Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch (Balochi: بلوچ, romanized: Balōč) are an Iranian people[8] who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. There are also Baloch diaspora communities in neighbouring regions, including in India[9] and the Arabian Peninsula.
بلوچ | |
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![]() | |
Total population | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 6.8 million (2017)[3] |
![]() | 1.5 million–2 million (2013)[1] |
![]() | 468,000 (2014)[4] |
![]() | 500,000–2 million[5][6] |
![]() | 100,000 [7] |
Languages | |
Balochi, Brahui, Jadgali Urdu, Persian, Arabic (spoken by locality) | |
Religion | |
Majority:![]() Minority: | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Iranian peoples |
The Baloch people mainly speak Balochi, a Northwestern Iranian language, despite their contrasting location on the southeastern side of the Persosphere. The vast majority of Baloch reside within Pakistan. About 50% of the total ethnic Baloch population live in the Pakistani province of Balochistan,[10] while 40% are settled in Sindh and a significant albeit smaller number reside in Pakistani Punjab. They make up nearly 3.6% of Pakistan's total population, and around 2% of the populations of both Iran and Afghanistan.[11]
Etymology
The exact origin of the word 'Baloch' is unclear.
- Rawlinson (1873) believed that it is derived from the name of the Babylonian king and god Belus.
- Dames (1904) believed that it is derived from the Persian term for cockscomb, said to have been used as a crest on the helmets of Baloch troops in 6th century BCE.
- Herzfeld (1968) proposed that it is derived from the Median term brza-vaciya, which describes a loud or aggressive way of speaking.
- Naseer Dashti (2012) presents another possibility, that of being derived from the name of the ethnic group 'Balaschik' living in Balasagan, between the Caspian Sea and Lake Van in present-day Turkey and Azerbaijan, who are believed to have migrated to Balochistan during the Sassanid times.[12] The remnants of the original name such as 'Balochuk' and 'Balochiki' are said to be still used as ethnic names in Balochistan.[13]
Some writers suggest a derivation from Sanskrit words bal, meaning strength, and och meaning high or magnificent.[13] An earliest Sanskrit reference to the Baloch might be the Gwalior inscription of the Gurjara-Pratihara ruler Mihira Bhoja (r. 836–885), which says that the dynasty's founder Nagabhata I repelled a powerful army of Valacha Mlecchas, translated as "Baluch foreigners" by D. R. Bhandarkar. The army in question is that of the Umayyad Caliphate after the conquest of Sindh.[14]
History
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According to Baloch lore, their ancestors hail from Aleppo in what is now Syria.[15] They claim to be descendants of Ameer Hamza, uncle of the prophet Muhammad, who settled in Halab (present-day Aleppo). After the fight against second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I at Karbala (in which Ameer Hamza's descendants supported and fought alongside Husayn ibn Ali) in 680, descendants of Ameer Hamza migrated to east or southeast of the central Caspian region, specially toward Sistan,[16] Iran, remaining there for nearly 500 years until they fled to the Makran region following a deception against the Sistan leader Badr-ud-Din.
Dayaram Gidumal writes that a Balochi legend is backed up by the medieval Qarmatians.[17] The fact that the Karmatians were ethnic Baluchis is also confirmed by the Persian historian in the 16th century Muhammad Qasim Ferishta.[18] Based on an analysis of the linguistic connections of the Balochi language, which is one of the Western Iranian languages, the original homeland of the Balochi tribes was likely to the east or southeast of the central Caspian region. The Baloch began migrating towards the east in the late Sasanian period. The cause of the migration is unknown but may have been as a result of the generally unstable conditions in the Caspian area. The migrations occurred over several centuries.[19]
