Ethno-political Conflict in Pakistan

The Baloch Movement

Rizwan Zeb

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367331450
• eBook ISBN: 9781000729924
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Regional Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This book critically examines the causes of the increase in insurgent violence in Balochistan and explores the relations between the national government of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan.

Based on historical analysis, the book argues that the national government of Pakistan and the leaders of Balochistan both use a standard narrative when dealing with each other. According to the Baloch narrative, Islamabad exploits Balochistan's natural resources without giving Balochistan its due share and has never accepted and granted Balochistan equal rights. The centre's narrative emphasizes the tribal character of the Baloch society and suggests that the Baloch elite hinder Balochistan's integration with the federation. This book demonstrates that both narratives are inherently flawed and presents a precipitous picture of the problem of insurgent violence. It also shows that the Baloch leadership is divided along tribal lines and lacks a unified voice and proposes that the Baloch elite use the narrative of enduring injustice only as a source of politicization of Baloch ethnicity when an actual or perceived injustice is taking place.

An important addition to the literature on ethno-political conflicts, this unique analysis of the importance of narrative in the imagination of political movements will be of interest to scholars in the fields of South Asian studies, ethnic conflicts, separatist and political movements and Asian politics.

Part I

Baloch and Balochistan through history

1Baloch and Balochistan through history

INTRODUCTION

Historically, Balochistan has been isolated from the great power struggle going on around it. The Baloch were left on their own most of the time, and there was hardly any outside interference in Balochistan. Baloch tribes were the masters of their own destiny and territories. A Baloch ballad often quoted by the nationalist and other readers of Baloch history described this sense of isolation in these words: The lofty heights are our comrades, the pathless gorges our friends. ¹ Balochistan’s only significance was that it was used as a route or a place to seek refuge by kings and princes on the run. The present significance that Balochistan enjoys is solely based on its strategic location and mineral wealth. As Selig Harrison once wrote, “were it not for its strategic location, long coastline at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and potential for discoveries of oil and gas and other minerals, Balochistan may not have assumed the importance it currently enjoys.”²

Balochistan is among the earliest human settlements in the world. The site discovered by French archaeologists in Mehrgarh or Mehregan arguably makes Balochistan the earliest civilization in the world, with a few claiming that it predates both the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian civilizations. The evidence collected at Mehrgarh indicates that it was inhabited from 7000 to 2000 B.C. Mehrgarh’s inhabitants were cave-dwellers and fishermen. Mehrgarh is among the earliest Neolithic sites where evidence of domestication of animals and cereal cultivation such as wheat and barley was found. According to the available evidence, Mehrgarh was a centre for craftsmanship as early as 7000 B.C. Due to the lack of any available evidence or record, it is impossible to ascertain who these inhabitants were and how and whether they were are linked with the Baloch.³

Most historians contend that the origin of the Baloch cannot be precisely established. For them, it is an insolvable riddle of history. G.P. Tate, summing up this view, stated that due to the lack of historical evidence, the question cannot be finally disposed of. Among the many views on the origin of the Baloch, the most popular explanation and the widely held view, especially among the Baloch, is that they are a Semitic race lived in Syria and migrated from Aleppo to Kirman in the present-day Iran and from there finally to what is today called Balochistan. Another view is that they are Aryans from Asia Minor. Third explanation is that they are Arabs and migrated to Makran and Turan around the seventh century.

Who called it Balochistan first is also not clear. One view is that it was the British who called it Balochistan when they took control of it. What is not clear is why the British called it Balochistan and not Brahuistan after the Brahuis of Kalat. A noted Baloch historian, Gul Khan Naseer states that it was Nadir Shah who called it Balochistan.⁴

This chapter aims at providing an overview of the history of the Baloch and the land of the Baloch from the beginning up till the time when it was taken over by the British. As no verifiable historical sources are available, the reliance is on Baloch sources. An important point in this regard is that the British colonial officers, spies and administrators have published vast literature on Balochistan; however, even this literature relies too heavily on the Baloch oral tradition when discussing the history of the Baloch. The chapter begins with providing basic facts about Balochistan’s geographical locations, and tribes, their types and their locations. The next section looks at the history of the Baloch. In this section, an attempt has been made to separate the information about the people and the land which appears in “outsider sources,” although it is too limited, from what the Baloch sources provide us. Also, an attempt has been made to make sense of the relationship between the Khanate of Kalat and the tribal sardars and the relationship between the Khanate and the Afghan rulers, followed by a section on the Baloch tribal system, its core features, principles and players. The last section sums up the chapter.

BALOCHISTAN: BASIC FACTS

In terms of geography, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan, covering 134,000 square miles of the territory; at the same time, it is the least populated province of Pakistan.

Geographically, Balochistan is divided into three parts: north, central and south Balochistan. The Baloch are divided into seventy main groups and more than four hundred subgroups. However, the most prominent and significant of the Baloch groups include the Suleman Baloch or the Eastern Baloch and Makran Baloch or the Western Baloch.

