Rich Baloch culture, a feast for Lok Mela visitors

The organizers have allocated spacious space to all the provinces for showcasing their indigenous folk culture in a creative and interactive manner.

The Balochi pavilion set up by the Balochistan Culture Department in collaboration with Lok Virsa catches the visitors’ eye with presentation of the richness of Balochi culture, arts, crafts, folk music, rituals, traditions, cuisine and folk entertainment.

The Balochistan pavilion is located at the centre of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pavilions. When one enters into Balochi pavilion through the beautifully designed gates and arches showing typical Balochi culture and architecture, he feels himself in Balochistan.

The Balochi contingent includes 50 craftspeople, 20 folk artists & musicians and four folk dance groups each comprising 10 to 15 dancers/performers. Master artisans are Kaneez Fatima, Malukan Bibi, Aziz Fatima,Natasha, Hazar Naz, Umeeda Bibi, Husna Bibi, Sajida Khan, Saba, Marzia Khanum, Kubra, Rukhdia & Rukhsana Bibi in Balochi embroidery, Muhammad Iqbal & Manzoor Hussain in carpet weaving, Muhammad Siddique & Muhammad Akram in *Khaddi* (handloom) weaving, Miral, Dilshad, Tariq Mehmood & Abdul Khaliq in leather work, Malai in needle work, Muhammad Hassan in leather embroidery, Rozi Khan in Balochi chappal (shoe) making and others.

Among them, female craftswoman Kaneez Fatima is a 42-year-old artisan of Balochi embroidery. Being an educated artisan, she has carried on this centuries’ old tradition from her mother and devoted years of her life to this art.

Kaneez stands out not only for her excellence but also in her tireless propagation of his ancient art by imparting it to the future generations.

Some of her apprentices have reached high professional levels while practicing their art. She has been participating in Lok Mela for the last 15 years and had been awarded several times with cash and certificates.

Balochi dance group are Pushtoon Athan dance party, Leva (camel dance) party, Balochi Chaap party Noshi and Balochi Chaap party Kharan. They entertain the onlookers regularly with their distinctive attire and unique dance moves.

Balochi artists and musicians performing at the pavilion include Amanullah, Hunoor Bux, Saal Muhammad, Behar Ali, Abdul Wahid, Ali Ahmad, Muhammad Saleh, Allah Dad, Saeed Ahmad, Gul Sher, Asghar Ali, Shahzada, Ashiq Hussain and Mashooq Hussain. A large number of music lovers, in particular from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa attend thrilling performances of the Balochi folk singers daily and praise for their talent.

When we talk about Balochi traditional cuisine, we cannot ignore “Sajji” which is the speciality of this mountainous region. Residents of Rawalpindi-Islamabad are thronging to the Balochi food daily and some were listened appreciating its unique taste.

Talking to media, Lok Virsa’s executive director Khalid Javaid said “it is our utmost effort to promote and preserve indigenous folk culture of Balochistan province. We have already taken a number of steps in this respect including establishment of a Lok Virsa’s children folklore society in two schools of Sibbi with a view to inculcate awareness among youth about their cultural heritage.

A proposal is also under active consideration to hold a folk festival in Quetta or any other city of Balochistan in near future, which will not only showcase Balochi culture but also cultures of the entire country”. ED Lok Virsa appreciated the role of Ministry of National Heritage & Integration as well as Norwegian Government for their generous support to his organization in playing its due role for this national service.

Commenting on the festival, a visitor Rashid Amin said “One can see here the glimpses from every corner of Pakistan created in the lush green surroundings of Shakarparian hills, contributing significantly to enhance the stature, beauty and landscape of the federal capital”. Another visitor Afsheen endorsing his viewpoint termed the event as a symbol of the federation’s recognition of and patronage to our rich cultural diversity and active participation of the people of Pakistan.

Criminal gangs dealing in drugs, guns, kidnapping and land scams with some of them even enjoying patronage from assorted political outfits and groups are a common sight in the narrow, crooked and overpopulated streets of Lyari.

But all this was not a sudden phenomenon emerging in the last decade or so. Nor is this all what Lyari is about.

Lyari also has a rich political and cultural history; a history that, rather ironically, has to be understood for anyone trying to make head or tails of the constant social and political turmoil and strife this large, awkward locality has been experiencing almost on a daily basis now.

First in line

Lyari is by far the oldest locality of Karachi having begun life centuries ago as a small fishing village.

The locality always had a large Afro-Indian/Pakistani population (Sheedis).

The Sheedis are believed to be the descendants of slaves, sailors, servants and merchants from East Africa who arrived between 1200 and 1900 AD.

In what is today Pakistan, these slaves largely settled along the Markran Coast in Balochistan (they are also called Makranis) and in lower Sindh.

Linguistically, they speak variations of Balochi and Sindhi and (in Karachi) they are also known to have created a distinct dialect of Urdu referred to as ‘Makrani’ in which Urdu words are mixed with Balochi and Sindhi expressions and even popular English terms, manly picked up from British and US films and TV series, are also regularly used, mostly in a tongue-in-cheek way.

Most Sheedis in Karachi were and still are associated with the fishing business (as fishermen, sailors and small boat operators). They also constitute the largest labour force employed at the Karachi port and harbour.

Over the years, especially after the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Lyari also began to witness the influx of Pushtuns, Sindhis and Mohajirs (including Memons) and (in the last 30 years), many working-class Afghans, Bengalis and Burmese migrants have also settled here.

The area is a working-class reflection of the stunning ethnic, religious and sectarian diversity that is the hallmark of Karachi’s bulging cosmopolitanism and indigenous secularism.

But Lyari is also the area that hardly benefited from the industrial growth and economic progress that Karachi enjoyed between the 1950s and early 1980s.

In fact by the late 1960s Lyari was well on its way to becoming a modern, urban slum.

The right stuff

A young Lyari girl in a traditional ‘Makrani dress’ at a wedding. –Photo courtesy South Asia News.

But all this did not just produce a locality riddled with only crime, violence and economic desperation. The equation of poverty, overpopulation, diversity, crime, radical politics and the presence of a majority having a proud African lineage also gave birth to a working-class polity, spirituality and aesthetics that have generated a unique cultural scenario.

It is this mix that has correctly painted a perception of Makranis as being open-minded, large-hearted, hard-working people who speak a distinct slang-riddled version of street-Urdu and are passionate about football, boxing and the movies.