By the 9th century, Arab writers refer to the Baloch as living in the area between Kerman, Khorasan, Sistan, and Makran in what is now eastern Iran.[20] Although they kept flocks of sheep, the Baloches also engaged in plundering travellers on the desert routes. This brought them into conflict with the Buyids, and later the Ghaznavids and the Seljuqs. Adud al-Dawla of the Buyid dynasty launched a punitive campaign against them and defeated them in 971–972. After this, the Baloch continued their eastward migration towards what is now Balochistan province of Pakistan, although some remained behind and there are still Baloch in eastern part of the Iranian Sistan-Baluchestan and Kerman provinces. By the 13th–14th centuries waves of Baloch were moving into Sindh, and by the 15th century into the Punjab.[20] According to Dr. Akhtar Baloch, professor at University of Karachi, the Balochis migrated from Balochistan during the Little Ice Age and settled in Sindh and Punjab. The Little Ice Age is conventionally defined as a period extending from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries,[21][22][23] or alternatively, from about 1300[24] to about 1850.[25][26][27] Although climatologists and historians working with local records no longer expect to agree on either the start or end dates of this period, which varied according to local conditions. According to Professor Baloch, the climate of Balochistan was very cold and the region was inhabitable during the winter so the Baloch people migrated in waves and settled in Sindh and Punjab.[28]
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The area where the Baloch tribes settled was disputed between the Persian Safavids and the Mughal emperors. Although the Mughals managed to establish some control over the eastern parts of the area, by the 17th century, a tribal leader named Mir Hasan established himself as the first "Khan of the Baloch". In 1666, he was succeeded by Mir Aḥmad Khan Qambarani who established the Balochi Khanate of Kalat under the Ahmadzai dynasty.[note 1] Originally in alliance with the Mughals, the Khanate lost its autonomy in 1839 with the signing of a treaty with the British colonial government and the region effectively became part of British Raj.[20]
Balochi culture
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Gold ornaments such as necklaces and bracelets are an important aspect of Baloch women's traditions and among their most favoured items of jewellery are dorr, heavy earrings that are fastened to the head with gold chains so that the heavy weight will not cause harm to the ears. They usually wear a gold brooch (tasni) that is made by local jewellers in different shapes and sizes and is used to fasten the two parts of the dress together over the chest. In ancient times, especially during the pre-Islamic era, it was common for Baloch women to perform dances and sing folk songs at different events. The tradition of a Baloch mother singing lullabies to her children has played an important role in the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation since ancient times. Apart from the dressing style of the Baloch, indigenous and local traditions and customs are also of great importance to the Baloch.[34]
Baloch Culture Day is celebrated by the Balochi people annually on 2 March with festivities to celebrate their rich culture and history.[35]
Baloch tribes
Tradition
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Traditionally, Jalal Khan was the ruler and founder of the first Balochi confederacy in 12th century. (He may be the same as Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu the last ruler of the Khwarezmian Empire.[36]) Jalal Khan left four sons – Rind Khan, Lashar Khan, Hoth Khan, Kora Khan and a daughter, Bibi Jato, who married his nephew Murad.[37]
Divisions
As of 2008 it was estimated that there were between eight and nine million Baloch people living in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. They were subdivided between over 130 tribes.[38] Some estimates put the figure at over 150 tribes, though estimates vary depending on how subtribes are counted.[39] The tribes, known as taman, are led by a tribal chief, the tumandar. Subtribes, known as paras, are led by a muquaddam.[40]
Five Baloch tribes derive their eponymous names from Khan's children. Many, if not all, Baloch tribes can be categorized as either Rind or Lashari based on their actual descent or historical tribal allegiances that developed into cross-generational relationships. This basic division was accentuated by a war lasting 30 years between the Rind and Lashari tribes in the 15th century.[41]
Pakistan
There are 180,000 Bugti based in Dera Bugti District. They are divided between the Rahija Bugti, Masori Bugti, Kalpar Bugti,Marehta Bugti and other sub-tribes.[38][42]
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti led the Bugti as Tumandar until his death in 2006. Talal Akbar Bugti was the tribal leader and President of the Jamhoori Watan Party from 2006 until his death in 2015.[43]
There are 98,000 Marri based in Kohlo district,[38] who further divide themselves into Gazni Marri, Bejarani Marri, and Zarkon Marri.[38] Hyrbyair Marri has led the Balochistan Liberation Army since his brother's death in 2007.
