Balochistan (region)
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Major ethnic groups in Pakistan and surrounding areas, in 1980. The Baloch are shown in pink. |
Balochistan or
Baluchistan is an arid region located in the
Iranian Plateau in
Southwest Asia and
South Asia, between
Iran,
Pakistan and
Afghanistan. The area is named after the numerous
Baloch (or Baluch, Balouch, Balooch, Balush, Balosh, Baloosh, Baloush) tribes, an
Iranian people, who moved into the area from the west around 1000 A.D. All natives are considered Balochi even if they do not speak
Balochi;
Pashto,
Persian, and
Brahui languages are also spoken in the region. The southern part of Balochistan is known as
Makran.
Balochistan's landscape is composed of barren, rugged mountains and fertile land. During the summer, some regions of Balochistan are the hottest in
Pakistan. Most of the land is barren, and it is generally sparsely populated. In the south - the
Makran - lies the desert through which
Alexander the Great passed with great difficulty.
The original inhabitants of ancient Balochistan, and other regions of
Pakistan, were the aborigine tribes speaking languages related to
Munda languages. The
Dravidians are thought to have migrated from the
Iranian plateau and settled in Balochistan and the Indus valley around 4000 BCE. The
Brahui living in Balochistan still speak a Dravidian language, thought to be a remnant from this earlier susbtrate. The Indo-European
Indo-Aryan peoples migrated from what is now Afghanistan and surrounding areas starting around 2000 BCE, and settled in all regions of Pakistan. Later, these Aryan groups would become the
Pakhtuns and the various
Dardic and other tribes that currently populate the region. Before the arrival of the Baloch, the region was populated by
Pashtuns and
Brahuis. The Pashtuns are now concentrated in
Sibi,
Bolan,
Quetta,
Pishin,
Killa Abdullah,
Killa Saifullah,
Loralai,
Zhob,
Ziarat and
Harnai. Many Brahuis live in
Kalat. Nearly all of Balochistan, and ancient Pakistan, was part by the Persian
Achaemenid dynasty that ruled the area for over two hundred years beginning in 540 BCE. In 326 BCE,
Alexander the Great defeated the king
Porus (Paurava) at the
Hydaspes near
Jhelum and annexed the area to his
Hellenistic empire. After Alexander's death and brief
Seleucid control, Balochistan remained part of the Persian empire. During the Arab conquest of the Persian empire in the 8th century, Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world and many settled in Balochistan and its tributory state until the rise of the
Mughals. Numerous
Baloch tribes, an
Iranian people, moved into the area from the west in the 11th century to escape the
Seljuk Turks. Western Balochistan was conquered by Iran in the 19th century, and its boundary was fixed in 1872. Omani influenced waned in the east and
Oman's last possession,
Gwadar, was bought by Pakistan in
1958. In 1998 Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in the Pakistani province of Balochistan.
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Balochistan (Iran)*
Balochistan (Pakistan)*
Conflict between Pakistan and Baloch warlords in Balochistan