Some of the best international level boxers in Pakistan have almost all emerged from Lyari and same is the case with football. It is also perhaps the only area in Pakistan where these two sports actually overshadow cricket!

A majority of Makranis belong to the so-called Sunni ‘Barelvi’ school of faith – an indigenous sub-continental variation of ‘folk Islam’ that emerged in the 18th century as a reaction against the rise of puritanical Islamic movements.

Barelvi Islam is not a concrete doctrine. In essence it is highly decentralised and anti-dogma. It connotes the practice in which sub-continental folk mores are fused with the ritualism of Sufi Islam and the pluralistic and ‘poor-friendly’ culture of devotional music, charity and festivity found around shrines of Sufi saints across Pakistan and India.

Most Makranis of Lyari are the devotees of the legendary 12th century Sufi saint, Pir Mangho, whose shrine in the Mangopir area of Karachi is believed to be one of the oldest in the city.

The shrine also has hot sulphur springs and a large pond where the shrine’s keepers have harvested crocodiles for hundreds of years. Feeding these reptiles is considered to be a celestially ordained and beneficial ritual.

The Makranis come here in their hundreds, especially during the birth celebrations of the saint. Here they re-enact the dancing, musical and devotional rituals of their African ancestors.

Between the late 1970s and 1990s Lyari also produced its own music scene, popularly known as ‘Lyari disco’.

Music has always played a major role in the lives of the people of Lyari, both in the spheres of faith and entertainment – especially music driven by pounding and rhythmic drumbeats.

One of the first areas outside the privileged populace of Karachi to embrace the invasion of classical American and European disco music of the late 1970s was Lyari.

Two Lyari football fans in Brazilian soccer jerseys. -Photo courtesy Akhtar Soomro.

Throughout the 1980s dimly-lit small recording studios sprang up in Lyari where talented young Makrani men and women would record bouncy Balochi tunes that fused basic disco beats with traditional Balochi and African musical dynamics.

First the resultant albums were almost entirely bought and sold in Lyari but a massive ‘Lyari disco’ hit by one Shazia Khushk (a Sindhi) helped the genre to break out and turn Khushk into a national sensation.

The song was ‘Bija Teer Bija’ – recorded (at a Lyari studio) and released in 1988, it was a funky, driven tribute to the charismatic chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Benazir Bhutto.

The song was first used by the PPP during its electoral campaign for the November 1988 general election.

People’s power

Recently, Lyari has been treated by the media as an area whose politics is rather complex. This is mainly due to the growing influx of working-class people belonging to various ethnicities settling here. With them have arrived attempts by different political parties close to these ethnicities to carve out a vote bank for themselves in Lyari.

Also related to this is the way street crime, land scams and politics have mixed in Karachi in the last two decades in which street thugs and gangs have been used by political parties to generate funds and garner votes.

The complexities in this respect are further heightened when some gangs and criminals ‘become too big for their boots’ and become an embarrassment for the parties, especially when gang warfare conducted purely on criminal grounds become politicised due to the gangsters’ past or present association with political parties.

In the last few years, Lyari has become a hotbed of this particular phenomenon in Karachi. Otherwise, its politics has remained rather uncomplicated.

Ever since the 1970 general election, Lyari has been an unbending vote bank of the PPP. The party has won every national and provincial election that it has contested from Lyari from 1970 right up till the 2008 election.

The credit for this goes to PPP chairman, Z A. Bhutto and his party’s original socialist manifesto that resonated successfully with the people of Lyari.

The populism and socialist policies of the first PPP government (1972-77) were hugely popular with the voters of Lyari, but the PPP and the Bhuttos became enshrined as perpetual heroes here after Bhutto was toppled by a reactionary military coup orchestrated by General Ziaul Haq and then hanged to death through a sham trial in 1979.

Lyari witnessed a number of violent protests against the Zia regime throughout the 1980s, many of these turned into armed conflicts between the police and youth belonging to the PPP’s student and youth wings.

Shrine keepers feed one of the many crocodiles at the shrine of Pir Mangho. -Photo courtesy AP

Lyari also became the breeding ground of radical left-wing politics and activity during the dictatorship. A number of young residents of Lyari were jailed and some were even hanged for their supposed involvement with Murtaza Bhutto’s Al-Zulfikar Organisation (AZO) and other supposedly clandestine ‘communist outfits.’

On her return from exile in 1986, the first large rally that Benazir Bhutto held in Karachi was in Lyari. Her marriage to Asif Ali Zardari also took place in Lyari (1987).

To date, though parties like the MQM, ANP, Sunni Tehreek and some militant Baloch and Sindhi nationalist parties have opened offices here, the PPP support base and vote bank remains steadfast and secure in Lyari.

Attempts have also been made by puritanical Islamic evangelist groups like the Tableeghi Jamat to recruit young poverty-stricken Lyari residents, but the Jamat’s attempts have failed to bag much interest.

Gangland

Lyari is also known for gang-related violence. Though wild and often deadly, many Lyari gangsters have ultimately been portrayed by most Lyari residents as victims of their circumstances; some have even been casted as Robin Hood like characters in Lyari’s many urban folklores.

The first well known gangster here went by the name of Kala Naag (Black Serpent). He was active in Lyari in the 1960s, peddling hashish and running a network of pickpockets.

Kala Naag who emerged from poverty to become a toughie ‘trained’ two angry young men from the area, Sheru and Dadal. Both men were huge American movie fans, loved to drink whisky, smoked hashish and made a living by selling black tickets outside cinemas.

Donkey cart racing is a highly popular sport in Lyari. Bets are placed on races that begin in Lyari and end on the beaches of Karachi’s Clifton area. -Photo courtesy Akhtar Soomro.

They began to encroach upon Naag’s business and became rivals. Gang fights between their individual groups became common but in which only fists and knives were used. Then in 1967, Kala Nag was killed while fleeing the cops.

Sheru and Dadal battled it out between themselves until the arrival of Kala Nag’s son, Allah Baksh, also called ‘Kala Nag 2 (sic).’

Till the early 1980s, Lyari gangsters were largely involved in the trafficking of hashish, in bootlegging and street crimes. However, with the arrival of large quantities of sophisticated weapons and heroin, brought into the city by the large number of Afghan refugees pouring into Pakistan at the wake of the so-called anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan, changed that.

Changing rules of the game and growing poverty and population in Lyari meant the emergence of deadlier criminals. Kala Nag 2 joined hands with one Iqbal Babu and brushed aside Sheru and Dadal.

