Baluchistan

The Baluch

  It has been estimated that the present population of Baluch, is more or less 25-30 million. The Baluch is one amongst the few state-less nations in the contemporary world, majority of the Baluch are dwelled in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A large number of Baluch live in Diaspora mainly in the Gulf States and small a population in the European countries.

Baluch society is organized around tribal social organisation.  The language the Baluch speak is the Baluchi the language is a member of Indo-Aryan languages. The main dialects of Baluchi language are termed as Mekurani, Rakhshani and Eastern Balochi. In central Baluchistan many Baluch tribes of Brahui origin speak a dialect, which is believed to be a compound of Balochi and a Dravidian language.

Baluchistan

Baluchistan accurately means the land of Baluch is strategically situated at the eastern edge of the Middle East, links the newly independent Central Asian States with Iran, Indian subcontinent, the Gulf  and Indian Ocean. Presently Baluchistan is divided into the three parts. A part of Baluchistan is under the Iranian occupation, another and the biggest part under Pakistan and less populated part is under Afghan sovereignty.

 Baluchistan is an ancient inhabited lands with thousands year history of civilization, it is a land of contrast. Much of its landmass of 695,380 square km is a high barren plateau 1,000 to 1,500 meters (3,000 to 5,000 feet) above sea level, covered by various mountain ranges; it has desert lands stretching hundreds of miles. The proximity of more or less than 1500 km coastline in the south lies the semi- deserts of Makuran, the ancient Gedrosia that virtually defeated Alexander the Great by thirst and hunger when he marched through it on his way from India to Mesopotamia.

 In the west of Baluchistan, lies the Iranian salt desert, the Dasht-e Luth that separates Persia from Baluchistan. There is an insufficient rainfall, which ranges between 3 to 12 inches annually. Baluchistan has hottest climate in places where temperature shoots up to over 120 °F, as well as coldest places where temperature falls down much below freezing point.

In between the mountains and dry land and huge deserts are beautiful fertile valleys. Wherever water is available the fertile fields produce various types of agricultural products (Date, Cotton, wheat, barley, potato, sugar beet, and rice and various other fruits).   Baluchistan natural gas reserves provide all the energy requirements for Pakistan’s domestic and economy, the Baluchistan also has unexplored mineral resources of oil, gold, Iron copper, aluminium, lead and chromium.

The archaeological explorations have included Baluchistan as one of the oldest inhabited areas of the earth. The region had commerce with the ancient civilizations of Babylon, India and Central Asia.

The early history of the Baluch epoch was marked with the loose tribal union’s formation.  Different Baluch tribal unions were linked through trade and agricultural and animal products. They cooperated politically and interacted socially and united militarily whenever they faced with a common external threat. There were three centres of powers, Kalat the Capital in central Baluchistan, Bumpur in the western Baluchistan, Kech in the southern Baluchistan.

The Khanate: The Baloch Confederacy

During the sixteenth century internal feuds and constant infighting between various tribes loosened the bonds between various tribes. Subsequent period witnessed an era of anarchy and chaos throughout Baluchistan. Such a state of affair continued till seventeenth century when in 1666 AD, Mir Ahmad, the leader of a Brahui tribal confederation founded the Ahmadzai Khanate of Kalat. The restorations of Kalat State concurrence with the decline and disintegration of Safavid, Mughul and Afghan Empires and the simultaneous rise of British colonial power in India. Baluchistan and the Khan survived various attempts of different powers of the times to dominate Baluchistan till 1948.

 The Khanate of Kalat at the height of his power united the entire Baluch land of present day Pakistani Baluchistan, the Iranian and Afghani Baluchistan. The Baluch landmass extended from Afghanistan's western district of Farah in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. From west it stretches from the present Iranian province of Kerman and the Luth Desert to the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh in the east.

