An Over-view
of Balochistan
Numbering over 10 millions (1981), the Baloch are one of the
largest trans-state nations in south-west Asia.
At present, their country is politically divided into two major parts: eastern
Balochistan with Quetta
as its capital has been administered by Pakistan
since 1948; western Balochistan, officially known as “Sistan-wa-Balochistan”
with Zahedan as its capital, has been under the control of Iran since
1928. In Afghanistan,
there is also a small part of Balochistan. Despite the differences from region
to region, and from tribe to tribe, Baloch society developed its own
distinctive culture. They are Sunni Muslims, though a minority of Baloches in
Makkoran are “Zikris” (Zigris) and also a small minority in Dalgan (Iranian
Balochistan) are Shiite Muslims.
Located on the south-eastern Iranian plateau, with an approximately
340,000 sq. miles, Balochistan is larger than several European states. It is an
austere land of steppes and deserts, intersected by numerous mountain chains. Naturally,
the climate of such a vast territory has amazing varieties. In the northern and
interior highlands, the temperature often drops to 400F in winter,
while the summers are temperate. The coastal region is extremely hot with
temperature soaring between 1000 to1300F in summers.
Winters provide a more favourable climate. In spite of its position on the
direction of south-west monsoon winds from Indian Ocean,
Balochistan seldom receives more than 5 to 12 inches of rainfall per year due
to the low altitude of coastal ranges of Makkoran.
Today eastern Balochistan (British Balochistan and the Balochistan
states) constitutes the Pakistani
Province of Balochistan covering an area of 134,050 square miles or 347,188
square kilometres with its capital at Quetta.
Western Balochistan (Iranian Balochistan) is administratively divided into three parts of
which the largest is known as the province of “Sistan wa Balochistan” with its
capital at Zahedan. It is bounded by the Lut desert and the Iranian province of
Khorasan in the North, by the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, stretching from
the entrance to the Strait of Hurmuz to the port of Gwatr on the South and
Northwest, by the province of Kerman on the West, and by the Goldsmid Line
separating Pakistani and Afghani Balochistan on the East.
The Balochi is generally classified
as a north-western Iranian language. It can be divided into three major
dialect groups, namely Solaymani, Makkorani and Rakhshani. Solaymani dialect is spoken in
eastern part of Balochistan such as KoheSoleiman region, Mari and Bugti
regions, Deira Ismail Khan and Deira Ghazi Khan, and by some Baloch people in
Sindh. Makkorani dialect is spoken from Pahra to Karachi including coastal areas of
Balochistan. Also majority of Baloch people in Sindh and Gulf regions speak in
Makorani dialect. Rakhshani dialect is spoken in the north and north-east of
Balochistan such as Kalat, Kharan, Sarawan, Chaghi, Sistan, Sarhad and Nimrooz.
It is also spoken by Baloch people in Turkmenistan and in Khorasan of Iran.
In the course of history, the Baloch
country has been attacked, occupied and populated from West and North by,
Persians, Greeks, Parthian, Arabs, Turks and Mongols. They had their own
languages but the Balochi language and culture was so rich and deep rooted that
it absorbed all the languages and cultures of invaders and developed itself
into a unique language and culture. The Balochi language has its own grammar,
and it is rich in vocabulary and contains many words for different objects like
different words for domestic animals according to their age and condition,
which cannot be alternatively used. The Balochi language is also rich in
idioms, idiomatic phrases, lullabies, folk stories, folk songs, and folk literature.
The Baloch occupy an extremely important
region at the heart of the world’s oil route and of an envisaged trans-Asia
trade route. Despite the failure of numerous Baloch rebellions over the past
decades in Pakistan
and Iran,
Baloch nationalism continues to be a source of deep concern to the governments
of these countries. Aroused by the success of surrounding nationalisms – the
Indian, the Persian, and the Turkish – and goaded into desperation by its own
failures, Baloch nationalism in the sixties and seventies became increasingly
radical and uncompromising. For these reasons, the Baloch have come to play an
increasingly significant role in South-west Asian affairs. Their behaviour is
one of the important factors in the future stability and security not only of
the Baloch-inhabited countries but also of the entire region.