Nag 2 and Babu’s new opponent was Haji Lalu. All of them were now arming their gangs with sophisticated weaponry and had begun to peddle heroin as well.

Lyari was distributed between Babu and Lalu, both of whose groups are also said to have had provided safety to anti-Zia radicals on the run from the police.

A video grab showing members of a radical Baloch outfit replacing the Pakistan flag with a Bloch nationalist flag at a college in Lyari.

Lalu’s gang and the gang operated by Babu and Kala Nag 2 were constantly battling in the streets of Lyari. Extortion had become big business. Babu hired Hanif Bajola, a contract killer to kill Lalu. Simultaneously, Lalu was training his friend Dadal’s orphan son to make a hit on Babu.

Meanwhile, Dadal’s teenaged son, Rehman (Rehman Dakait), entered the fry to take revenge for his father’s downfall engineered by Babu and Kala Nag 2.

Lalu’s son, Arshad Pappu also arrived on the scene. Yet another generation of Lyari gangsters was in the making.

Rehman’s anger was used by Lalu against Kala Nag 2 and Babu. Nag was arrested by police (in 1991), whereas Rehman and his men mowed down a large number of Babu’s thugs, including four of Babu’s sons.

In 1996 Babu was arrested and put behind bars. So was Rehman, but in 1997 he managed to break out and escape. He was now at loggerheads with his mentor Lalu who was put behind bars in the early 2000s, leaving his son Arshad Papu to run his gang.

Rehman Dakait now replaced with uzair Baloch

For almost a decade after this, Rehman and Papu’s gangs battled to enforce their authority over Lyari’s deteriorating crime scene. This was also the first time when Rehman and Papu were said to have developed links with the PPP and MQM men in the area.

Rehman engineered the formation of the Peoples Aman Committee, a charity organisation that distributed money and food to the people of Lyari and was also patronised by the PPP. But the committee was also manned by Rehman’s thugs in the extortion and kidnapping business.

In 2009, the PPP, now back in power, felt that Rehman was becoming too big for his boots. It looked the other way when Karachi police shot dead Rehman.

In 2011, when the Committee, now under Uzair Baloch, got embroiled in a deadly tussle with thugs patronised by the MQM, the PPP’s Sindh government banned the committee.

Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com

Education

Mir Gul Khan Nasir studied until Fourth Grade in his village. For further studies he was sent to Quetta where he got admission in Government Sandeman High School. After passing his matriculation examination from this school, he went to Lahore in order to pursue a higher education in Islamia College Lahore. During his second year in Islamia College, a piece of coal went into Mir Gul Khan’s eye due to which he had to discontinue his education and return to Quetta. Lahore, at that time, was the hub of knowledge and political and social activities. The political, cultural, social and literary movements in Lahore made quite an impression on Mir Gul Khan Nasir. When he returned to Quetta Balochistan was split into several parts namely The Chief Commissioner’s Province and The Balochistani princely states. The province of Balochistan was under direct British rule while the Balochistani States was indirectly controlled by the British through the Tribal Chiefs (sardars) and rulers,whom they had bought. In this situation the rulers of Balochistan were in no hurry to make the state progress and better the lives of its inhabitants. Because of these conditions Mir Gul Khan Nasir stepped into politics in order to join the other leaders who were fighting to liberate the people of Balochistan from the Imperialist powers.

Boxing

When he went to Lahore, Mir Gul Khan Nasir saw the students taking part in different sports so he immediately tried out for the college football team and was selected. But with time, he got interested in boxing and began learning the sport. It didn’t take him long to become quite good at it. His height (above 6’00″) also provided him with an advantage in the game.

“Boxing helped Gul Khan Nasir get out of many a tight spot in his life” – Aqil Khan Mengal^[1]

After his training, Mir Gul Khan began participating in boxing tournaments. In the All India Universities Boxing Championship he was the runner up. It was in this tournament that he broke his nose.^[2]

Anjuman-e-Ithihaad-e-Balochistan Anjuman-e-Islamia Ryasat-e-Kalat

In 1921 an organization named “Anjuman-e-Ithihaad-e-Balochistan” was formed to struggle for the rights of the people of Balochistan. When Mir Gul Khan Nasir came back to Kalat, he joined this organization and was an active participant in it. During this time he also briefly held the office of Vice-Minister of Jhalawan in Kalat State. By 1936 Anjuman-e-Ithihaad-e-Balochistan had become inactive so The Baloch youth formed another organization “Anjuman-e-Islamia Ryasat-e-Kalat”. Malik Abdul Raheem Khwaja Khail was elected the General Secretary of this organization while Mir Gul Khan Nasir was the President. Mir Gul Khan resigned from his designation as the Vice-Minister of Jhalawan in order to promote the new organization. Afraid of the popularity of the Anjuman, the political agents of Kalat conspired against the party and managed to have it banned in Kalat State.

Kalat State National Party

After the ban on “Anjuman-e-Islamia Ryasat-e-Kalat”, On 5 February 1937 the Baloch youth once again got together and formed a new political organization by the name of “Kalat State National Party” (KSNP). Mir Abdul Aziz Kurd was elected its President, Mir Gul Khan Nasir the Vice President and Malik Faiz Muhammad Yousafzai became the Secretary General. The Kalat State National Party was affiliated with the Indian National Congress. It played an important role in curbing the power and influence of the Tribal Chieftains or Sardars, abolition of cruel and unusual taxes imposed on the poor by the Sardars and formation of a democratically elected Parliament fashioned after the British Parliament on Kalat State’s independence. The KSNP had several ups and downs with the Khan of Kalat. At first most of the top leaders of the party such as Abdul Aziz Kurd, Faiz Muhammad Yoyusafzai, Gul Khan Nasir, Abdul Rahim Khwajakhel etc. were serving as government officials. In 1939, during an annual session of KSNP in which Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo was also taking part as a representative of a Karachi-based political party, some thugs sent by the local sardars tried to disrupt the rally by firing at the participants. After that all the members of the Party who had government jobs resigned and were arrested. This was the incident which caused Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo to join the KSNP. After some time the Khan reconciled with the KSNP leaders and re-employed them as government officials. Once again tensions rose between the KSNP and the Khan of Kalat and this time the KSNP leadership resigned for good never to work as government servants again. Paul Titus and Nina Swidler in their book “Knights Not Pawns: Ethno-Nationalism and Regional Dynamics In Post-Colonial Balochistan” write:

The Khan attempted to play off nationalist and sardari differences by maintaining his authority as the traditional head of the Balochi tribes while appealing to the leaders of the Balochi nation. This was not always possible, and by 1939 the activities of the nationalists had so antagonized the sardars and British that they pressured the Khan to declare KSNP illegal in Kalat State. The ban on the party was lifted after World War II, though antagonism between the sardars and nationalists remained.In March 1946, for example the Balochi activist poet Gul Khan Nasir was expelled from Kalat State following complaints to the agent to the Governor-General in Balochistan from the Badini, Jamaldini and Zagar Mengal sardars. They claimed that Nasir and other activists had created disturbances in the town of Noshki by making speeches charging that the sardars were appropriating and selling local residents’ wheat rations.