The Khanate improved the version of old tribal unions till arrival of British colonial in Baluchistan. The khanate did not bring any changes in the general tribal setup. The tribal alliance was broad-based, with tremendous powers allowed to tribal chiefs, who recognized the Khan as their sovereign and contributed revenue to him and a fixed contingent of armed men in time of war. Although the tribal chief was selected through the general consent of the clan headmen, the office of the Khan was hereditary, a generous ruler of a loosely decentralized tribal confederacy. A council of advisors representing the major tribes and allied people assisted the Khan.

The Khan was the head of the confederacy.  The main sources of income of the State were the collection of taxes from port of Karachi and taxation from Bolan Pass and coastal trade.  Taxations on agricultural and associated products were fixed between one-tenth, one-third, and half of the produce depending upon distance and area concerned.

The land was usually the property of the tribe with few exceptions. The land could be confiscated if the tribes failed to supply a specific number of men and material in times of wars. The bureaucratic institutions were organised on the same model, as were organised in the neighbouring countries during that period.

The Khanate foreign policy was a coexistence with all the neighbouring states. Baluchistan was a buffer between Persia, Afghanistan and Sindh or later the British India. Baluchistan was the neighbours of powerful Persian Empire, the rising Afghanistan and powerful British Empire in India.  Khan Naseer Khan (1745-1795) in a attempt to prevent the danger emanating from Persia extended alliance with the Afghan ruler Ahmed Shah.

The Fall of Baloch Confederacy

The Baluch fortune changed considerably by the beginning of mid 19th century the causes of change were the powerful historical events in Asia and Europe. The Russia was pushing southward, the decayed Persian Shiite Empire was trying to reinvent its lost glories and England was struggling to contain Russia and consolidate its position in Europe and in colonised world. The Russian aspiration for Arabian Sea warm waters, the revival of Persian nationalism and British hard work to push off the Russian thrust southward were the reasons caused collateral damages followed the territorial division of Baluch land and consequent destruction of the sovereign Baluch State.

After the Khanate of Kalat declined to be party into foreign aggression against Afghanistan, occupation of Baluchistan became compulsory for England to safeguard the supply line for British army in Afghanistan. An English army attacked capital Kalat on 13 November 1839. Khan, Mir Mehrab Khan was killed in battle.

From 1839 onward the British consolidated their power in Baluchistan. The British imposed treaties on Baluchistan. The treaties gave the British the rights of safe passage through Baluchistan (1839), the right to stationing of troops (1854), the right to extend Indo-European telegraph line through Baluch Coast (1863) and various other agreements gave the Britain  major economic and territorial concessions. The part of northern Baluchistan and Bolan Pass were leased out to Britain that renamed the British Baluchistan.

An important and consequential treaty was signed in 1876 between Khan, the tribal chiefs and British authorities in Delhi. Under the agreement, the Khan's authority was accepted over the region, but it was to be administered by the British in accordance with local customs.

Partitioning Baluchistan

 After the death of Khan, Naseer Khan 1794, and geopolitical events reduced Khanate to a subordinate position, the central control of Khanate on Baluch chieftains began to loosen. The Iranian encroachments on western Baluchistan began during the reign of Qajar King Nasir-al Din Shah (1848-1896). In 1849, an Iranian army defeated Baluch forces in Kerman and captured Bumpur. The Iranian expansions increased after the extension of Indo-European telegraph line from Karachi to Gwadar and then up to Jask in western Baluchistan in 1861. By the time of completion of that line in 1870, Iranian forces had advanced very far in Western Balochistan. In order to neutralise Persia and to prevent Persian not to side either with Napoleon or the Czar of Russia the Britain granted a portion of baluchistan to Persia.

 In 1871, the British Government appointed Maj. General Goldsmid as Chief Commissioner of the joint Perso-Baluch Boundary Commission. In 1871 Persian and British Governments excluding the Khanate delegate from the final joint meeting that took the decision agreed upon a boundary line. This line dividing Western and Eastern Baluchistan is called "Goldsmid Line" forming the present international boundary between Pakistan and Iran. In 1893, a similar arbitrarily drawn line "The Durand Line" demarcating the Afghan and British Indian borders gave a large part of Baluch land in northern Baloch regions of Helmand and Nemroz into Afghan sovereignty.

