Introduction:

To know and study a race, certain factors should be investigated: It’s language, literatures, epic and mythological literature, ethnology, and anthropology. The present paper tries to study the Baloch race through linguistic, historical, and epic resources.

I will mention some of the features in the Baluchi epics: Horse: In the Balochi epic. Horse is mentioned as the twin of the hero and as complementary to the hero, because the horse carries out what the hero cannot do. The hero talks to the horse as a brother, a friend, and a company. One of these heroes is Hammal, the son of Jiyand. To fight Cakar Kwelwayl, the hero expects his horse to do certain things which are expressed by the poet as follows: Crossing the ditch the horse even sympathizes with the hero for his sadness. For instance, in the anthology of Chakar and Gohram, when the hero looses his sister, poet Sholan mentions the hero rides his sad horse. On the whole, for Baloch's, the horse has been important in both peace and war, and it has been impossible to imagine a hero without a horse, or living without a horse. As you know, in the national epic, a lot of heroes and their horses have been mentioned including Rostam and Rakhsh( Ibid, pp.53-54).



Hero’s sin and defeat: In the Baloch epic, one of the factors which causes the hero’s defeat is his own sin or the sin committed by one of his close relatives such as brother, sister, or wife. Due to the sin, the hero is defeated and sometimes killed; for instance, the sin committed by Hammal’s sister causes his death. The tale goes as follows:

Hammal’s sister washed and combed her hair on a Saturday, and according to the baloch’s ideas, washing and combing the hair on a Saturday is ominous. Thus, due to this sin, Hammal is captured and killed while fighting against Portuguese( Ibid, p.58).

Similarly, in the Iranian epic, the Saton deceives Tahmoreth’s wife and realises the weak point of Thamoreth and defeats and kills Tahmoreth in the narrow passage of Alborz( Bahar,!983, p.152). Thus, it can be said that the Balochi literature is based on Aryan-Iranian thinking and ideology.

The Race and migration FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=baloch culture"



To study the race, the original residence, and the later residence of the Balochs, one can obtain information from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh which is the oldest document in this regard. Shahnameh mentions about Balochs in both mythological and epic parts. In the mythological part, the word Baloch is used for the first time in Keykavoo’s army commanded by Syavoosh who fights against Afrasiyab (Shahnameh, 1967,vol.3,p. 42& vol.4, p.28). Ferdowsi uses the word Baloch. In the mythological part, when Keykhosro returns to Iran from Chine, Makkoran is the place where he asks for help( Ibid, vol.5pp346-349). According to the poems in shahnameh, it can be concluded that: 1. Balochs are one of the Iranian tribes like Persians and Gilaks. 2. Balochs are related to Gilan and sarooch plain. 3. In makkoran (southern part of the present Balochistan), there was another tribe who fought against Keykhosro. During this battle, the king of makkoran was killed and his country was looted. 4. In these battles, Ashkesh, who was the Baloch’s commander, had key role, and as it is mentioned in Shahnameh, Keykhosro asked Ashkesh to stay in Makkoran for a while( Ibid). Thus, it can be said that Balochs came to Balochistan since that time; this not mean that all Balochs migrated to Balochistan at that time, but it means that, that migration has been their first movement to Balochistan. A part form the historical period, Shahnameh mentions about Balochs even in Sasanids dynasty, but not in Balochistan, in the northern parts of Iran. Since Anoshirvan, the Sasanids king, massacred the Balochs,(ibid, vol.8, p.pp.74-75) they migrated to the middle and southern part of Iran.

A Parts from the references to the Balochs in Sahnameh, historians and geographers of the first periods of Islam have referred to the Balochs. All of them living in Ghofs Mountains and are shepherds. They maintain that Ghofs was located at the south of Kerman and east of Fars(Balazari,ed by Mohammad Tavakkol, 1988,p.382 &Hodoode al alam men al mashregh al maghreb, ed by Manoochehr Sotoodeh,1983, p.127). However, these historians and geographers do not mention any thing about the residence of the Balochs in Makkoran when Islam conquered the area. As you know, Makkoran was conquered at the time of the second Caliphe, and was imagined as a dangerous area by the Muslim Arab rulers( Balazari, 1988, p.6059. At the time of the second Coliphe, Balochs used to live in the mountains on the south- east of Kerman ( Daneshvar, 1976, p. 14-15). If, according to Shahnameh anecdotes, Muslim historians and geographers, Balochi language and epic poems, we consider the Balochs as Aryans, when have the migrated to the Balochistan? Scientists such as Burton, Larsen, shpigal and langworth Dyms know the Balochs as Aryans and decisively defend this idea. Ethnologists confirm this idea as well; they way the Balochs used to fight, the form of their noses, their height, their complexion, their bones and teeth, their hair colour, and their eye colour are all similar to those of Aryans( Dames, 1990, p.9).



Dames believes that Balochs are Aryans who are extremely influenced by Cancasians and their residence encompassed central Europe, central Asia, and Hendokurh heights. Dames also believes that Balochs migrated to Macran and Indian borders from Iranian platue in the north and west of Iran where other Iranian nomads such as Bakhtiaries used to live. In other words, the origin of Balochs can be searched in the coast of the Caspian Sea ( Hoshang,1991,pp.191-192). It is likely that their first migration took place after the suppression by Anooshirvan. From that time to the invasion by Saljooks, Balochs lived around Kerman. Dames is well informed of the value of mythological resources of Balochi, but he does not consider them as valid resources of the history of this race, and that is why he enriches those resources with Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, writings of Iranian, Arab, and Indian historians. He explains the later process of the Balochs migration in three steps:

The first step was the Balochs migration from Kerman and their settlement in Sistan and the west of Macran, which was contemporary to the invasion by Saljooks, and the overthrow of Dialemah and Ghaznaris.



The second step was the movement towards the east of Macran and the borders of Send were contemporary to the invasion of Changiz Khan and the wandering of Jaleldin Kharazmshah. The third step was the emergence of the Balochs in the Indian plain and this step started with the invasion by Taymoor, which was later, extended by the invasion of Babar and Arghavans (Ibid, pp193-194).

Other Ideas about Baloch Race. However, certain scientists have expressed different ideas about the racial origins of the Balochs, which I will mention by way of summary:



1. Pottinger and Khanikof consider Balochs as one of the Torkman races, and Khanikof believes that Balochs resemble Gharghizes.

2. Holdich (1899) consider Balochs as one of the Arab races.

3. Bellow considers Balochs from the Rajpoot race (Ibid, P.190).



Among these ideas, the idea expressing that Balochs are Samees has the most proponents, such as Holdich and Rawlinson. Certain Baloch historians like Mohammad Sardar Khan also support this idea. Prof. Ravlinson says, “Baloch Mofress Baloo was the King of Babylon and was the same as Nemrood the son of Kush whose name is mentioned in the holy book. Baloos and Kush have changed into Baloch and Kooch, and the valley called (Ka?) or (Kaj) or (Kye?) has taken its name from the same words. Besides, at Sasanids, Balochistan was called (Kussun) which is likely to have been derived from the word Kush (Sayks, 1984,p.127). Holdich, also considers Balochs as Arabs based on the epic Baloch Poetry during history. But it is clear that, at Sasnids dynasty, when Shahpoor Zool Aktaf was in power, some Arab tribes were massacred and some migrated from the Arab Peninsula. One example is Banibeker-ebnvael who was exhiled to Kerman (Balami ed by Maleko Shoara-e- Bahar, Vol.2, p.909). Like wise, at the time of Umavian, certain groups of Arabs called Azaregheh commanded by Atbah-e-bn-e-Asvad rioted because they accepted neither Ali nor Moaveeah. Fighting against Iraqi ruler named Molheb-ebn Abi-Safareh, they were defeated and escaped to Balochistan and Kerman, and it is said that tribes such as Sabooki, Zeinediny, and Gabool are the decendents of those rioting Arabs ( Vaziri , 1985, Vol.1,p.282-288) It is likely that referring to the migration from Halab after the event of Karabala in Balochi epics is related to that migration. It is also likely that Balochs migrated into Macran due to the pressure made by Muslim Arabs.



It is noteworthy that both versions of the Balochi epic (i.e., the northern dialect and the southern dialect of Balochi) refer to a common ancestor for the two important tribes of Baloch; i.e., Rends and Lasharis. In the northern version, Hamzeh, the uncle of holy ancestor of Balochs. Some Balochs even believe that they are the offspring’s of the marriage between Hamzeh and an angel, and that some of them were present in the event of Karbala and fought against Yazid ( Dames,1986, p.109);and then they were made to Given the time when the event of Karbala happened (i.e. 61.A.H.) and the death of Hamzeh in the war Ohod, it is clear that the abovementioned claim is nothing more than an allegation because if the Balochs had been the children of Hamzeh, it would have been impossible for them to change into a tribe in number. However, it can be claimed that since Balochs were Muslims and they wanted to relate themselves to a well-known holy person, they found Hamzeh as the best choice.

All these issues and the marriage between Arabs and Balochs caused the Balochs to consider their origin from the Arab race.





Conclusion:



In the present paper, by referring to the ideas of historians, orientalists, Achaemnian inscriptions, Pahlavi texts, and Persian and Arabic sources the books of Muslim historians, geographers, and Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh as well as Balochi sources including epics, folklore, and etymology of the word “Baloch”, I suggested that Balochs are an Aryan-Iranian tribe who have migrated from the northern parts of Iran to the south-east platue of Iran which is called Balochistan due to different reasons. It was also mentioned that Balochistan, like other nations of the world, have intermingled with their neighbours, invaders, and other races such as the aboriginals of the area, Kushanis, Sakas, and Arabs.



Balochistan was a part of Iran from its beginning to the 19th century. Then it was divided into three parts and among three countries by the British, namely Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Although Balochistan was divided among those three countries and although some Balochs migrate to Turkmenistan, Arab countries around the Persian Gulf, the east of Africa, and the south-east of Asia, they all have a common culture and language which are based on an Aryan-Iranian features.



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