Muslim League

After Kalat’s accession to Pakistan in 1948, the KSNP broke up. The Khan of Kalat, Mir Ahmedyar Khan joined Muslim League after the accession but was hesitant to do it alone so he sent Mir Ajmal Khan to Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo and Gul Khan Nasir to persuade them into joining the Muslim League with the Khan. Both Gul Khan and Ghaus Bakhsh thought that joining the ML would provide them the platform they needed to raise the voice for Kalat’s rights. But within days they realized that they would never be able to achieve what they wanted while they were in the Muslim League. So they left the ML never to turn back to it ever again.^[4]

In the years that followed, Pakistan went through many changes. In 1954 the Communist Party was banned in Pakistan and then in 1955, all the provinces of West Pakistan were merged into one unit. In these conditions the Baloch ethnic nationalist politicians under the leadership of Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Mir Gul Khan Nasir, Agha Abdul Karim Khan (the brother of Khan of Kalat), Mohammad Hussain Anqa and Qadir Bux Nizamani^[5] formed the “Usthman Gal” which is Balochi for “The People’s Party”. Agha Abdul Karim was elected as the President of this party.

Pakistan National Party

In 1956, the “Usthman Gal” was merged into the Pakistan National Party which also included “Khudai Khidmatgar” from N.W.F.P, “Azaad Pakistan Party” from Punjab, “Sindh Mahaz” from Sindh and “Woror Pashtun” from the Pashtun dominated areas of Balochistan. In this way, the Pakistan National Party emerged as the largest Left-Wing Political Party in West Pakistan.

National Awami Party

In 1957, The PNP merged with Maulana Bhashani’s Awami League to form the National Awami Party. It was the principle opposition party to the military regime for much of the late 1950s and mid-1960s. The party split in 1969 into two factions, the head of one faction remained in newly formed Bangladesh, while the remaining faction became the principle opposition party to the rule of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The party was outlawed by the Pakistani government in 1975 and much of its leadership subsequently imprisoned for alleged anti-state activities.

1958–1960

During this period of Ayub Khan’s rule, most of the Baloch leadership including Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Gul Khan Nasir and Faiz Muhammad Yousafzai were arrested on different charges. They were imprisoned in Quetta’s Quli Camp which was famous for the inhumane torture of its prisoners. Here the Baloch Leaders were subjected to different kinds of torture. They were hung upside down from their feet and beaten, not allowed to sleep for days, laid facedown on the floor while soldiers jumped on their backs with army boots. By the time he was released, Mir Gul Khan couldn’t even walk straight.^[6]

This was a very important period for the politics of Balochistan because it was in these years that the young and dynamic Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal and Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri entered Balochistan’s political scene. It was also during this period that Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was sacked from his position as the Minister of State for Interior of Pakistan and arrested. As a result of this, he also joined the NAP.

1960–1970

During 1960–1970 the National Awami Party or NAP presented strong resistance to the Ayub Regime and for this reason, its leaders were constantly in and out of jail. In this decade Ataullah Mengal was catapulted to the top of the Baloch leadership because of his charismatic personality and Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri also earned a lot of fame because of his political philosophy. Mir Gul Khan Nasir went to jail around 5–6 times from 1962 – 1970. As a result of NAP’s struggle during this decade, the One Unit was discarded and Balochistan got the status of a province.

1970 Elections

In 1970, General Election were held in Pakistan in which the NAP managed to get a majority in Balochistan and N.W.F.P while the Pakistan People’s Party got most of the seats of Punjab and Sindh. Mir Gul Khan Nasir won a seat in the Provincial Assembly after defeating a big landlord of Chaghi.^[7] East Pakistan broke away from Pakistan and Bangladesh was formed because of controversy that arose over the election’s result. After the fall of East Pakistan, Bhutto wasn’t willing to allow the NAP form its governments in N.W.F.P and Balochistan. But as a result of extensive dialogue held between Z.A.Bhutto and Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, NAP was able to form coalition governments in both the provinces in 1972.

NAP government

In Balochistan Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal was elected as the First Chief Minister of Balochistan while Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo became the Governor. Gul Khan Nasir was a Senior Minister in this government and held the portfolios of Education, Health, Information, Social Welfare and Tourism. Later, Tourism and Information portfolios were given to other ministers. As the Minister of Education, Gul Khan managed to lay down the foundation for the Bolan Medical College^[8] which is, to this day, the only medical college in Balochistan.

During this time differences had arisen between Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and the rest of the NAP Leaders. Bhutto, who was looking for a way to remove the NAP government, saw this and used Akbar Bugti to dismiss the NAP government. The N.W.F.P government resigned in protest. Governor’s Rule was imposed with Nawab AKbar Khan Bugti as appointed as the Governor of Balochistan. Three months after the dismissal of the NAP government, Gul Khan Nasir was arrested on various charges before any other leader. In August 1973 Mir Gul Khan’s brother, Mir Lawang Khan died in an operation carried out by the Pakistani Military. Mir Gul Khan’s younger brother, Colonel (R) Sultan Mohammad Khan (who was the head of the Balochistan Reserve Police), was arrested the day he returned to Quetta after burying Mir Lawang Khan. Along with Colonel Sultan, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Ataullah Mengal, Khair Bakhsh Marri and Bizen Bizenjo were also arrested. Since all this happened during Akbar Bugti’s regime therefore the public sentiment was against him in Balochistan at that time. Mir Gul Khan Nasir wrote a lot of poems against Bugti during his imprisonment. Later, a commission known as Hyderabad tribunal, was set up and Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Gul Khan Nasir, Nawab Marri, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Syed Kaswar Gardezi, Habib Jalib and many others had to defend themselves in a treason case in front of the tribunal.

