pakistan in last one week |url=https://theprint.in/theprint-essential/who-are-baloch-liberation-army-insurgents-who-killed-30-in-pakistan-in-last-one-week/368398/ |last1=Shukla |first1=Srijan |website=The Print (India) |date=20 February 2020 }}</ref> In Pakistan, insurgencies by separatist militants in Balochistan province have been fought in 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and 1973–1977, with a new ongoing low-intensity insurgency<ref name="global terror">{{cite news |title=US declares Pakistan's separatist Baluchistan Liberation Army as terrorist group |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/pakistan/us-declares-pakistans-separatist-baluchistan-liberation-army-as-terrorist-group-5812092/ |website=The Indian Express |date=3 July 2019 }}</ref> beginning in 2003.<ref name="Hussain-4-25-13">{{cite news|last1=Hussain|first1=Zahid|title=The battle for Balochistan|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/794058/the-battle-for-balochistan|access-date=22 June 2015|work=Dawn|date=Apr 25, 2013}}</ref> Historically, drivers of the conflict are reported to include "tribal divisions", the Baloch-Pashtun ethnic divisions, "marginalization by Punjabi interests", and |
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1) Khan Bahador Sahibzada, M.Ayub Khan Isakhel, Pakhtoon from [[Pishin]]; |
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"economic oppression".<ref name="kupecz-106">{{cite journal|last1=Kupecz|first1=Mickey|title=PAKISTAN'S BALOCH INSURGENCY: History, Conflict Drivers, and Regional Implications|journal=International Affairs Review|date=Spring 2012|volume=20|issue=3|page=106|url=http://www.iar-gwu.org/sites/default/files/articlepdfs/Pakistan%27s%20Baloch%20Insurgency.pdf|access-date=24 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701152435/http://www.iar-gwu.org/sites/default/files/articlepdfs/Pakistan's%20Baloch%20Insurgency.pdf|archive-date=1 July 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, over the years, insurgency waged by separatist militants declined as result of crackdown by Pakistani security forces, infighting among the separatist militants and assassinations of Baloch politicians willing to take part in Pakistan's democratic process by the separatist militants.<ref>{{cite news |title=Balochistan's Separatist Insurgency On The Wane Despite Recent Attack |url=https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/pakistan-balochistan-separatist-insurgency-on-the-wane-despite-recent-attack/29889887.html |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=18 April 2019}}</ref> Separatist militants in Pakistan demand more autonomy and a greater share in the region's natural resources. The Baloch population in Pakistan has endured grave violations of human rights, which include extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture. These actions are purportedly perpetrated by state security forces and their associates.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The untold story of human rights violations in Balochistan: Unveiling the historical context |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-the-untold-story-of-human-rights-violations-in-balochistan-unveiling-the-historical-context-3044953 |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=DNA India |language=en}}</ref> In 2019, United States declared [[Balochistan Liberation Army|Baloch Liberation Army]], one of the separatist militants fighting the [[government of Pakistan]], a global terrorist group.<ref name="global terror"/> |
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In Iran, separatist fighting has reportedly not gained as much ground as the conflict in Pakistan,<ref>Bhargava, G. S. "[http://www.asiantribune.com/node/5285 How Serious Is the Baluch Insurgency?]" ''Asian Tribune'' (April 12, 2007). Retrieved December 2, 2011.</ref> but has grown and become more sectarian since 2012,<ref name=g/> with the majority-Sunni Baloch showing a greater degree of [[Salafi movement|Salafist]] and [[Anti-Shi'ism|anti-Shia]] ideology in their fight against the Shia-Islamist [[Government of Iran|Iranian government]].<ref name=g/> Separatist militants fighting in Iran demand more rights for ethnic Baloch living in Iran's [[Sistan and Baluchestan Province]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Suicide Attack Kills 27 Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards |url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/suicide-attack-kills-20-members-of-iran-s-revolutionary-guards-1.6935754 |website=Haaretz |date=13 February 2019 }}</ref> |
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2) K.B. Baz Mohd Khan. Jogezai, Pakhtoon from [[Loralai]]; |
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==See also== |
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3) Abdul Ghaffar Khan Achakzai, Pakhtoon from [[Pishin]]; |
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*[[Mehrgarh]] |
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*[[Bolan Pass]] |
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*[[Seistan Force]] |
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*[[Baloch nationalism]] |
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==References== |
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4) S.B. Wadera Noor Muhammad Khan, a Baloch Chief from [[Kalat]]; |
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{{Reflist|30em}} |
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==Bibliography== |
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5) Syed Aurang Shah from [[Kalat]]; |
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*{{citation |last=Hansman |first=John |year=1973 |title=A Periplus of Magan and Meluhha |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=553–587 |jstor=613582 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00119858|s2cid=140709175 }} |
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*{{citation |last=Hansman |first=John |title=A further note on Magan and Meluhha (Notes and Communications) |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=609–610 |year=1975 |jstor=613711 |doi=10.1017/s0041977x00048126|s2cid=178684667 }} |