The Suleman Baloch or the Eastern Baloch comprise tribes of Bugti, Buzdars, Dombkis, Kaheris, Khetrans, Magasis, Marris, Mugheris, Rind, and Umranis. The Makran Baloch or the Western Baloch comprise tribes of Dashti, Gichki, Kandai, Rais, Rakhshani, Rind, Sangu, and Sangrani.⁵ The Rind tribe, the direct descendant of the eldest son of Mir Jalal Khan, the father of all Baloch and named after him, is considered to be the most prominent of the Baloch tribes. Other notable tribes are the Bugtis and the Marris.⁶ The Brahuis constitute another significant group. Within the Brahuis, there are three main groups: the core Brahui group includes the tribes of Ahmadzai, Gurguari, Iltazai, Kalandari, Kambrani, Mirwari, Rodeni and Sumalari. The other two are Jhalawan Brahui and Sarawan Brahui. Among the Brahuis, the Ahmadzais hold the highest prestige, perhaps due to the fact that it was the Ahmadzai Brahuis who established the Khanate of Kalat in 1666.⁷ When exactly these tribes were formed is not clear. Take for instance major Baloch tribes such as Marri, Bugti, Mengal, Buzdar, and, Leghari. One finds no mention of these in Baloch poetry, indicating that at the time of writing of the classical poetry, these did not exist.

Among these tribes, there are serious differences, rivalries and feuds. Some of these feuds have a long history. Widely known tribal feuds in Balochistan include Bugti vs Kalpars and Ahmadan Bugti sub-tribes, Bugtis’ feuds with Mazaris and Raisanis, Gazinis vs Bejranis, Marris vs Loonis, Hameedzais vs Ghaibezais, Rind vs Raisani and Suleman Khels vs Lawoons. Due to the tribal nature of the Baloch society and these feuds, the emergence of the unified leadership of the Baloch is not possible. Every tribe and the tribal sardar primarily works for his tribe.

The Baloch: Origin and development of the Baloch tribes

Who is a Baloch? What is the origin of the Baloch? What exactly is the meaning of the word Baloch?⁸ These questions could not be satisfactorily answered, at least not any more. One explanation which has wide validity among the Baloch, especially the nationalist Baloch, is that the word Baloch was derived from Belus. According to the Baloch tradition, Belus was the title for the Babylonian kings. Nimrod, one of the most famous Babylonian kings, was called Nimrod the Belus. Muhammad Sardar Khan, a Baloch historian, claimed that Nimrod’s followers were called Belusis.⁹ The generally held view among the Baloch historians is that Belusis became Balos in Arabic. Balos further changed to Baloch.¹⁰

Late Akbar Bugti, apart from being one of the strongest Baloch sardars, was also credited to be an authority on Baloch history. He was reportedly in possession of the largest and perhaps the oldest collection of Baloch poetry, including the Daptar Shaar (Chronicle of Genealogies). He once opined that there is no need to glorify the Baloch past or link it to one great personality from history or another. He criticized those Baloch nationalist historians (Gul Khan Naseer, Inayatuallah, Taj Mohammad Breseeg, Malik Muhammad Saeed Dehwar, etc.) who link the Baloch to Babylon or claim that the Baloch are the descendants of the god, Baal and/or Nimrod. He wrote:

I cannot understand why they shy away from the fact that the Baloch as a national group do not find mention in any history prior to the advent of the Christian era, and they never set up any empire nor made conquests of any consequence. At the most, they must have been simple nomads and pastoral people who led an uncomplicated life roaming the vast steppes of central Asia in search of sustenance.¹¹

However, Late Nawab Akbar Bugti was in minority, perhaps singular in presenting this simple and uncomplicated account of Baloch history. Most Baloch believed otherwise. Baloch poetry including the daptar Shaar that dates back to the time of Chakar the Great, a legendary Baloch ruler (1479–1524 A.D.), described the Baloch as:

We (the Baloch) are followers of Ali, firm in faith and honor through the grace of the Holy Prophet Lord of the earth. We are the offspring of Amir Hamza, victory rests with God’s shrine. We arise from Halab and engage in battle with Yazid in Karbala and Bampur, and we march to the town of Seistan.¹²

One can infer from this passage that the Baloch, or at least some of the Baloch, were originally Shia. This fact is acknowledged by Rai Bahadur Hatu Ram. In his book on the history of the Baloch, Hatu Ram claimed that that was the case in the past, but since the 1800s, almost all of the Baloch are Sunni Muslims.¹³ He, however, is silent on how exactly and when this conversion took place.

Firdosi, in his epic Shahnama, described the Baloch as¹⁴

An army of the Baloch & Kouch (Brahui).

bred and ready like Ewes.

They never turned their back to the battlefield.

They were armed to teeth – not even a finger uncovered.

Their brave heads could reach the glaring Sun.

Mir Khuda Bux Bijrani Baloch claimed that the Baloch, just like the Kurds, originated in Aleppo (Haleb) in Syria. The Kurds settled in the present-day Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, whereas the Baloch moved south and eventually settled in the present-day Pakistani and Iranian Balochistan.¹⁵

Baloch historians¹⁶ emphasize the bravery of these Baloch and the epic wars they fought to defend their freedom and territory against the forces of the mighty empires of the time. For instance, the Baloch not only defended themselves against the advancing Sasanian forces during the reign of King Ardeshir but also raided deep into the Sasanian territory. One of the greatest battles of all time was fought between the Baloch and the mighty Persian Empire’s army during the rule of one of the greatest and mightiest Persian Kings: Anosheervan. According to the Baloch sources, Anosheervan, fed up with the continuous Baloch defiance against him, personally led a Persian army against the Baloch. However, Baloch historians¹⁷ do not shed much light on the actual fighting of this battle, and there is almost no authentic and/or independent historical record of this event to ascertain the outcome of this “one of the greatest battles of all times.”

Vara Pishin-anha (valley of Pishin) is the first ever menti...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Routledge Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part I Baloch and Balochistan through history
• Part II Centre–Province (Islamabad–Balochistan) relations post-independence
• Conclusion
• Epilogue
• Bibliography
• Index