While in prison differences arose between the Baloch Leaders. After the ouster of Bhutto’s government by General Zia-ul-Haq, negotiations for the winding up of the Hyderabad tribunal and the release of all detainees was initiated leading to their eventual release in 1979. On their release, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Gul Khan Nasir and Ataullah Mengal brought back their followers who had taken refuge in Afghanistan while Khair Bakhsh Marri and Shero Marri, themselves, went to Afghanistan. Sardar Ataullah Mengal also left for London. Gul Khan Nasir and Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo joined Wali Khan’s National Democratic Party.

Pakistan National Party

After sometime, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo had a falling out with Wali Khan over the Saur Revolution of Afghanistan. Mir Ghaus Bakhsh and Mir Gul Khan left the NDP and formed the Pakistan National Party or PNP. Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo was elected as PNP’s President while Gul Khan Nasir became the President of PNP Balochistan. Even though Gul Khan had joined Mir Ghaus Bakhsh’s party, he was of the opinion that the Baloch should not be pushed into another term of turmoil by pitting them against the Martial Law Regime but rather they should be educated, trained and made ready for the future conditions that might change the situation and geography of the subcontinent. But Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo thought that the Martial Law should be fought head on to make democracy in Pakistan stronger. The Establishment, taking advantage of the situation, set the state machinery into motion and by using different tools, especially the media, aggravated the differences between the two leaders to the extent that Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo demanded a resignation from Gul Khan Nasir which Gul Khan refused to tender in. But after the lapse of some more time, Mir Gul Khan tendered in his resignation and concentrated all of his abilities towards his literary work.^[9]

Imprisonment

Mir Gul Khan Nasir was arrested on several occasions from 1939 to 1978 on many different charges, all of them pertaining to politics. He collectively spent almost 15 years of his life in jail.^[10]

Literary services

Mir Gul Khan Nasir wrote poems in English, Urdu, Balochi, Brahui and Persian. Most of his poems are in Balochi language. He was good friends with Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Once Faiz Sahib offered to translate Mir Gul Khan’s poems in urdu but Mir Gul Khan turned down the offer. Most of Mir Gul Khan Nasir’s Urdu poetry was written between 1933–1950 and there has bee no publication of his Urdu poetry to this date.

Mir Gul Khan’s poetry is filled with revolutionary and anti-imperialist themes and it reflects his progressive nature and socialist ideals. Mir Gul Khan Nasir was very much against the class differences that prevailed at that time, and still do. His poems exhibit his dislike for the chauvinistic attitude of the rich towards the poor. A famous quatrain of his goes as follows:

Balochi:

Wáhde pa ĝaríbáñ ki jaháñ tang bibít

Láp húrak, badan lúč pa badrang bibít

Haq int ča čušeñ wár o azábeñ zindá

Máří bisučant, sar birawant, jang bibít

Translation:

When the world starts to constrict around the poor man

His mutilated naked form is left to fend for his hungry gut

Then it’s better from this life of misery and torture

If war ensues, heads roll & lavish palaces are burnt to the ground

Bibliography
Mir Gul Khan wrote many books on history and poetry and translated several works from other languages into Balochi and Urdu. A list of some of his books is given below:

Gul Baang (1951) was his first collection of Balochi Poetry.
History of Balochistan (1952) (Urdu) Volume 1 – After much research Mir Gul Khan published this book which consists of 340 pages. It is a history of the Baloch Race and removes many mis-conceptions about the Baloch which were prevalent at that time.
History of Balochistan (1957) (Urdu) Volume 2 – This volume consists of 15 chapters and deals with the history of Balochistan from Khan Khudadad Khan to Khan Ahmed Yar Khan until 1955.
Daastaan-e-Dostain o Sheereen (1964) is considered to be one of the best books of Mir Gul Khan Nasir. In this book he has penned the classical Balochi Love Story of Dostain and Sheereen. In the preface of this book the famous Baloch author Azaat Jamaldini called Mir Gul Khan “The Great Poet of the Balochi Language”.
Koch o Baloch (1969) was a book in which Mir Gul Khan, through intellectual reasoning proved that the Brahvis and the Balochis actually came from the same race.
Garand (1971) is an important collection of Mir Gul Khan Nasir’s poems.
Balochistan Kay Sarhadi Chaapa Maar (1979) is an Urdu translation of General Dyre[disambiguation needed ]’s “Raiders of the Frontier” by Mir Gul Khan Nasir.
Seenai Keechaga (1980) is a Balochi translation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s Sar-e-Waadi-e-Seena by Mir Gul Khan Nasir.
Mashad Na Jang Naama (1981) – Mir Gul Khan Nasir completed this Brahvi book when he was a student in the 8th grade but it was published in 1981.
Shah Latif Gusheet (1983) is a Balochi translation of that part of Shah Abdul Latif Bhatai’s poetry which concerns the Balochs.

Posthumous Compilations

• Gulgaal (1993) is the ninth compilation Mir Gul Khan’s poetry.
• Shanblaak (1996) is Mir Gul Khan Nasir’s tenth collection of Balochi Poetry which also includes Urdu translations by himself.

Awards
Mir Gul Khan Nasir was posthumously awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz (President’s Award) in 2001 for his literary services. Other Sitara-i-Imtiaz winners that year were Dr.Ilyas Ishqi, Professor Dr.Allama Naseer-ud-din Nasir and Kishwar Naheed.

In 1962, when the USSR government decided to award Faiz Ahmed Faiz with the Lenin Prize, they also wanted to present Mir Gul Khan Nasir with the Prize but because of his (Mir Gul Khan’s) differences with the Ayub Khan Regime of that time, he wasn’t allowed to go to Moscow.[12]

Death

The final resting place of Mir Gul Khan Nasir in his native village Noshki.

