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{{Short description|Region of southwestern Asia}}
{{About|the Balochistan region|other uses|Balochistan (disambiguation)}}
{{About|the geographic region|the province in Pakistan|Balochistan, Pakistan|other uses|Balochistan (disambiguation)}}
]
{{Infobox settlement
'''Balochistan''' or '''Baluchistan'''<ref>Variations of the spelling, especially on French maps, include: ''Beloutchistan'', ''Baloutchistan''.</ref> ({{lang-bal|<big>بلوچستان</big>}}, lit. ''Land of the ]'') is an ] ] and mountainous ] on the ] in ]-], northwest of the ]. It stretches across ], ], and a small section of southwestern ]. The southern part of Balochistan is known by its historical name ].
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name = Balochistan
| native_name = بلۏچستان
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| population_total = c. 18–19 million<ref name="Iran Profile, Library of Congress">, ''Library of Congress, Country Profile'' . Retrieved December 5, 2009.</ref><ref name="CIA 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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| demographics1_info2 = ]<br><small>''Minor:'' ], ], ], ], ], ], ]</small>
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{{Baloch people}}
'''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}}; {{langx|bal|بلۏچستان|Balòcestàn}}, {{IPA-xx|baˈloːt͡ʃest̪ɑːn}}), also spelled as '''Baluchistan''' or '''Baluchestan''', is a ] in ] and ], located in the ]'s far southeast and bordering the ] and the ] coastline. This ] region of ] and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic ].<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>


The Balochistan region is split among three countries: ], ] and ]. Administratively it comprises the Pakistani province of ], the Iranian province of ], and the ] of Afghanistan, which include ], ] and ] 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 ] region to the north, ] and ] to the east, and ] to the west. Its southern coastline, including the ], is washed by the Arabian Sea, in particular by its western part, the ].
Balochistan is named after the native ] tribes who inhabit the region and use ] as their ]. ], ] and ] are used as second languages in some areas; ] is spoken by the ] minority.


==Etymology== ==Etymology==
[[File:Balochi-speakers by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|
The Baloch people once referred to their land as ''Moka'' or ''Maka'', a word which later became ''Makran''. Balochistan is referred to in Pashto as ''Gwadar'' or ''Godar'' (also ''Godar-khwa'', i.e., ''the land by water''). The Greeks, who derived the names of Iranian lands from the ], Hellenised it to ]. It thus appears that the name ''Balochistan'' is of relatively recent origin.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}
<div style="text-align: center">The proportion of people with ] as their ] in each Pakistani ] as of the ]</div>]]
[[File:Brahui-speakers by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|
<div style="text-align: center">The proportion of people with ] as their ] in each Pakistani ] as of the ]</div>]]
The name "Balochistan" is generally believed to derive from the name of the ].<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>

Johan Hansman relates the term "Baloch" to '']'', the name by which the ] is believed to have been known to the ] (2900–2350 BCE) and ]s (2334–2154 BCE) in ].<ref>{{harvnb|Parpola|2015|loc= Ch.&nbsp;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 ] (911–605 BCE).{{sfn|Hansman|1973|p= 565}} ], who visited the capital of Makran, ], 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}}

] relates the name ''Meluḫḫa'' to Indo-Aryan words '']'' (]) and ''milakkha/milakkhu'' (]) etc., which do not have an ] etymology even though they were used to refer to non-Aryan people. Taking them to be ] 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 ] 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 ], ''aparānta'', was later used to describe the region by the ].{{sfn|Thapar|1975|p=10}}

During the time of ] (356–323 BCE), the ] called the land '']'' 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 ] 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>