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*{{citation |last1=Parpola |first1=Asko |author1-link=Asko Parpola |first2=Simo |last2=Parpola |title=On the relationship of the Sumerian toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit mleccha |journal=Studia Orientalia |volume=46 |year=1975 |pages=205–238 |url=http://ojs.tsv.fi/index.php/StOrE/article/view/49874/14912}} |
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*{{citation |last=Parpola |first=Asko |author-link=Asko Parpola |title=The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_eykCQAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-022692-3}} |
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*{{citation |last=Tandon |first=Pankaj |title=New light on the Pāratarājas |url=http://people.bu.edu/ptandon/Paratarajas.pdf |journal=Numismatic Chronicle |volume=166 |year=2006 |pages=173–209 |jstor=42666407}} |
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*{{citation |last=Thapar |first=Romila |author-link=Romila Thapar |title=A Possible Identification of Meluḫḫa, Dilmun and Makan |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |volume=18 |pages=1–42 |number=1 |date=January 1975 |jstor=3632219 |doi=10.1163/156852075x00010}} |
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==Further reading== |
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6) Sheikh Baz Gul Khan. Pakhtoon from [[Zhob]]; |
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* {{EI3|last=Axmann|first=Martin|title=Baluchistan and the Baluch people|year=2019|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/baluchistan-and-the-baluch-people-COM_25188?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=baluch}} |
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*{{ill|Philippe Fabry|lt=Fabry, Philippe|fr}} (1991) ''Balouchistan, le désert insoumis'', Paris, Nathan Image, 136 p., ISBN 2-09-240036-3 |
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7) Wahab Khan Panezai, Pakhtoon from [[Sibi]]; |
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8) Sardar Doda Khan Marri, Baloch from [[Sibi]]. |
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The [[Jirga]] was instructed to study the circumstances and events which led to the revolt and was asked to give its recommendations to the District Magistrate. On [[10 November 1948]], the Jirga heard the testimony of the accused and gave its recommendations to the D.M. on [[17 November 1948]], suggesting the delivery of the Prince in Loralai at the pleasure of the Government of Pakistan and various other penalties. The D .M., in his order dated [[27 November 1948]], differed with the opinion of the Jirga and [[sentenced]] the Prince to [[ten years of rigorous imprisonment]] and a fine of [[Rs 5000]] other members of his party were given various sentences and fines. Thus the Pakistan Government crushed the first armed struggle by Balochi insurgents. |
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==Second Baloch National Resistance of 1968== |
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[[Image:Noroze_Khan.jpg|thumb|200px|Nowroz Khan; Baloch Resistance tribal Chief in 1968]] |
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Nawab Nauroz or '''Nowroz Khan''', commonly known by Balochs as Babu Nowroz, was the head of the Zarakzai tribes of Balochistan. He started an armed struggle against Pakistan. He later surrendered to Lt.Col [[Tikka Khan]] (later General of the Pakistani army) while he came for negotiations to the army. He and his followers, including his sons and nephews, were taken to Hyderabad Jail, where his sons and nephews were executed for armed rebellion against the State, while due to his old age he was held in prison, where he later passed away at the age of 90. |
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==Balochistan Rebellion During the 70s== |
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Infamous period in [[Pakistan]] history and second only to Civil War of 1971 and loss of [[East Pakistan]] ([[Bangladesh]]). |
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the National Awami Party led by “nationalists” [[Ghaus Bux Bizenjo]], Sardar [[Ataullah Mengal]], [[Khair Bux Marri]], [[Nawab Akbar khan Bugti]] and [[Khan Wali Khan]] dominated Balochistan and the NWFP. At the time, even the Jamiat i Ulema i Islam of Maulana Mufti Mahmud (father of Maulana Fazlur Rehman) thought fit to join hands with the nationalists to espouse the provincial cause. |
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[[Image:AntistateBaloch.jpg|right|thumb|(L-R) Mir Ghaus Bux Bizenjo, Mir Gul Khan Nasir, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti being produced before Trial Judges on charges of Anti-State activities;Courtesy The Dawn, Karachi]] |
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Emboldened by the stand taken by [[Sheikh Mujib]], the Baloch and Pashtun nationalists demanded their ‘provincial rights’ from Mr Bhutto in exchange for approving the 1973 constitution consensually. But while Mr Bhutto conceded the NWFP and Balochistan to a NAP-JUI coalition, he refused to play ball with the provincial governments led by chief minister [[Ataullah Mengal]] in Quetta and [[Mufti Mahmud]] in Peshawar. Tensions erupted. |
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Within six months, the federal government had sacked the two provincial governments, arrested the two chief ministers, two governors and forty-four MNAs and MPAs, obtained an order from the Supreme Court banning the NAP and charged everyone with high treason to be tried by a specially constituted [[Hyderabad Tribunal]] of handpicked judges. In time, a nationalist insurgency erupted and sucked the army into the province, pitting the Baloch tribal middle classes against Islamabad. |
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[[Image:Tribunal.jpg|100px|left|thumb|Hyderabad Central Jail Court Room [[15 April]] [[1976]] Baloch Leaders Being charge sheeted, Mir Ghous Bux Bizenjo and Nawab Khair Bux Marri are sitting 2nd and 3rd from right. Sardar Ataullah Mengal is seen in back rows; Courtesy The Dawn, Karachi]] |