Soon after resigning from the leadeship of PNP, Mir Gul Khan’s health deteriorated and he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Not having enough money, or accepting any from his relatives, he was not able to procure treatment in time. It was only after his condition became so bad that he could not leave his bed that he was taken to Karachi, where doctors, after checking him, gave him only a few days to live. Mir Gul Khan Nasir died on 5 December 1983 in the Mid East Hospital, Karachi. He was taken back to his village, Noshki, in a huge procession. On 7 December 1983 he was laid to rest in his village’s cemetery. The funeral proceedings were attended by a large number of people. Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Malik Faiz Miuhammad Yousafzai and other leaders were not able to attend because they were in jail, while Nawab Akbar Bugti’s movement had been restricted to Quetta. Ataullah Mengal and Khair Bakhsh Marri were abroad, in self-exile.[13][14][15]

References
^ Tapthaan Magazine. May–June 1990, p70.
^ “Warsa i Nasiriyat” by “Abdul Saboor Baloch” p39-40.
^ http://www.scribd.com/doc/4103792/Post-Colonial-Balochistan
^ Ashaaq Kay Kaaflay by Dr.Shah Mohammad Marri
^ Warsa-i Nasiriyat by Abdul Saboor Baloch
^ Mir Gul Khan Nasir: Shakhsiyat, Shairee Aur Fun pg56
^ http://www.pabalochistan.gov.pk/index.php/members/profile/en/19/79
^ http://www.dawn.com/2004/12/25/fea.htm
^ Mir Gul Khan Nasir’s Bitter Last Days by Lal Bakhsh Rind http://baask.com/diwwan/index.php?topic=4746.0
^ http://www.gulkhannasir.tk
^ “Yaro Mujhe Masloob Karo” (Friends, Crucify Me!) by Raziq Bugti. p47, line17
^ Details of Award in the book “Warsa-i-Nasiriat” by “Abdul Saboor Baloch” (http://www.baask.com/diwwan/index.php?topic=4379.0)
^ Mir Gul Khan Nasir’s Bitter Last Days by Lal Bakhsh Rind http://baask.com/diwwan/index.php?topic=4746.0
^ Warsa-i Nasiriyat
^ http://www.gulkhannasir.tk

QUETTA: Balochistan, usually associated with images of barren lands, mountains, deserts and political unrest, has a rich culture of arts and crafts which is still unknown to many Pakistani. One of the popular arts and crafts of the region is the Balochi embroidery, which is mainly done by women.

Exploring the culture of embroidery in Balochistan

While most of the motifs and designs of Balochi embroidery have been inspired by nature, some of the patterns take inspiration from the pottery of the Mehrgarh civilization, one of the oldest civilisations of the world, which once existed in the Bolan district of Balochistan, says Faheem Baloch, a lecturer at the University of Balochistan.

The art, which involves the use of threads, beads and tiny mirrors, has been passed down for many generations. “This is an integral part of the Baloch culture, which has been inherited by our ancestors,” says Mah Dem Baloch, who sells Balochi dresses to various shops in Quetta.

Intricacies of the art

The embroidery is considered by many as a Baloch emblem, distinguishing the culture of Balochistan with that of other ethnic groups. “The colourful and distinct embroidery patterns serve as ethnic markers, which differentiate Balochs from Pashtuns (Pathans), Punjabis and Sindhis,” adds Mah Dem, who hails from Makuran, better known as the Makran division, and has been involved in this business for the last 30 years. However, even within Balochistan, there are different embroidery designs and terminologies applied to garments from different tribes of the region. For instance, jalar, naal, kapuk and peri wal are popular in the Mekran division and kalati embroidery is attributed to dressing of people of the Kalat district. Meanwhile, Sibi, Mastung, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Bugti and Marri have their own unique designs.

Practice makes perfect

However, the art doesn’t just come naturally and women in Balochistan have to practise regularly to master the skill. These women usually set aside a few hours for embroidery after completing their daily household chores. Speaking about the process, Mah Dem adds, “The girls and older women in interior Balochistan do not use charts or diagrams but create extremely complex designs in a random manner. They are guided by family members and elders of the area.”

Meanwhile, tastes and preferences regarding the colour of embroidered clothes differ for people belonging to different age groups. Whereas young girls prefer wearing embroideries in bright colours, older women wear dark colours like blue, black or brown and it is compulsory for widows to wear black or dark colours.

Commercial value

While both hand embroidery and machine embroidery have great commercial value, Baloch women in Karachi give preference to machine-embroidered and printed embroidery. The most expensive among these dresses, which range between Rs15,000 to Rs70,000, are made for brides. “It takes six months to a year to make one such dress,” said Shoaib Shadad, Baloch linguist at Islamic University Islamabad.

The popularity is not restricted to just local cities as there is a huge demand for Baloch dresses in Gulf countries where the Baloch population lives, informs Yar Jan Badini, editor of a monthly Balochi magazine.

However, Shadad feels that women employed in the embroidery industry are exploited by retailers and dealers in cities, who pay them a very small percentage of the price of dresses.

Support from the government

Meanwhile, to save the art from dying, the Balochistan government has patronised the region’s embroidery by establishing training centres in some parts of Balochistan, mainly in Makran, Kharan, Rakhshan, Kalat, Mastung, Khuzdar and in addition to awarding monthly stipends to students. The training centres were handled by the provincial industries department and the directorates of small industries.

However, Shadad is of the opinion that the embroidery industry needs proper marketing as well as modification in terms of technology. The art demands efforts and time and it should be kept alive with more support and appreciation.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2012.

History and origin

The Baloch claim a mixed ancestry, asserting that they are descended, on the one hand, from Amir Hamza an uncle of the Prophet Mohammed and from a fairy (Pari), and on the other, from the Kurds living in the area of Aleppo, Syria from which they were expelled in A. D. 580 by the Sasanian Persian King Chosroes I Anoshervan. Their migration took them first to the area of Alborz Mountains and Qazvin to Kerman, then Sistan, and finally into Makran. In time, most of the territory of Makran has come to be known as Balochistan (“Land of the Baloch” in the Persian language). In the 13th century, some of the Baloch moved into Sindh (where they are known as the Sindhi Baloch) and also into Punjab.^[1]

Mir Jalal Khan was one of the Baloch historical rulers, and from his four sons— Rind, Lashar, Hot and Korai spring the four main Baloch tribes. The Jatoi are the children of Jatoi, Jalal Khan’s daughter. These main sections are now divided into innumerable septs. Historically, in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, the term Baloch denoted any Muslim camel-man. The word has come to be associated with the care of camels, because the Baloch settlers of the Western plains have taken to the grazing and breeding of camels rather than to husbandry.

About the beginning of the 16th century the Balochis were driven out of the Kalat valley by the Brahuis and Turks. Yielding to pressure they moved eastward into the Sulaiman Mountains, drove out the Pashtuns, and settled along the banks of the Indus. Three Baloch adventurers Ismail Khan, Fatteh Khan, and Ghazi Khan, founded the three Dehras (encampments) that bear their names, and established themselves as independent rulers of the Lower Derajat and Muzaffargarh, which they and their descendants held for nearly 300 years. The three brothers founded the settlements of Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan and Darya Khan. Thence the southern Balochis gradually spread into the valleys of the Indus, Chenab, and Sutlej, and in 1555 a large body of Balochis, under their great leader Mir Chakar, accompanied the Emperor Humayun into India. It is probable that many of the Baloch settlements, in North India (Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh), were founded by Humayun’s soldiers. Mir Chakar settled in Sahiwal and his tomb still exists at Satgarha, where he founded a military colony of Rinds.

Baloch of the Doab

Now the most important Baloch colonies in Uttar Pradesh are those of Amirnagar, Garhi Abdullah Khan, Garhi Pukhta, Jasoi and Baghra in Muzaffarnagar District. They settled in the district during the rule of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, and rose to prominence as the Mughal Empire disintegrated. Another two prominent Baloch families were those of Chanderu and Jhajhar, in Bulandshahr District. The Chanderu Baloch are descended from Nahar Khan, who is said to have from Seistan during the rule of Alauddin Khilji. Nahar Khan was latter appointed governor of Deccan, and his son Sardar Khan founded a settlement in Ganaura Shaikh, and the family rose to some prominence during the rule of the Aurangzeb. While the Jhajhar family claim descent from Syed Mohammad Khan, a Leghari Baluch, who was granted a jagir by the Mughal Emperor Humayun. They played a key role in the post-Mughal history of the Doab region, but began to decline with the rise of British power in the 19th century.^[2]

The Baloch of Haryana all emigrated to Pakistan at the time of partition. The Baloch now speak Urdu and the Khari Boli dialect, and are found in the Doab region of Uttar Pradesh.^[1]

Baloch of Rohilkhand

The Baluch of Rohilkhand accompanied Hafiz Rahmat Khan, Rohilla conqueror. They have now been assimilated into the Rohilla community, and lost their distinct Baloch identity. The Rohilkhand Baloch belong mainly to the Magsi, Leghari and Mazari tribes. These Baloch are found mainly in the districts of Badaun, Bijnor, Shahjahanpur and Moradabad.^[1]
There is also a single settlement of Baloch in Lucknow District, at Baluchgarhi. These Baloch are descendants of mercenaries brought by the Nawabs of Awadh.^[3]

Present circumstances

The Baloch of North India are now altogether separated from the Baloch tribes of Balochistan and tribal divisions are no longer important. They are found in the districts of Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshar and Aligarh. Their customs are similar to those of the neighbouring Muslim communities such as the Jhojha and Ranghar. The Baluch reside in mixed caste villages, occupying their own quarters, and are largely small and medium sized farmers, with a small number being landless agricultural labourers. Their most important settlements are in several villages in and around the town of Baghra in Muzaffarnagar District. A second cluster of Baloch villages exist in Bulandshahr District, where there are several villages near the towns of Jhajhar and Chanderu. In addition, the town of Faridnagar in Ghaziabad District is home to an important colony of Baloch. They are strictly endogamous, marrying within close kin, and like other North Indian Muslim communities. The Baluch practice both cross cousin and parallel cousin marriages. They speak both Urdu and Khari Boli, the local dialect in the Doab region of Uttar Pradesh.^[4]

The Baluch are almost entirely Sunni Muslims, and like other Doab Muslim communities have been influenced by the Deobandi reformist movement. They have no formal caste association, although most villages with Baloch do have traditional caste associations, known as panchayats. These panchayats exercise social control, and are deal with intra community disputes.^{[citation needed]}

The Baloch of Balochgarhi in Lucknow District considers themselves simply as a sub-group of the Pathan, with whom they intermarry. They speak the Awadhi dialect, as well as standard Urdu. The community are mainly small and medium sized farmers, although historically many were employed by the state police. They have no connection with the Baloch of the Doab. There are also small number of Baloch colonies in Sitapur, Kheri and Hardoi. Many of the Awadh Baloch are Shia.^[3]

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baluch_%28Uttar_Pradesh%29

KARACHI: Walking into a session on Balochistan, one would expect a discussion and questions on human rights violations, separatist talk and where the government is going wrong. But the session titled ‘Songs of the Falcon: Balochistan’ at the second day of the Karachi Literature Festival on Sunday was anything but that. In fact, it was a talk on the cultural diversity and brief history of the province, and quite dull if summarised into one word.Named after a short story by Russian author Maxim Gorky, the session was moderated by author and political commentator Dr Rasul Baksh Rais, who spent more than 15 minutes with the introduction and presenting the first question to the panel of Naheed Azfar, Zobaida Jalal and Yaqoob Bangash.

Jalal, who was the education minister during Pervez Musharraf’s tenure, focused more on personal accounts for her answers. Her answers therefore drew on the Makran region, where she comes from, and even when it came to discussing civil society, she chose to mention the construction of a school by her family and how Balochistan focused more on community-based organisation.

Naheed Azfar’s talk on the other hand was more focused on the cultural side of the province, differences in dress, jewellry and a personal account of Baloch hospitality, which left a section of the audience clapping and cheering. This obviously wasn’t very interesting for Bangash, who was seen yawning on stage during one of her answers.

As it turned out, Yaqoob Bangash was a lot more engaging and interesting than the other two panellists – he did exactly what he was good at: give a history lesson to the audience.  Perhaps if the organisers had chosen Bangash to moderate the session, it would have gone differently.

His ‘lesson’ focused more on the history of British Balochistan, the state of Kalat and Baloch tribes existing in both Balochistan and Sindh (mention of the Zardari tribe also being Baloch had Jalal smirking on stage).

Bangash said that it was important to understand the diversity of the province and engage with it, a creation of a state that can hold together. “The reason we don’t understand Balochistan is because we don’t understand what is going on there.”

He was quick to point out that the problem lay with not honouring the Baloch. “You have to engage and honour them, admit past mistakes and tell them that we want you to remain with Pakistan… they will get on board.” Thus, the Baloch will become a part of a national discourse if they are given the opportunity. Probably the most interesting part of the session was not Bangash’s history lesson, but an angry gentleman from the audience who pointed out that the historian was wrong in presenting the geographical history of the province and that the people who knew Balochistan were not being given their rights. The gentleman also directed his ‘mild rage’ towards Jalal, stating that language was a cultural expression of the province and she had not even given its people the right to learn in their mother tongue during her tenure.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th, 2012.

Chabahar: A Sunni cleric was assassinated in Iran’s south eastern province of Balochistan, the state-run Press TV reported, without citing anyone.