Resisting Foreign Domination

The Baluch in the Western Baluchistan are in constant revolt against the Persian domination. The revolt of Jask (1873), of Sarhad (1888), and the general uprising in 1889, resulted in the burning earth policy to suppress Baluch rebellion by Iranian forces in 1889. A major uprising under Baluch chieftain Sardar Hussein Narui in 1896 prompted a joint Anglo-Persian expeditionary force to crush the rebellion. The rebellion was crushed after two years and Narui chief was arrested.

  After the death of Muzzafar-al Din Shah the Qajar dynasty rule was also weakened. The Baluch tribal chiefs in the west Baluchistan under the Persian occupation began to consolidate their powers on their territories. In the first decade of twentieth century, Bahram Khan gained control of almost the entire central and southern part of Western Baluchistan. In 1916, the British recognised Baranzai as the effective ruler of Western Baluchistan.  Mir Dost Mohamed succeeded Mir Bahram Khan. Mir Dost Mohamed's attempts to consolidate Baranzai power went with time of Rise of Reza Shah to power.

 In 1928 the Iranian force attack western Baluchistan and reoccupied western Baluchistan. The war was continued for seven months and the Persian army defeated the Baluch army and eventual Mir Dost Mohamed surrendered, thereafter the Western Baluchistan was finally annexed with Persian shiite Empire.

Accession to Pakistan

Pakistan, a state which was created in 1947, has its ideological, theoretical and political foundation on the premises of the existence of a Muslim nation in the sub-continent distinct from other inhabitants of the country and as such they are entitled to achieve a sovereign status by carving out a new country putting together the areas of northern India and East Bengal as a Muslim country governed by Muslims. This fallacious political and ideological slogan was coined by the British rulers in India to divide the sub-continent and to have a foothold in the new found country as a counter measure to rising Soviet Communist influence in the East. Baluchistan, which was a sovereign and independent state, was amalgamated into the new state under the British new scheme of territorial changes in the sub-continent in the wake of partition. Firstly a considerable portion of Baluch land was merged with Pakistan under the pretext of a controversial referendum in June 1947 and then the state of Kalat was coerced to join the new state in March 1948.

The British authorities in India did always consider Baluchistan as an independent and sovereign entity and never as part of the Indian subcontinent. The 1854 and 1876 treaties between British government and the Khan of Kalat  recognised Baluchistan as a sovereign country outside India. In the partition plan of 3 June 1947, both Pakistan and the British had accepted Kalat State's sovereignty. After the British withdrawal plan for India was announced the Viceroy of India entrusted the responsibility of deciding whether British Baluchistan should join Pakistan, to the members of Shahi Jirga and members of Quetta Municipality. This decision was in contravention of all international laws, as the area called British Baluchistan was leased out to British India by a treaty agreed upon by the sovereign Baluchistan and Britain. And after British withdrawal, the area should have been handed over to Baluchistan. On the objection of Khan of Kalat, the British agreed that the question of the sovereignty over the leased areas would be discussed between the representatives of Pakistan and Kalat. But with the obvious  assistance of British Assistant to Governor General in British Baluchistan, a controversial and much manipulated referendum was held in Quetta in 29th of June 1947. It was announced that the British Baluchistan has opted to join Pakistan.

On 4th August 1947, a three parties agreement was signed between Pakistan, the British and Baluchistan called, The Standstill Agreement, in which the sovereign status of Baluchistan was accepted. The article I of this agreement stated that: the Government of Pakistan recognises the status of Kalat as a free and independent state which has bilateral relations with the British Government, and whose rank and position is different from that of other Indian states."

The Khan declared Baluchistan independent on 12th August 1947, two days before the independence of Pakistan. The Khan affirmed his intention to build Baluchistan as a prosperous sovereign country in which Baluch could retain their identity and live in accordance with their traditions. It will establish relations through treaties of friendship with neighbouring states of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan as well as with India and outside world. Soon after the independence elections were held to Baluchistan bi-cameral legislature and a period of tranquillity and peace ensured in the country.