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The 1970s revolt of the Baloch, which manifested itself in the form of an armed struggle against the Pakistan army in [[Balochistan]], was provoked by federal impatience, high handedness and undemocratic constitutional deviation. [[Mir Hazar Khan Marri]] lead the Baluch libration movement under the nick named organization [BPLF] which was known as '''Baluchistan peoples libration front'''.Then BPLF was froced to move to Afghanistan along with thousands of his supporters today Baluch fighters are fighting under the nick name BLA, BLM,BLO,etc. |
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The modern Pakistani [[Baluchistan, Pakistan|province of Baluchistan]] comprises a part of Baluchistan. In Iran, there is the [[Sistan and Baluchistan]] province.The irony was that [[Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti]] served to help the federal government when he was appointed as [[Governor]] of Balochistan by Mr [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] throughout the time of the insurgency and spoke not a word in favor of Baloch rights or provincial autonomy.The greater irony was that the insurgency came to an end following the army coup of General [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq]] against the civilian government of Mr. Bhutto. |
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Soon thereafter, Gen Zia unfolded plans to desensitize the alienated Baloch and Pashtun leadership by a multi-faceted strategy aimed at co-opting the leaders into office while providing jobs and funds in the federal government to the alienated and insecure tribal middle classes. More significantly, he created maximum political space for the mullah parties in the NWFP and Balochistan so that they could be galvanized in the jihad against the [[USSR]] in neighboring [[Afghanistan]]. |
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Divided, fatigued and shorn of ideological moorings or avowed enemies like ZA Bhutto, the Baloch “movement” melted into memory over the next two decades. |
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==Revival of Struggle for Provincial Rights== |
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The single most critical macro factor is the social and electoral engineering initiated by the military regime of President [[Pervez Musharaf]]. By sidelining the mainstream PPP and PMLN parties and their natural “progressive” allies like the [[Awami National Party|ANP]], [[BNP]] and others in favor of the mullahs of the [[Jama’at i Islami]] and [[Jamiat i Ulema i Islam]], General [[Musharraf]] has alienated the old non-religious tribal leadership as well as the new secular urban middle classes of [[Balochistan]] who see no economic or political space for themselves in the new military-mullah dispensation. |
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Similarly, by undermining the cause of provincial autonomy at the altar of local and federal government, the military regime has threatened the very roots of the constitutional consensus of 1973 enshrined in the Baloch consciousness. |
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Balochistan remains a backwater province, infested by Taliban-type mullahs and corrupt, opportunist politicians and Tribal Chiefs, all beholden to the military regime in Islamabad. |
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The “Baloch Liberation Army” comprising a few bandits under tribal and middle class command is conducting terrorist operations. [[Gwadar]] is an obvious target. |
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==Military cantonments Issue== |
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The military cantonments planned at Gwadar, Dera Bugti and Kohlu (the capital of the Marri tribal lands) are viewed as outposts of repression and control, not development. The corrupt Frontier Corps is thoroughly hated and despised as a federal instrument of oppression. With the mad mullahs rampaging in much of Balochistan and defying the writ of the government, the rise of incipient armed nationalism poses a grave challenge to the stability and security of Pakistan. |
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Army helicopters strafed and bombed a strip of land between Turbat and Gwadar in [[Makran]] district where [[Baloch insurgents]] who had rocketed Gwadar earlier were thought to be holed in. In retaliation, an army truck was ambushed in [[Khuzdar]] last week, leaving five soldiers dead. Later the puppet chief minister of the province, [[Jam Yusuf]], narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on his life. |
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Two days ago, the government retaliated by registering cases of murder against 12 people including a former chief minister of the province, [[Sardar Akhtar Mengal]] s/o Sardar [[Ataullah Mengal]] (also a former chief minister who was sacked and arrested in his time), and the secretary general of his [[Balochistan Nationalist Party]]. |
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The federal interior minister, Mr [[Faisal Saleh Hayat]], has warned the agitating Baloch tribesmen that the government is poised to launch a ‘crash program' against ‘subversive elements’ in the province. |
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A hastily formed four-party Baloch alliance, led by the [[Bugti]] and [[Mengal]] groups in [[Quetta]], has condemned the spate of arrests of Baloch nationalists in [[Turbat]], [[Gwadar]], [[Kalat]], [[Dera Bugti]], [[Kohlu]] and [[Nushki]]. They have been joined by the [[‘oppressed nations movement’]] (PONM). Together they are accusing [[Islamabad]] of having launched an ‘unannounced military operation’ in Balochistan in which over 200 activists of the various nationalist parties have been unjustly detained. |
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==Old Grievances== |
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[[Sui]] gas has never benefited the people of Balochistan; Gwadar is in the clutches of a land-grab [[mafia]] from [[Punjab]]; the federal government earns billions from gas in the province but gives only a fraction of that back to it for development; provincial autonomy promised in the 1973 constitution is non-existent, etc. |