==History== ==History==
{{Main|History of Balochistan}} {{main|History of Balochistan}}
] 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.]]
]
The earliest evidence of human occupation in what is now Balochistan is dated to the ] era. Evidence includes hunting camps, ], 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 ] in the ]. These villages expanded in size during the subsequent Chalcolithic when interaction was amplified. This involved the movement of finished goods and raw materials, including ], ], ], and ceramics. By 2500 BCE (the Bronze Age), the region now known as ] had become part of the ] 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.
] of ] at its peak]]
The earliest evidence of human occupation in what is now Balochistan is dated to the ] era, represented by hunting camps 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 ] (located in the ]). These villages expanded in size during the subsequent Chalcolithic, when interaction was amplified. This involved the movement of finished goods and raw materials, including ], ], ], and ceramics. By 2500 BCE (the Bronze Age), the region now known as Balochistan had become part of the ] cultural orbit, 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 ] (lit. "Pārata Kings"), a dynasty of ] or ] kings. The dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the ] of the ], the ] and other vedic and Iranian sources.<ref>"New light on the Paratarajas" p11</ref> The Parata kings are essentially known through their coins, which typically exhibit the bust of the ruler (with long hair in a headband) on the obverse, and a ] within a circular legend on the reverse, written in ] (usually silver coins) or ] (copper coins). These coins are mainly found in ] in today's western Pakistan.
From the 1st century to the 3rd century CE, the region was ruled by the ] (lit. "Pārata Kings"), a dynasty of ] kings. The dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the ] of the ], the ] 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 ] within a circular legend on the reverse, written in ] (usually silver coins) or ] (copper coins). These coins are mainly found in ] in today's western Pakistan.


During the wars between ] (356-323 BCE) and Emperor ] (336-330 BCE), the Baloch were allied with the last ] 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 ], Maseus was the commander of the ] and ] contingent, Ozbed was the commander of the ], and Phirthaphirna was leading the Sakas and forces from ], 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 |url=https://www.britannica.com/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
] in 450 BCE, describes the ''Paraitakenoi'' as a tribe ruled by ], a Persian king, in northwestern Persia (History I.101). ] describes how ] encountered the ''Pareitakai'' in ] and ], and had them conquered by ] (Anabasis Alexandrou IV). The ] (1st century CE) describes the territory of the ''Paradon'' beyond the Ommanitic region, on the coast of modern Balochistan.<ref></ref>


] in 450 BCE described the ''Paraitakenoi'' as a tribe ruled by ], a Persian king, in northwestern Persia (History I.101). ] describes how ] encountered the ''Pareitakai'' in ] and ], and had them conquered by ] (Anabasis Alexandrou IV). The ] (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}}
The region was fully Islamized by the 9th century and became part of the territory of the ] of ], followed by the ], then the ]. ] made it part of the ] in 1749. In 1758 the ], Mir Noori Naseer Khan Baloch, revolted against ], defeated him, and freed Balochistan, winning complete independence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0010)|title=Ahmad Shah and the Durrani Empire |accessdate=2010-09-23|work=|publisher=] on ]|year=1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1857/afghanistan/index.htm |title=Afghanistan |accessdate=2010-09-23|author=]|work=Andy Blunden |publisher=The New American Cyclopaedia, Vol. I|year=1857| archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20101018134909/http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1857/afghanistan/index.htm |quote=Afghanistan ... an extensive country of Asia...between ] and the Indies, and in the other direction between the ] and the Indian Ocean. It formerly included the Persian provinces of ] and ], together with ], '''Beluchistan''', ], and ], and a considerable part of the ]... Its principal cities are Kabul, the capital, ], ], and ]|archivedate= 18 October 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/10162/Ahmad-Shah-Durrani|title=Aḥmad Shah Durrānī|accessdate=2010-08-25|work=|publisher=]|year=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia|last1=Clements|first1=Frank |authorlink=|volume=|year=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=|isbn=978-1-85109-402-8|page=81|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bv4hzxpo424C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA81#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate=2010-09-23}}</ref> The ] was invaded and taken by Iran in the 19th century, and its boundary was fixed in 1871. Omani influence waned in the east and ]'s last possession, ], was bought by Pakistan in 1958.