In the mean time Pakistan began to pressurise the newly independent Kalat State to join Pakistan and an uneasy calm appeared in relations between Kalat and Pakistan. Talks between Pakistan and Kalat dragged on for fairly a long time. Pakistan continued to harass the Khan and Baluch State machinery on various pretexts. Pakistan was engaged in conspiracies and underhand tactics to compel the Khan to join Pakistan. On 26th March 1948 Pakistan army was ordered to move into Baluch coastal region of Pasni, Jiwani, and Turbat. This was the first act of aggression prior to the march on Capital Kalat by Pakistani military detachment on 1st April 1948. The Khan capitulated and on 27th March and it was announced in Pakistani capital that Khan of Kalat has agreed to merge his State with Pakistan. Under the constitution of Kalat, the Khan was not authorised to take such a basic decision. The Baluchistan assembly had already rejected any suggestion of forfeiting the independence of Baluchistan on any pretext.

The forceful merger of Kalat State with Pakistan ended three hundred years of independent and semi-independent Baluch State from the map of the world. This was one of the epoch-making events in the history of the Baluch people and their country. The sovereign Baluch State after British withdrawal from India lasted only 227 days. The murder of Baluch State sent shock waves throughout the Baluch world. A short-lived rebellion by the younger brother of the Khan was brutally crushed by Pakistan army and the leader of the uprising Prince Abdul Karim was imprisoned.

Baluch have never reconciled with the idea of their country being incorporated in the religious fundamentalist state of Pakistan. Since the merger of Kalat State into Pakistan, the Pakistani authorities have been treating Baluchistan as an occupied land excluding Baluch people from all structures of state establishment. They are compelled to accept an alien language of northern India as the national language. The Baluch have been economically excluded causing majority of Baluch people to live below poverty line. The natural resources of the land are being exploited on an unprecedented scale. Several military operations to quill the Baluch national uprisings since the merger have widened the gulf between Pakistan and Baluch people.

Iranian controlled Baluchistan,

In the Iranian controlled part of Baluchistan, Baluch are rapidly loosing their identity. Previously Baluch dominated regions of Bandar Abbas, part of Kerman, Seistan and Zabol are the most affected areas of the assimilation efforts of Persian State. Now in all these areas Baluch are in minority, even the capital city of Zahidan does not look like a Baluch city. Baluch in Iran are completely excluded in the structures of political, social and economic powers of the country. Dissemination of Baluchi culture and language is a declared act of treason against the Persian State and is dealt with brutal measures.

 Many army garrisons are permanently stationed in Baluch areas, Baluchistan presenting a picture of army zone. Baluch areas in Pakistan are one of the federating units comprising Pakistan and named as the province of Baluchistan with Quetta as the capital city. In Iran some of the Baluch areas such as western Makuran, Sarhad and Seistan were named as province of Seistan and Baluchistan with Zahidan as the capital city.

Afghanistan

 In Afghanistan the Baluch are concentrated in the south western districts of Nemroz, Farah and Helmand. In these three hosts countries Baluch people have been resisting the subjugating manoeuvres of these countries from time to time with political and armed campaigns but never been succeeded.

 

Appendix

During the 1365 the first Baluch tribal confederacy was formed by Amir Miro mirwani , he united the tribes of Sarawn, Jahalawan, Kharan , Makran and Nushki areas and was chosen the Head of the Confederacy . British library file; (IOR/1/34/60 1934 on the constitutional history of the Kalat state)

M.sarjov,

For the further reading on Baluchistan “A history account from the beginning to the fall of Baloch state” please read the Nasser Dashti Book; the Baloch and Balochistan.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T0Jg3q33mkgC&dq=the+baloch+and+Balochistan+by+Naseer+Dashti&hl=en&sa=X&ei=a30iUabMOOKi0QXc14DYBA&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA