Many Baloch people live a nomadic life (Shutterstock)

The Baloch are an ethnic group mostly concentrated in the Balochistan region, distributed among the countries of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, with minorities in other regions such as India and the Gulf states. Their literature indicates a common ethnic origin that unites them, despite the succession of many empires that ruled their regions over thousands of years, and they are distinguished in terms of language, culture, and social systems from all the ethnic groups neighboring them.

They complain of marginalization, especially in Pakistan and Iran, which they believe were forcibly included, making them a minority. With the middle of the twentieth century and the discovery of natural gas in the Baloch areas, several armed movements emerged demanding independence.

Members of the Baloch community in their traditional dress during Baloch Culture Day, March 2, 2016 in Quetta (Shutterstock)

Race and ancestry

The Baloch, who are distributed over three countries, believe in the common origin of their ethnic group, and talk about a genealogical tree that links them to the Arab Quraish tribe, and another that indicates their descent from the descendants of the Babylonian king Belus, while Dr. Taj Muhammad Brisk believes in his book “Baloch Nationalism: Its Origins and Development” that the Baloch embraced and assimilated They include other small groups, making them a nation with different ethnic backgrounds.

Some historical sources indicate that they were a nomadic group who then practiced agricultural activities and settled in their current concentration areas known as the Balochistan region, which is also believed to have been an area inhabited by a mixture of Iranian and Indian peoples.

There are no accurate official statistics for the number of Baloch people, but the population in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, which is inhabited by Baloch and Pashtuns, reached 21.9 million people in 2023, according to government statistics, while the population of Iranian Sistan and Balochistan reached two million and 700 thousand people, according to statistics in 2016. While Some statistics estimate the Baloch population in Afghanistan to be more than 600 thousand people.

the language

The Baloch speak a common language known as Balochi, which is rich in vocabulary, idiomatic expressions and literary heritage. It has its own rules and is divided into two main dialects: They are: Eastern Balochi and Western Balochi, and are classified among the Iranian Indo-European languages.

Social system

The social system of the Baloch is based on the clans that belong to the tribe, and the number of their tribes is estimated at hundreds. During the British colonial era, a royal council was created that includes the tribal secretaries (leaders/sheikhs).

The tribal social system is still dominant among the Baloch, despite the emergence of political parties and Pakistani attempts to abolish it by force of law.

Hand-stitching traditional Balochi clothes (Shutterstock)

Heritage and customs

The Baloch share common customs, songs, and traditional clothes. Although their groups in Sindh and Punjab no longer speak Balochi, they sing traditional Balochi songs at wedding ceremonies, and share with them the traditional clothing “Balochi Dog” (Balochi tailoring), and other things that distinguish them. About the nationalities you live among.

Baloch folklore and folklore are described as nationalist in content, and share the glorification of the deserts and mountains of Balochistan and the courage, pride and honor of the Baloch people and their semi-mythical heroes.

Balochi traditional clothing in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan (French)

Debt

The Baloch adhere to the Islamic religion according to the Sunni school of belief, and most of them follow the Hanafi school of jurisprudence.

Baloch land

Most of the Baloch people live in the Balochistan region (the name means the land of the Baloch), which is located in the far south-eastern part of the Iranian plateau, and is bordered by the Indian plate to the south and the coast of the Arabian Sea to the west. It includes areas of southwestern Pakistan in what is known as the Pakistani province of Balochistan, and its capital is the city of Quetta, and southeastern Iran is It is known as Sistan Baluchestan, its capital is Zahedan, and parts of southern Afghanistan, mainly in Nimruz, Helmand, and Kandahar province.

Saji Al-Balushi is a popular food prepared by Baloch people in Pakistan using charcoal flames and heat (Shutterstock)

The region has important resources, including natural gas and gold, and is considered of great geographical and strategic importance as it connects 3 countries and overlooks one of the important trade routes in the joint economic corridor project between China and Pakistan, through the port of Gwadar, located on the Arabian Sea, which is described as allowing China to control on trade in the Indian Ocean, and poses a threat to American, Arab, Iranian and Indian economic interests.

While some Baloch reside in areas of India, the Arab Gulf states, and others, and despite their distribution, the Baloch maintain their unity as a nation with cultural and social commonalities.

the date

Some historical studies say that the Baloch are the indigenous inhabitants of the Balochistan region for thousands of years, while other historians believe that their origins are Arab, and they moved from Arab lands to live in those areas about 2,000 years ago.

Their living area was subject to the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, then the Indian Empire, and was also subject to the rule of the Macedonians, Ghaznavids, Seljuks, and Mongols, then it was subject to the control of the Sassanian Persian Empire, then to the control of the Rai dynasty in Sindh, and in 644 AD, the Muslims defeated the Rai dynasty in the Battle of Russell and invaded Makran, so that Baluchistan was subject to rule. Islamic.

Baloch people in Iran during a ceremony marking Nowruz (Persian New Year) north of Tehran on March 14, 2022 (Getty)

Starting in the 16th century, Balochistan was divided into areas of control between the Safavid Persian Empire to the west, and the Mongol Empire to the east. After the collapse of the two empires, Balochistan was divided into small emirates, some of which fell under the control of Afghanistan with some independence. Among these emirates: the Emirate of Qalat, which is currently located in Balochistan. Pakistani.

After the British occupation of the Indian subcontinent, the parts of Balochistan located within the territories of Pakistan and Afghanistan were annexed, and the other part remained under the control of the Persians in Iran, and the borders between Britain and the Iranians were drawn in 1871.

A celebration in Iran to commemorate the Sunni Baloch, Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen who lost their lives in the Iranian Revolution in 1979 (Anatolia)

Struggle for independence

On August 12, 1947, the Emirate of Kalat declared its independence, and after Pakistan gained independence in the same year, they established relations in the field of defense and foreign affairs. However, Pakistan soon annexed Kalat to Pakistan in 1948, and according to the Baloch rebels, the Khan of Kalat, who represented the leadership, was forced to sign Accession Treaty.

The Baloch military rebellion against Pakistani rule appeared in the fifties, sixties, and seventies of the twentieth century, and then returned strongly after Pervez Musharraf came to power and created military barracks in Baloch land. The state of marginalization in the region, which is rich in natural resources, intensified the tension.

Folk traditional clothing of Baloch men (Shutterstock)

Among the most prominent Baloch separatist groups that fought against the Pakistani state: the Balochistan Liberation Army, the Balochistan National Army, and the Balochistan Liberation Front.

On the Iranian side, Baloch rebel movements emerged as a result of marginalization with some sectarian backgrounds. Among the most prominent groups active in Sistan-Baluchestan (located within the Iranian borders) are the Jundallah group and the Jaish al-Adl group, which are separatist movements with a Sunni religious tendency, and some historians believe that they are linked to the organization Al-Qaeda.

As for Afghanistan, its successive regimes maintained a stable relationship with the Baloch nationality, which enjoyed civil rights, including education in their mother tongue, to the point that it became described as a haven for separatist leaders from Pakistan and Iran.

Source: Al Jazeera Center for Studies + websites