=== Medieval period ===
==Geography==
During the reign of Arab dynasties, medieval Iran suffered the onslaught of ], ], ], and the incursions of ]. 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 ] and ] were instrumental in waves of migration by the Baloch tribes from ] 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>
The landscape of Balochistan is composed of barren, rugged mountains and fertile, but dry land. Most of the land is barren, particularly on the Iranian and Afghan side of the region, and it is generally sparsely populated. In the south (]) lies the desert.<ref>Anita M. Weiss and Muhammad Aurang Zeb Mughal (2012) . Louis Kotzé and Stephen Morse (eds), Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability, Vol. 9. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire, pp. 236-240.</ref>


The ] ruled parts of Balochistan, chiefly ].<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 ], which was carved out of ] and ] 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=] |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>
Agriculture in this region is based on horticulture supported mostly by rain water. Cultivation is often located on alluvial fans, along river-courses, and in fertile areas which are maintained through artificial irrigation systems such as ]s (holes sunk in the ground to trap water) and ''gabarbands'' (low stone and earth mounds creating raised beds which become saturated by rainfall and water run-off from the surrounding hills). In the southern Makran and oasis region (south of the ]) date palms are cultivated. Orange orchards are also typical in southern Balochistan, particularly in ] and ].
] in 1730.]]
The region was fully Islamized by the 9th century and became part of the territory of the ] of ], followed by the ], then the ]. The relation between the Ghaznavids and the Baloch had never been peaceful. Turan and Makuran came under the Ghaznavids founder ]'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 ] 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>


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, ], who, no doubt, heroically resisted a Mongol advance somewhere in Sistan.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}
==Demography==
{{See also|Ethnic groups in Pakistan|Ethnic groups in Iran|Ethnic groups in Afghanistan}} The ] are the major ethnic group in the region followed by ]. The majority of inhabitants of the region are ]. Except for the small population of ] in the city of ], the ] in the northern part of the Iranian province of ], and an even smaller number of other ], the overwhelming majority of the people in the Balochistan region are followers of ]. Balochistan has a small Hindu population.


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=nakedpunch.com}}</ref>
==Governance and political disputes==
{{Further|Balochistan conflict}}
The Balochistan region is administratively divided among three countries, ], ] and ]. The ] is the largest and its capital is the city of ]. Other major cities in ], include ], ], ], ] and ]. Although ]s have never accepted Balochistan as a part of Iran, the governments of Pakistan and Iran insist on sovereignty over their parts of Balochistan.


The Khanate of Kalat was the first unified polity to emerge in the ].<ref name=s/> It took birth from the confederacy of nomadic ] 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 '']'' 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 ] 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> ] made it vassal of the ] in 1749. In 1758 the Khan of Kalat, ], revolted against ], defeated him, and made his Khanate independent from the Durrani Empire.
The ] made northern Balochistan part of Afghanistan in order to divide the strength of the Baloch nation. The Afghan portion of Balochistan includes the ] of ],<ref name="Nimroz">{{cite web|title=Nimroz Province|url=http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCS/Nimroz.html|publisher=]|accessdate=2013-01-03}}</ref> and the ] in southern ] and ] provinces.<ref>{{cite web|title=Helmand Province|url=http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCS/Helmand.html|publisher=Naval Postgraduate School|accessdate=2013-01-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Kandahar Province|url=http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCS/Kandahar.html|publisher=Naval Postgraduate School|accessdate=2013-01-03}}</ref> The governors of Nimruz provinces in Afghanistan belong to the Baloch ethnic group.<ref name="Nimroz"/>


=== Tribalism and nomadism ===
===Secessionist movements===
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>
{{Expand section|date=January 2013}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


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"/>
==Extremism & Religious Persecution of Minorities==

According to the ] (HRCP)<ref>http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-human-rights-commission-of-pakistan-worried-over-mass-migration-of-hindus-from-balochistan-2025679</ref><ref>http://epaper.dawn.com/print-textview.php?StoryImage=08_09_2014_008_006</ref> and ],<ref>http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/08/gunmen-target-minority-sect-pakistan-20148299211109311.html</ref> there has been a surge in religious extremism in Balochistan, with banned terrorist organizations such as ] and ] targeting ], ]s (including ]) and ]s, resulting in the migration of over 210,000 Shias, Zikris, and Hindus from Baluchistan to other parts of Pakistan.<ref>http://en.shiapost.com/2014/08/25/pro-taliban-takfiris-hails-isis-baloch-zikris-hindus-threatened-to-death/</ref> A further 90,000 ethnic Punjabis have also fled due to campaigns against Punjabis by Balochi militants.<ref> m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/over-300000-fled-violence-hit-balochistan-pakistan-rights-body/articleshow/44827433.cms</ref>
=== British occupation ===
The British took over the non-Persian section of Balochistan 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>

In the 1870s, ] came under control of the ] in ].<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= |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"/>

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 Mari tribe rose in revolt and the British retaliated in force. 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"/>

During the time of the ], "three pro-Congress parties were still active in Balochistan's politics", such as the ], which ].<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>

=== Post-colonial history ===
{{Expand section|date=February 2023}}

Insurgencies took place in Pakistani Balochistan during 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and from 1973 to 1977.