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The fact is that [[Balochistan]] remains a neglected backwater of Pakistan. Its politics has been ideologised and factionalised by federal interference and meddling in pursuit of dubious strategic regional interests. Its drought-stricken pastoral economy cannot even provide for its small population. This state of affairs has lasted fifty-seven years. No federal government has ever thought of bringing development to Balochistan and talk of [[tribal chiefs]] obstructing progress is being called nonsense by the Balochs. Past neglect has now strengthened the ranks of the nationalists and increased their clout. |
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The danger in Balochistan is two-fold. The nascent but alienated middle class in the few towns of Balochistan is now rallying behind the nationalists and accepts the ‘sardars’ spearheading '''PONM''' as ‘genuine leaders’ At the same time, the developmental lag in the province is sufficient to substantiate the anti-center stance of PONM. That is why any military action in the province will completely lack local support. |
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The other destabilizing factor relates to the ongoing battle against the [[Taliban]]-[[Al Qaeda]] combine. The [[Pashtuns]] in Balochistan also have serious problems with the federal government’s policy on the [[Pak-Afghan ]]frontier. This could be troublesome since Pashtun nationalism has also been responsible for the internationally reported presence of the Taliban in the province. |
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== Development Projects == |
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Mega development projects are going on in Balochistan. Like [[Gwadar]] deep sea port. This will bring prosperity and employment to Balochistani people. [[Coastal Highway]] which is constructed on coast line between [[Gwadar]] and [[Karachi]], which has reduced traveling time considerably. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{Sister project links|Balochistan}} |
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*[http://www.bdd.sdnpk.org/map%20of%20balochistan.html Balochistan District Maps,information and Background] |
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*[https://www.wdl.org/en/item/11749/#q=Balochistan Baluchistan] is a map published by [[The Century Company]] |
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*[http://mehrgarh.webpal.info/mehrgarh/ Mehrgarh (Balochistan)] |
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*[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2676 Afghanistan, Beloochistan, etc.] is a map from 1893 published by the American Methodist Church |
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*http://www.balochvoice.com |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150614012814/http://balochistanarchives.gob.pk/ Balochistan Archives- Preserving our Past] |
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*http://www.balochistan.org.pk |
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*http://www.balochistan.org |
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*[http://isowba.blogspirit.com ISOWBA (Intelligence and Special Operations Wing of Balochistan Army] |
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*[http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/papa/pakistan1973.htm Balochistan insurgency of 1973-1977] |
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{{Districts of Balochistan (Pakistan)}} |
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[[Category:Geography of Afghanistan]] |
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{{Baloch nationalism}} |
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[[Category:Geography of Iran]] |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:Geography of Pakistan]] |
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{{Coord|27|25|N|64|30|E|type:landmark_dim:1000000|display=title}} |
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[[Category:Balochistan| ]] |
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[[da:Baluchistan]] |
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[[Category:Historical regions of Iran]] |
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[[de:Belutschistan]] |
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[[Category:Regions of Afghanistan]] |
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[[es:Baluchistán]] |
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[[Category:Regions of Pakistan]] |
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[[fa:بلوچستان پاکستان]] |
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[[Category:Geography of South Asia]] |
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[[fr:Balouchistan]] |
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[[Category:Geography of West Asia]] |
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[[nl:Beloetsjistan]] |
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[[Category:Baloch culture]] |
Revision as of 08:43, 16 June 2024
Balochistan
بلۏچستان | |
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![]() | |
![]() Balochistan map 1758-1794 | |
Countries | |
Population (2013) | |
• Total | c. 18–19 million[1][2][3] |
Demographics | |
• Ethnic groups | Baloch, Pashtuns,Hazara, Sindhi |
• Languages | Balochi Minor: Brahui, Jadgali, Dehwari, Pashto, Lasi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Hazaragi, Khetrani |
Largest cities |
Balochistan[4] (/bəˈloʊtʃɪstɑːn, bəˌloʊtʃɪˈstɑːn, -stæn/ bə-LOHTCH-ist-a(h)n, -A(H)N; Balochi: بلۏچستان, romanized: Balòcestàn, IPA: [baˈloːt͡ʃest̪ɑːn]), also spelled Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of desert and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic Baloch people.[5][6][7]
The Balochistan region is split among three countries: Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Administratively it comprises the Pakistani province of Balochistan, the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and the southern areas of Afghanistan, which include Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces.[8][9] It borders the Khyber Paktunkhwa region to the north, Sindh and Punjab to the east, and Iranian regions to the west. Its southern coastline, including the Makran Coast, is washed by the Arabian Sea, in particular by its western part, the Gulf of Oman.