Tribalism
Violent intertribal competition has prevented any credible attempt at creating a nation-state. A myriad of militant secessionist movements, each loyal to their own tribal leader, threatens regional security and political stability. Nationalist groups like the Baloch Students Organization, composed of armed rebels, and the Baloch Council of North America, made up of educated expatriates living in the United States, have simultaneously denounced Balochistan's traditional rulers and Pakistan's national government.[44][45][46] In 2020, a separatist movement attacked but failed to gain entry to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, which was 40% owned by China.[47]
Baloch tribes are markedly less egalitarian than Pashtun tribes.[48]
Religion
Majority of the Baloch people in Pakistan are Sunni Muslims – 64.78% belonging to the Deobandi movement, 33.38% belonging to the Barelvi movement, 1.25% belonging to the Ahl-i Hadith movement. There is a small number of Shia Muslims(0.59%). Although it is considered that Baloch people are Secular, according to the scholars Christine Fair and Ali Hamza found out during their empirical studies that, when it comes to Islamism, "contrary to the conventional wisdom, Baloch are generally indistinguishable from other Pakistanis in Balochistan or the rest of Pakistan". There are virtually no statistically significant or substantive differences between Balochi Muslims and other Muslims in Pakistan in terms of religiosity, support for sharia-compliant Pakistan state, liberating Muslims from oppression etc.[49]
A small number of Balochs are non-Muslims, particularly the Bugti clan which has Hindu and Sikh members.[50] There are small number of Hindus in Bugti, Bezenjo, Marri, Rind and other Baloch tribes.[51] The Bhagnaris are Hindu Baloch community living in India,[52] who trace their origin to the Southern Balochistan but migrated to India during the Partition.[53]
Baloch people from Pakistan
- Mir Jafar Khan Jamali, a veteran politician from Muslim League and a tribal leader from Balochistan. He was a close friend of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.[54]
- Zafarullah Khan Jamali, 15th prime minister of Pakistan.[55]
- Musa Khan, former commander in chief of Pakistan army.
- Asif Ali Zardari, 11th president of Pakistan.[56]
- Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, 26th chief justice of Pakistan.[57]
- Sardar Usman Buzdar, current chief minister of Punjab province.[58]
- Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, current chairman of Pakistan People Party.[59]
- Shireen Mazari, federal minister for human right and a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.[60]
- Farooq Leghari, 8th president of Pakistan.[61]
- Sardar Mohammad Ayub Khan Gadhi, MPA and Ex-Minister for Counter Terrorism Punjab.
- Kiran Maqsood Baluch, a Pakistani women cricketer.
- Aftab Baloch, a former Pakistani cricketer.
- Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, former governor of Punjab province.
- Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan.
- Latif Khosa, Governor of Punjab.
- Muhammad Muqeem Khan Khoso, Chief Sardar of Khoso Tribe and elected MPA from PS-14 Jacobabad.
- Sarfraz Bugti, former home minister of Balochistan. Currently member of senate.
- Jam Kamal Khan, current chief minister of Balochistan.
- Sanaullah Khan Zehri, 15th chief minister of Balochistan.[62]
- Siraj Raisani, member of Balochistan Awami Party.[63] He is also a recipient of Sitara-e-Shujaat (star of bravery).[64]
- Sardar Mir Balakh Sher Mazari, former caretaker prime minister.[65]
- Abdul Qadir Baloch, retired General in Pakistan army. Currently Pakistani politician.
- Khair Bakhsh Marri was a Baloch politician from the province of Balochistan in Pakistan.[66]
- Akbar Bugti, former Tumandar of the Bugti tribe and Minister of State of Balochistan Province.
- Karima Baloch, activist for human rights and Balochistani independence who gained asylum in Canada.
See also
Notes
- A number of unrelated tribes with the name Ahmadzai exist.[29] There are two Pashtun tribes who are unrelated to each other with this name: the Ahmadzai who are a Waziri tribe and the Sulaimankhel Ahmadzai, part of the Ghilzai confederation.[30] However, the Ahmadzai Khans of Khalat were neither of these and belonged to a Brahui tribe.[31][32][33]
References
- "Iran Minorities 2: Ethnic Diversity". The Iran Primer. United States Institute of Peace. 3 September 2013.
Baluchis number between 4 million in Iran. They are part of a wider regional population of about 10 million spread across Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
- Spooner, Brian (2011). "10. Balochi: Towards a Biography of the Language". In Schiffman, Harold F. (ed.). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors. Brill. p. 319. ISBN 978-9004201453.
It [Balochi] is spoken by three to five million people in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Oman and the Persian Gulf states, Turkmenistan, East Africa, and diaspora communities in other parts of the world.
- "Number of Balochi-speaking people in Balochistan falls". Dawn News. 11 September 2017.
However, the total number of Baloch people has increased from 4 million in 1998 to 6.86m in 2017. The count does not include the population of two districts — Quetta and Sibi — where people of various ethnicities, including Baloch and Pashtun also reside.
- "United Arab Emirates: Languages". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
- Karlos Zurutuza (17 September 2014). "Pakistani Baloch find home in Afghanistan". Al Jazeera.
In the absence of comprehensive census data, an estimate by Professor Abdul Sattar Purdely puts the population of Afghan Baloch at about two million.
- "Cultural Orientation Balochi" (PDF). Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. 2019. p. 111.
An estimated 500,000–600,000 Baloch live in southern Afghanistan, concentrated in southern Nimroz Province, and to a lesser degree in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
- KOKAISLOVÁ, Pavla, KOKAISL Petr. Ethnic Identity of The Baloch People. Central Asia and The Caucasus. Journal of Social and Political Studies. Volume 13, Issue 3, 2012, p. 45-55., ISSN 1404-6091
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The Baloch tribes rise up from their original home in Aleppo, all sons of Mir Hamza (generally taken to be the uncle of the prophet Muhammad) to fight against the second Ummayad Caliph Yazid I at Karbala in 680. After Hoseyn is slain, the angered Balochi tribes wander way eastwards
- Gidumal, Dayaram (1888). History of Alienations in the Province of Sind: Compiled from the Jagir and Other Records in the Commissioner's Office on the Authority of Bombay Government, Resolution No. 12, Dated 2nd January 1878, Revenue Department. Printed at the "Commissioner's Press".
- Gazetteer. Government Central Press. 1880.
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- "Ethnic Identity in Afghanistan". Naval Postgraduate School. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
- Bettina Bruns; Judith Miggelbrink (8 October 2011). Subverting Borders: Doing Research on Smuggling and Small-Scale Trade. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 52, footnote 12. ISBN 978-3-531-93273-6.
- Minahan, James (2012). Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-59884-659-1.
- Axmann, Martin (2008). Back to the Future: The Khanate of Kalat and the Genesis of Baloch Nationalism, 1915–1955. Oxford University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-19-547645-3.
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- Dashti, Naseer (2012). The Baloch and Balochistan: A Historical Account from the Beginning to the Fall of the Baloch State. Bloomington, Indiana: Trafford Publishing. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-1-4669-5896-8.
- Badalkhan, Sabir (2013). Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore. Balochistan Monograph Series, V. Naples, Italy: Universita degli studi di Napoli. p. 20. ISBN 978-88-6719-060-7.
- Tahir, Muhammad (3 April 2008). "Tribes and Rebels: The Players in the Balochistan Insurgency". Terrorism Monitor. Jamestown Foundation. 6 (7). Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- Baloch, Muhammad Amin (1999). Inside Ormara. Muhammad Amin Baloch. p. 83.
- Bonarjee, P. D. (1899). A handbook of the fighting races of India. Thacker, Spink & Co. p. 47.
- Asimov, M. S.; Bosworth, C. E. (1992). History of Civilizations of Central Asia (vol.4, part-1). Motilal Banarsidass Publishing. p. 305.
- Pakistan Horizon, Volume 59, Issues 3–4. Pakistan Institute of International Affairs. 2006.
- "JWP leader Talal Bugti passes away in Quetta". The Express Tribune. 27 April 2015.
- Jugdep S. Chima (2015). Ethnic Subnationalist Insurgencies in South Asia: Identities, Interests and Challenges to State Authority. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 978-1138839922.
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- Fair, C. Christine and Hamza, Ali (2017) "Rethinking Baloch Secularism: What the Data Say," Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 24 : No. 1 , Article 1
- Kamal Siddiqi (30 July 2009). "Hingol Temple Symbolises Baloch Secularism". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
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- Roshni Nair (3 December 2016). "Mumbai's filmi daredevils with a cross-border history". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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- Dr Shahida Jaffrey Jamali (6 April 2017). "Remembering Mir Jaffar Khan Jamali". Daily Times.
- "Zafarullah Khan Jamali – Age, Political Party, Family and Education". ARYNEWS. 11 August 2018.
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- Haider, Sikandar (18 August 2018). "Poorest Baloch tribe's chief set to rule Punjab". The Nation.
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Bibliography
- Dashti, Naseer (2012), The Baloch and Balochistan: A Historical Account from the Beginning to the Fall of the Baloch State, Trafford Publishing, pp. 33–, ISBN 978-1-4669-5896-8
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, THREE. Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
- Bulookbashi, Ali A.; Asatryan, Mushegh (2013). "Balūch". In Madelung, Wilferd; Daftary, Farhad (eds.). Encyclopaedia Islamica Online. Brill Online. ISSN 1875-9831.
External links
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