In 2021, there was an earthquake that killed dozens of people. This came to be known as the ]. There were other major earthquakes in 2013 (] and ]).<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=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>], ], in March 2017]]

== Culture ==
{{Main|Balochi Culture}}
{{See also|Balochi clothing|Baloch cuisine|Balochi handicrafts|Balochi rug|Culture of Balochistan}}

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 ] ]ic 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>

] 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 }} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baloch |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

] 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 ] and ] 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 ('']'') 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>

=== Music ===

{{expand section|date=September 2017}}
{{See also|Balochi music}}

] 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>

Instruments in traditional ] include ], ], ], ], ], ], ], tamburag and ].<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=]}}</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=]}}</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>

== 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 ] and ] had a strong religious or sectarian element. They believed that there are strong indications that the Baloch were the followers of Mazdakian and ] sects of ] 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 ] (nearly all Baloch belong to the ] sect of Islam) after the ] 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>

==Governance and political disputes==
{{Further|Insurgency in Balochistan|Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency}}
The Balochistan region is administratively divided among three countries, ], ], and ]. The largest portion in area and population is in Pakistan, whose largest province (in land area) is ]. 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 ] is of Baloch ethnicity. The Afghan portion of Balochistan includes the ] of ], and the ] in southern ] and ] provinces. The governors of Nimruz province in Afghanistan belong to the Baloch ethnic group. President ] 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>

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
"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=Daily News and Analysis |language=en}}</ref> In 2019, United States declared ], one of the separatist militants fighting the ], a global terrorist group.<ref name="global terror"/>

In Iran, separatist fighting has reportedly not gained as much ground as the conflict in Pakistan,<ref>Bhargava, G. S. "" ''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 ] and ] ideology in their fight against the Shia-Islamist ].<ref name=g/> Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran's poorest regions has long been plagued by unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni extremists.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-30 |title=3 police officers killed in attacks in southeastern Iran |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/three-policemen-killed-in-attacks-in-southeastern-iran-/7805278.html |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
*]
* ]
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* ] *]
* ] *]
* ]
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* ]
* ] (village in Balochistan)
* ]


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{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 }}
*{{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 }}
*{{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}}
*{{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}}
*{{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}}
*{{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}}

==Further reading==
* {{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}}
*{{ill|Philippe Fabry|lt=Fabry, Philippe|fr}} (1991) ''Balouchistan, le désert insoumis'', Paris, Nathan Image, 136 p., ISBN 2-09-240036-3


==External links== ==External links==
{{Sister project links|Balochistan}} {{Sister project links|Balochistan}}
* is a map published by ]
*
* is a map from 1897 published by ]
* is a map from 1893 published by the American Methodist Church * is a map from 1893 published by the American Methodist Church
* *


{{Districts of Balochistan (Pakistan)}}
{{Baloch nationalism}} {{Baloch nationalism}}
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Latest revision as of 22:31, 8 January 2025

Region of southwestern Asia This article is about the geographic region. For the province in Pakistan, see Balochistan, Pakistan. For other uses, see Balochistan (disambiguation). Region
Balochistan بلۏچستان
Region
Balochistan region in pinkBalochistan region in pink
Countries
SubdivisionsIranian Balochistan, Pakistani Balochistan, Afghan Balochistan
Population
 • Totalc. 18–19 million
Demographics
 • Ethnic groupsBaloch
Minor: Brahui, Pashtuns, Hazaras, Jadgals, Sindhis, Khetrans
 • LanguagesBalochi
Minor: Brahui, Jadgali, Pashto, Sindhi, Persian, Khetrani, Urdu
Largest cities List
  Part of a series on

Baloch People
Community
  • Homeland
HistoryAncient
Achaemenid Empire
Medes
Sasanian Empire
Ashkash

Medieval
Jalal Khan . Mir Chakar Rind . Mir Gwahram Khan Lashari . Nasir Khan I Ahmadzai . Mohammad Khan Baloch . Hammal Jiand . Hoth Khan Baloch . Banadi Shehak . Mehrab Khan II of Kalat . Sanjrani Chiefdom Amir Nasir Khan Talpur . Talpur dynasty

Modern
Baloch nationalism . Insurgency in Balochistan . Dad Shah . Baloch people in Iran . Baloch of Afghanistan
Culture
Languages
Religion

Balochistan (/bəˈloʊtʃɪstɑːn, bəˌloʊtʃɪˈstɑːn, -stæn/ bə-LOHTCH-ist-a(h)n, -⁠A(H)N; Balochi: بلۏچستان, romanized: Balòcestàn, IPA: [baˈloːt͡ʃest̪ɑːn]), also spelled as 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.

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. It borders the Pashtunistan region to the north, Sindh and Punjab to the east, and Persian 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

The proportion of people with Balochi as their mother tongue in each Pakistani District as of the 2017 Pakistan census
The proportion of people with Brahui as their mother tongue in each Pakistani District as of the 2017 Pakistan census

The name "Balochistan" is generally believed to derive from the name of the Baloch people. 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.

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. Meluḫḫa disappears from the Mesopotamian records at the beginning of the second millennium BCE. 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). 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.

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. 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.

During the time of Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE), the Greeks called the land Gedrosia and its people Gedrosoi, terms of unknown origin. 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.

History

Main article: History of Balochistan
Large Baluch carpet, from the mid 19th century. Alternating rows depict cypress trees and 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.

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, 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. 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.

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.

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.

The Hindu Sewa Dynasty ruled parts of Balochistan, chiefly Kalat. 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.

Map of independent Balochistan under the Brahui Kalat Khanate in 1730.

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).

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.

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.

The Khanate of Kalat was the first unified polity to emerge in the history of Balochistan. It took birth from the confederacy of nomadic Brahui tribes native to the central Balochistan in 1666 which under Mir Ahmad Khan I declared independence from the Mughal suzeraignty and slowly absorbed the Baloch principalities in the region. It was ruled over by the Brahui Ahmadzai dynasty till 1948. Ahmad Shah Durrani made it vassal of the Afghan Durrani Empire in 1749. In 1758 the Khan of Kalat, Nasir Khan I Ahmadzai, 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.

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.

British occupation

The British took over the non-Persian section of Balochistan in 1839.

In the 1870s, Baluchistan came under control of the British Indian Empire in colonial India. 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.

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 Mari tribe rose in revolt and the British retaliated in force. 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.

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.

Post-colonial history

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2023)

Insurgencies took place in Pakistani Balochistan during 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and from 1973 to 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).

Baloch children photographed in Ashkutu, Iran, in March 2017

Culture

Main article: Balochi Culture See also: Balochi clothing, Baloch cuisine, Balochi handicrafts, Balochi rug, and Culture of Balochistan

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.

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.

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.

Music

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2017)
See also: Balochi 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.

Instruments in traditional Balochi music include suroz, donali, ghaychak, dohol, sorna, rubab, kemenche, tamburag and benju.

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.

Governance and political disputes

Further information: Insurgency in Balochistan and Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency

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 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.

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". 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 beginning in 2003. Historically, drivers of the conflict are reported to include "tribal divisions", the Baloch-Pashtun ethnic divisions, "marginalization by Punjabi interests", and "economic oppression". 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. 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. In 2019, United States declared Baloch Liberation Army, one of the separatist militants fighting the government of Pakistan, a global terrorist group.

In Iran, separatist fighting has reportedly not gained as much ground as the conflict in Pakistan, but has grown and become more sectarian since 2012, with the majority-Sunni Baloch showing a greater degree of Salafist and anti-Shia ideology in their fight against the Shia-Islamist Iranian government. Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran's poorest regions has long been plagued by unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni extremists.

See also

References

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Bibliography

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