Etymology
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Balochi-speakers_by_Pakistani_District_-_2017_Census.svg/350px-Balochi-speakers_by_Pakistani_District_-_2017_Census.svg.png)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Brahui-speakers_by_Pakistani_District_-_2017_Census.svg/350px-Brahui-speakers_by_Pakistani_District_-_2017_Census.svg.png)
The name "Balochistan" is generally believed to derive from the name of the Baloch people.[8] Since the Baloch people are not mentioned in pre-Islamic sources, it is likely that the Baloch were known by some other name in their place of origin and that they acquired the name "Baloch" only after arriving in Balochistan sometime in the 10th century.[10]
Johan Hansman relates the term "Baloch" to Meluḫḫa, the name by which the Indus Valley civilisation is believed to have been known to the Sumerians (2900–2350 BCE) and Akkadians (2334–2154 BCE) in Mesopotamia.[11] Meluḫḫa disappears from the Mesopotamian records at the beginning of the second millennium BCE.[12] However, Hansman states that a trace of it in a modified form, as Baluḫḫu, was retained in the names of products imported by the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BCE).[13] Al-Muqaddasī, who visited the capital of Makran, Bannajbur, wrote c. 985 CE that it was populated by people called Balūṣī (Baluchi), leading Hansman to postulate "Baluch" as a modification of Meluḫḫa and Baluḫḫu.[14]
Asko Parpola relates the name Meluḫḫa to Indo-Aryan words mleccha (Sanskrit) and milakkha/milakkhu (Pali) etc., which do not have an Indo-European etymology even though they were used to refer to non-Aryan people. Taking them to be proto-Dravidian in origin, he interprets the term as meaning either a proper name milu-akam (from which tamilakam was derived when the Indus people migrated south) or melu-akam, meaning "high country", a possible reference to Balochistani high lands.[15] Historian Romila Thapar also interprets Meluḫḫa as a proto-Dravidian term, possibly mēlukku, and suggests the meaning "western extremity" (of the Dravidian-speaking regions in the Indian subcontinent). A literal translation into Sanskrit, aparānta, was later used to describe the region by the Indo-Aryans.[16]
During the time of Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE), the Greeks called the land Gedrosia and its people Gedrosoi, terms of unknown origin.[17] Using etymological reasoning, H. W. Bailey reconstructs a possible Iranian name, uadravati, meaning "the land of underground channels", which could have been transformed to badlaut in the 9th century and further to balōč in later times. This reasoning remains speculative.[18]
History
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Baluch_mid_19th_C..jpeg/220px-Baluch_mid_19th_C..jpeg)
The earliest evidence of human occupation in what is now Balochistan is dated to the Paleolithic era. Evidence includes hunting camps, lithic scatter, and chipped and flaked stone tools. The earliest settled villages in the region date to the ceramic Neolithic (c. 7000–6000 BCE) and included the site of Mehrgarh in the Kachi Plain. These villages expanded in size during the subsequent Chalcolithic when interaction was amplified. This involved the movement of finished goods and raw materials, including chank shell, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and ceramics. By 2500 BCE (the Bronze Age), the region now known as Pakistani Balochistan had become part of the Indus Valley civilization cultural orbit,[19] providing key resources to the expansive settlements of the Indus river basin to the east.
Classical period
From the 1st century to the 3rd century CE, the region was ruled by the Pāratarājas (lit. "Pārata Kings"), a dynasty of Indo-Parthian kings. The dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the Pāradas of the Mahabharata, the Puranas and other Vedic and Iranian sources.[20] The Parata kings are primarily known through their coins, which typically exhibit the bust of the ruler (with long hair in a headband) on the obverse, and a swastika within a circular legend on the reverse, written in Brahmi (usually silver coins) or Kharoshthi (copper coins). These coins are mainly found in Loralai in today's western Pakistan.
During the wars between Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) and Emperor Darius III (336-330 BCE), the Baloch were allied with the last Achaemenid emperor. According to Shustheri (1925), Darius III, after much hesitation, assembled an army at Arbela to counter the army of invading Greeks. His cousin Besius was the commander, leading the horsemen from Balkh. Berzanthis was the commander of the Baloch forces, Okeshthra was the commander of the forces from Khuzistan, Maseus was the commander of the Syrian and Egyptian contingent, Ozbed was the commander of the Medes, and Phirthaphirna was leading the Sakas and forces from Tabaristan, Gurgan, and Khurasan. Obviously, as part of a losing side, the Baloch certainly got their share of punishment from the victorious Macedonian forces.[21]
Herodotus in 450 BCE described the Paraitakenoi as a tribe ruled by Deiokes, a Persian king, in northwestern Persia (History I.101). Arrian describes how Alexander the Great encountered the Pareitakai in Bactria and Sogdiana, and had them conquered by Craterus (Anabasis Alexandrou IV). The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) describes the territory of the Paradon beyond the Ommanitic region, on the coast of modern Balochistan.[22]
Medieval period
During the reign of Arab dynasties, medieval Iran suffered the onslaught of Ghaznavids, Mongols, Timurids, and the incursions of Guzz Turks. The relationship between the Baloch and nearly all these powers were hostile, and the Baloch suffered enormously during this long period. The Baloch encounters with these powers and the subsequent Baloch miseries forced the Baloch tribes to move from the areas of conflicts and to settle in the farflung and inaccessible regions. The bloody conflicts with Buyids and Seljuqs were instrumental in waves of migration by the Baloch tribes from Kerman to further east.[23]
The Hindu Sewa Dynasty ruled parts of Balochistan, chiefly Kalat.[24][25] The Sibi Division, which was carved out of Quetta Division and Kalat Division in 1974, derives its name from Rani Sewi, the queen of the Sewa dynasty.[26]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/1730_Ottens_Map_of_Persia_%28Iran%2C_Iraq%2C_Turkey%29_-_Geographicus_-_RegnumPersicum-ottens-1730_%28Mecran%29.jpg/220px-1730_Ottens_Map_of_Persia_%28Iran%2C_Iraq%2C_Turkey%29_-_Geographicus_-_RegnumPersicum-ottens-1730_%28Mecran%29.jpg)
The region was fully Islamized by the 9th century and became part of the territory of the Saffarids of Zaranj, followed by the Ghaznavids, then the Ghorids. The relation between the Ghaznavids and the Baloch had never been peaceful. Turan and Makuran came under the Ghaznavids founder Sebuktegin's suzerainty as early as 976-977 CE (Bosworth, 1963). The Baloch tribes fought against Sebuktegin when he attacked Khuzdar in 994. The Baloch were in the army of Saffarids Amir Khalaf and fought against Mahmud when the Ghaznavids forces invaded Sistan in 1013 (Muir, 1924). Many other occasions were mentioned by the historians of the Ghaznavids era in which the Baloch came into confrontation with the Ghaznavids forces (Nizam al-Mulk, 1960).[27]
There are only passing references of Baloch encounters with the Mongol hordes. In one of the classical Balochi ballads, there is mention of a Baloch chieftain, Shah Baloch, who, no doubt, heroically resisted a Mongol advance somewhere in Sistan.[citation needed]
During the long period of en masse migrations, the Baloch were traveling through settled territories, and it could not have been possible to survive simply as wandering nomads. Perpetual migrations, hostile attitudes of other tribes and rulers, and adverse climactic conditions ruined much of their cattle breeding. Settled agriculture became a necessity for the survival of herds and an increased population. They began to combine settled agriculture with animal husbandry. The Baloch tribes now consisted of sedentary and nomadic population, a composition that remained an established feature of the Baloch tribes until recently.[28]
The Khanate of Kalat was the first unified polity to emerge in the history of Balochistan.[29] It took birth from the confederacy of nomadic Brahui tribes native to the central Balochistan in 1666[30] which under Mir Ahmad Khan I declared independence from the Mughal suzeraignty[29] and slowly absorbed the Baloch principalities in the region.[30] It was ruled over by the Brahui Ahmadzai dynasty till 1948.[31][32] Ahmad Shah Durrani made it vassal of the Afghan Durrani Empire in 1749. In 1758 the Khan of Kalat, Mir Naseer Khan I, revolted against Ahmed Shah Durrani, defeated him, and made his Khanate independent from the Durrani Empire.
Tribalism and nomadism
Baloch tribalism in medieval times was synonymous with pastoral nomadism. Nomadic people, as observed by Heape (1931), regard themselves as the superior of sedentary or agriculturist. It is, perhaps, because the occupation of nomads made them strong, active, and inured to hardship and the dangers which beset a mobile life.[33]
The areas of Balochistan where the Baloch tribes moved in had a sedentary population, and the Baloch tribes were compelled to deal with their sedentary neighbors. Being in a weaker position, the Baloch tribes were in need of constant vigils for their survival in new lands. To deal with this problem, they began to make alliances and organized themselves into a more structured way. The structural solution to this problem was to create tribal confederacies or unions. Thus, in conditions of insecurity and disorder or when threatened by a predatory regional authority or a hostile central government, several tribal communities would form a cluster around a chief who had demonstrated his ability to offer protection and security.[33]
British occupation
The British took over the area[which?] in 1839.[34]
In the 1870s, Baluchistan came under control of the British Indian Empire in colonial India.[35] The fundamental objective of the British to enter into a treaty agreement with the Khanate of Kalat was to provide a passage and supplies to the "Army of Indus" on its way to Kandahar through Shikarpur, Jacobabad (Khangadh), Dhadar, Bolan Pass, Quetta, and Khojak Pass. It is interesting to note that the British imperialist interests in Balochistan were not primarily economic as was the case with other regions of India. Rather, it was of a military and geopolitical nature. Their basic objective in their advent in Balochistan was to station garrisons so as to defend the frontiers of British India from any threat coming from Iran and Afghanistan.[34]
Beginning from 1840, there began a general insurrection against the British rule throughout Balochistan. The Baloch were not ready to accept their country as part of an occupied Afghanistan and to be ruled under a puppet Khan. The powerful Mari tribe rose in total revolt. The British retaliated with excessive force, and a British contingent under the command of Major Brown on May 11, 1840, attacked the Mari headquarter of Kahan and occupied Kahan Fort and the surrounding areas (Masson, 1974). The Mari forces withdrew from the area, regrouped, and in an ambush wiped out a whole convoy of British troops near Filiji, killing more than one hundred British troops.[34]
During the time of the Indian independence movement, "three pro-Congress parties were still active in Balochistan's politics", such as the Anjuman-i-Watan Baluchistan, which favoured a united India and opposed its partition.[36][37]
Post-colonial history
Insurgencies took place in Pakistani Balochistan during 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and from 1973–1977.
In 2021, there was an earthquake that killed dozens of people. This came to be known as the 2021 Balochistan earthquake. There were other major earthquakes in 2013 (2013 Balochistan earthquake and 2013 Saravan earthquake).[38]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Baloch_people_%284%29.jpg/220px-Baloch_people_%284%29.jpg)
Culture
The cultural values which are the pillars of the Baloch individual and national identity were firmly established during the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, a period which not only brought sufferings for the Baloch and forced them into en masse migrations but also brought fundamental sociocultural transformation of the Baloch society. An overlapping of pastoral ecology and tribal structure had shaped contemporary Baloch social values. The pastoralist nomadic way of life and the inclination to resist the assimilation attempts of various powerful ethnic identities shaped the peculiar Baloch ethnic identity. It was the persecution by strong and organized religions for the last two thousand years that has shaped their secular attitude about religion in social or community affairs. Their independent and stubborn behavior as the distinctive feature of the Baloch identity is consistent with their nomadic or agro-pastoral past.[39]
Med o Maraka, for resolution of disputes among the Baloch, is a much-honored tradition. In a broader context, it is, in a way, accepting the guilt by the accused or offender and asking for forgiveness from the affected party. Usually, the offender himself does this by going to the home of the affected person and asking for forgiveness.[40]
Dress code and personal upkeeping are among the cultural values, which distinguish a Baloch from others. The Baloch dress and personal upkeeping very much resemble the Median and Parthian ways. Surprisingly, no significant changes can be observed in the Balochi dress since the ancient times. A typical Balochi outfit consisted of loose-fitting and many-folded trousers held by garters, bobbed hair, shirt (qamis), and a head turban. Generally, both hair and beard were carefully curled, but, sometimes, they depended on long straight locks. A typical dress of a Baloch woman consists of a long frock and trouser (shalwaar) with a headscarf.[41][42]
Music
Zahirok is one of the most important and well-known balochi song genres, often described as the “Balochi classical music” by the Baloch themselves.[43][44]
Instruments in traditional Balochi music include suroz, donali, ghaychak, dohol, sorna, rubab, kemenche, tamburag and benju.[45][46][47][48][49]
Religion
Historically, there is no documented evidence of religious practices of the Baloch in ancient times. Many among the Baloch writers observed that the persecutions of the Baloch by the Sassanid emperors Shapur II and Khosrow II had a strong religious or sectarian element. They believed that there are strong indications that the Baloch were the followers of Mazdakian and Manichean sects of Zoroastrianism religion at the time of their fatal encounters with Sassanid forces. No elaborate structure of religious institutions has been discerned in the Baloch society during the Middle Ages. The Baloch converted to Islam (nearly all Baloch belong to the Sunni sect of Islam) after the Arab conquest of Balochistan during the seventh century.[50]
Governance and political disputes
The Balochistan region is administratively divided among three countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. The largest portion in area and population is in Pakistan, whose largest province (in land area) is Balochistan. An estimated 6.9 million of Pakistan's population is Baloch. In Iran there are about two million ethnic Baloch[51] and a majority of the population of the eastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province is of Baloch ethnicity. The Afghan portion of Balochistan includes the Chahar Burjak District of Nimruz Province, and the Registan Desert in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces. The governors of Nimruz province in Afghanistan belong to the Baloch ethnic group. President Pervez Musharraf and the military are responsible for the worsening of the conflict in Balochistan.[52]
The Balochistan region has also experienced a number of insurgencies with separatist militants demanding independence of Baloch regions in the three countries to form "Greater Balochistan".[53] In Pakistan, insurgencies by separatist militants in Balochistan province have been fought in 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and 1973–1977, with a new ongoing low-intensity insurgency[54] beginning in 2003.[55] Historically, drivers of the conflict are reported to include "tribal divisions", the Baloch-Pashtun ethnic divisions, "marginalization by Punjabi interests", and "economic oppression".[56] However, over the years, insurgency waged by separatist militants declined as result of crackdown by Pakistani security forces, infighting among the separatist militants and assassinations of Baloch politicians willing to take part in Pakistan's democratic process by the separatist militants.[57] Separatist militants in Pakistan demand more autonomy and a greater share in the region's natural resources. The Baloch population in Pakistan has endured grave violations of human rights, which include extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture. These actions are purportedly perpetrated by state security forces and their associates.[58] In 2019, United States declared Baloch Liberation Army, one of the separatist militants fighting the government of Pakistan, a global terrorist group.[54]
In Iran, separatist fighting has reportedly not gained as much ground as the conflict in Pakistan,[59] but has grown and become more sectarian since 2012,[51] with the majority-Sunni Baloch showing a greater degree of Salafist and anti-Shia ideology in their fight against the Shia-Islamist Iranian government.[51] Separatist militants fighting in Iran demand more rights for ethnic Baloch living in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province.[60]
See also
References
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- ^ Afghanistan, The World Factbook . Retrieved December 5, 2009.
- ^ Central Intelligence Agency (2013). "The World Factbook: Ethnic Groups". Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ^ Other variations of the spelling, especially on French maps, include Beloutchistan and Baloutchistan also Baloch Land.
- ^ Dashti, Naseer (October 2012). The Baloch and Balochistan: A Historical Account from the Beginning to the Fall of the Baloch State. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4669-5896-8.
- ^ Ahmed, Manzoor; Khan, Gulawar (22 September 2020). "The History of Baloch and Balochistan: A Critical Appraisal". South Asian Studies. 32 (1 (2017)) – via University of the Punjab.
- ^ Dames, Mansel Longworth (1904). The Baloch Race: A Historical and Ethnological Sketch. Royal Asiatic Society.
- ^ a b Pillalamarri, Akhilesh (12 February 2016). "A Brief History of Balochistan". thediplomat.com. THE DIPLOMAT. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- ^ "Human Rights in Balochistan: A Case Study in Failure and Invisibility". HuffPost. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- ^ Elfenbein, J. (1988), "Baluchistan iii. Baluchi Language and Literature", Encyclopaedia Iranica
- ^ Parpola 2015, Ch. 17: "The identification of Meluhha with the Greater Indus Valley is now almost universally accepted."
- ^ Hansman 1973, p. 564.
- ^ Hansman 1973, p. 565.
- ^ Hansman 1973, pp. 568–569.
- ^ Parpola & Parpola 1975, pp. 217–220.
- ^ Thapar 1975, p. 10.
- ^ Bevan, Edwyn Robert (12 November 2015), The House of Seleucus, Cambridge University Press, p. 272, ISBN 978-1-108-08275-4
- ^ Hansman 1973, Appendix C. Gadrōsia, by H. W. Bailey
- ^ Doshi, Riddhi (17 May 2015). "What did Harappans eat, how did they look? Haryana has the answers". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2015.
- ^ Tandon 2006, p. 183.
- ^ "Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ Tandon 2006, pp. 201–202.
- ^ Pillalamarri, Akhilesh. "A Brief History of Balochistan". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ Fowle, T. C.; Rai, Diwan Jamiat (1923). Baluchistan. Directorate of Archives, Government of Balochistan. p. 100.
The Hindus of Kalat town may indeed be far more indigenous since they claim descent from the ancient Sewa dynasty that ruled Kalat long before the Brahui came to Baluchistan.
- ^ Balochistan Through the Ages: Geography and history. Nisa Traders. 1979. p. 316.
The country up to and including Multan was conquered by the Arabs and the Hindu dynasty of Sind and probably also the Sewa dynasty of Kalat came to an end.
- ^ Quddus, Syed Abdul (1990). The Tribal Baluchistan. Ferozsons. p. 49. ISBN 978-969-0-10047-4.
The Sibi division was carved out of the Quetta and Kalat Divisions in April, 1974, and comprises districts of Sibi, Kachhi, Nasirabad, Kohlu and Dera Bugti. The Division derives its name from the town of Sibi or Sewi. The local tradition attributes the origin of this name to Rani Sewi of the Sewa dynasty which ruled this part of the country in ancient times.
- ^ "The Regions of Sind, Baluchistan, Multan and Kashmir: the Historical, Social and Economic Setting | Programme des Routes de la Soie". fr.unesco.org. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ "Engaged review of contemporary art and thought". www.nakedpunch.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ a b "Brahui". Encyclopedia Irannica.
- ^ a b Minahan, James (2012). Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-659-1.
- ^ "Mastung > History of district". Retrieved 28 June 2021.
The Brahui Khans of Qalat were dominant from the 17th century onwards until the arrival of the British in the 19th century.
- ^ Siddiqi, Farhan Hanif (2012). The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-415-68614-3.
The Brahui Khanate of Kalat sits at the apex of...
- ^ a b "Gale - Institution Finder". galeapps.gale.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ a b c "History – Government of Balochistan". Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ Henige, David P. (1970). Colonial Governors from the Fifteenth Century to the Present: A Comprehensive List. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780299054403.
The British began to assume control over the rough desert region in extreme western India known as Baluchistan in the 1870s.
- ^ Afzal, M. Rafique (2001). Pakistan: History and Politics 1947-1971. Oxford University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-19-579634-6.
Besides the Balochistan Muslim League, three pro-Congress parties were still active in Balochistan's politics: the Anjuman-i Watan, the Jamiatul Ulama u Hind, and the Qalat State National Party.
- ^ Ranjan, Amit (2018). Partition of India: Postcolonial Legacies. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780429750526.
Furthermore, Congress leadership of Balochistan was united and there was no disagreement over its president, Samad Khan Achakzai. On the other hand, Qazi Isa was the president of the League in Balochistan. Surprisingly, he was neither a Balochi nor a Sardar. Consequently, all Sardars except Jaffar Khan Jamali, were against Qazi Isa for contesting this seat.
- ^ "Asian Disaster Reduction Center(ADRC)". www.adrc.asia. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
A 5.9 magnitude quake struck Balochistan province, Pakistan at 03:01 am on 7 October 2021 local time at a depth of 20km. According to the Disaster Management Authority, at least 20 people were killed and about 300 injured.
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- ^ Frishkopf, Michael (2006). "Music of Makran: Traditional Fusion from Coastal Balochistan". Asian Music. 37 (2). University of Texas Press: 164–171. doi:10.1353/amu.2007.0002. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via University of Alberta.
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Bibliography
- Hansman, John (1973), "A Periplus of Magan and Meluhha", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 36 (3): 553–587, doi:10.1017/S0041977X00119858, JSTOR 613582, S2CID 140709175
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- Parpola, Asko; Parpola, Simo (1975), "On the relationship of the Sumerian toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit mleccha", Studia Orientalia, 46: 205–238
- Parpola, Asko (2015), The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-022692-3
- Tandon, Pankaj (2006), "New light on the Pāratarājas" (PDF), Numismatic Chronicle, 166: 173–209, JSTOR 42666407
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Further reading
- Axmann, Martin (2019). "Baluchistan and the Baluch people". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
- Fabry, Philippe (1991) Balouchistan, le désert insoumis, Paris, Nathan Image, 136 p., ISBN 2-09-240036-3
External links
- Baluchistan is a map published by The Century Company
- Afghanistan, Beloochistan, etc. is a map from 1893 published by the American Methodist Church
- Balochistan Archives- Preserving our Past