Molavi Mostafa Jangizahi, who was the Friday prayers leader of the southeastern town of Rask, was killed by 2 unknown motor rider while on the road traveling to Haji Abad, the news channel said in a report published on its website yesterday. The report er from Press TV said no group has claimed responsibility for the assassination.

Jangi Zehi advocated unity between Sunni and Shia Muslims, Press TV said. The Sistan-Baluchistan province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east and is one of the country’s poorest. The Sunni-dominated province in the mostly Shiite Muslim nation has experienced political unrest and several attacks on military officials in recent years.

The historic speech made by late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo as leader of the house in the Darul Awam on 30th December 1948 formed the quintessence of that Baloch national consensus. However, within a year, the government of Pakistan engineered the accession of Kalat and its subsidiaries — Kharan, Mekran and Lasbela — to Pakistan by means of series of coercive actions, the historical fallout of which survives till today in the shape of popular resentment against the real and perceived sense of injustices meted out to the people of Balochistan by successive federal governments in Pakistan.”

MAKRAN – A SUBSIDIARY OF KALAT

“About the middle of the last century the whole of Makran, as well as Kharan and Mashkhei, was conquered by Nasir Khan, the Khan of Kalat, and annexed to his dominions. He instituted a liberal system of government by which the administration was carried on jointly by a Naib, representing the Khan, and the local Gichki Sardar, between whom the revenues were divided in certain fixed shares.

“This arrangement seems to have worked satisfactorily until the Gichkis began to degenerate and the Naoshirwanis began to oust them by intrigues of every description. The Noashirwanis who occupy Kharan are of pure Persian stock. Kharan stretches from the Jhalawan hills to the Persian border, a country of long sandy valleys with but little cultivation; its inhabitants a righting, raiding, restless clan whose life was dependent on successful forays against the more settled countries of their neighbours.

“Sprung from a bold and determined race, filled with the sense of their own importance, and possessed of a much higher order of intelligence than the other ruling races in Makran, the younger members of the Naoshirwanis, as they found their shares in the ancestral property insufficient for their wants, have endeavoured to carve out for themselves fortunes from the property of their less energetic neighbours. But they differ from the Arab conquerors of the country in that whereas the Arab converted the land from desert to oasis, the Naoshirwani reduces oases to deserts.

“In 1888, led by Naoroz Khan, the Naoshirwanis raided Panjgur, and slew Mir Gajian, the Gichki Sardar, who was also the Khan’s naib. At this time Azad Khan was still head of the Kaoshirwanis. Sandeman thus describes him:

“‘In spite of his great age Azad Khan retains his mental faculties unimpaired. Bowed by age, he is unable to mount a horse without assistance, but, once in the saddle, his endurance is greater than that of many a younger man. Possessed of unflinching resolution, impatient of wrong, generous to reward, stern and relentless in punishment, Sardar Azad Khan has above all things enjoyed a reputation for unswerving honesty. He is never known to depart from his word once given, and has a sincere contempt for chicanery or falsehood.’

“Sandeman visited the country in 1884. Disputes between the Naoshirwanis and the Khan of Kej were adjusted, and before his death three years later, at the age of 101, the veteran chief had shown his friendship for the British Government by rendering valuable assistance in the matter of transport to the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission. He had also arranged, in cooperation with our officers, for the protection of trade routes.

“The Khan of Kalat, owing to his dislike of the Naoshirwanis was displeased with the settlement; he wished rather to establish his own power in an absolute form in Panjgur; therefore in order to get the Naoshirwanis into trouble he countenanced disturbances.

“Muhammad Hasan, Gichki, of Sami claimed the sardarship of Panjgur. He was aided by the Noshirwanis under Baluch Khan, and was enabled to keep the whole countryside in a distracted condition, causing damage to the resources of Panjgur, estimated at several lakhs, and reducing the unfortunate people to the extremity of wretchedness.

“In 1890-91 Sir Robert Sandeman again visited Panjgur, which was in a state of almost complete anarchy. Peace was introduced by the occupation of Panjgur by British Indian troops, but after their withdrawal in 1893, complaints were received of the misbehaviour of Muhammad Ali, the Khan’s naib, and in 1896 he was replaced by Kaoda Muhammad Khan, an influential and capable Baluch headman. The state of Kej was somewhat less disturbed, owing chiefly to the high character of the Gichki Sardar, Bhai Khan, and his influence with the tribes. But as the Sardar grew feeble with age the Khan’s Naoshirwani, Mir Shahdad, raised feuds in order to increase his power and lessen that of the Gichkis, great destruction of property and loss of life ensued, and the ruling power was brought into contempt. The attempt to manage the Rinds of Mand through the Naib and Sardar of Kej was also far from successful. They looted the caravans carrying the Persian trade, and it was impossible to exact from them any reparation for the damage caused by their raids. Mir Shahdad was replaced shortly afterwards by Abdul Karim, Gichki. In revenge for his supersession in the naibship, Mir Shahdad attacked and severely wounded a British officer, and then fled the country.

“So low had our influence in those parts sunk that, in 1890, Sher Muhammad, a nephew of Sardar Bhai Khan, openly defied the British Agent, and fired upon his camp from the stronghold of Nasirabad in Kej. Nasirabad had been held by one Mehrab Khan, who was expelled by Sher Muhammad. The two men were relations and disputed the right of ownership. In 1891, Sir Robert Sandeman decided in favour of Mehrab Khan, but required him to pay Sher Muhammad Rs.100 per annum compensation. In 1893 the latter forced Mehrab Khan to sell the fort to him for Rs.1,300 or about a quarter of its value.

“In 1896 the Khan of Kalat made a tour in the Makran country, accompanied by Lieutenant E. LeMesurier, Officiating Political Agent in Kalat, and by Mir Yakub Khan, eldest son of Sardar Sir Nauru Khan and by several leading men of the Sarawan and Jalawan tribes.

“The principal incidents of the tour were:

“(a) The surrender of the Nag fort in Kolwa by the sons of Baluch Khan, Naoshirwani.

(b) The surrender of the Nasirabad fort near Kej by Sher Muhammad Gichki.

(c) The arrangements initiated for the future administration, under the Khan’s orders of the districts of Kej (including Bolida, Kolwa, and Panjgur).

“At Nasirabad a jirga was assembled and, on their finding, Sher Muhammad was confirmed in possession of the fort on a payment of Rs.100 per annum to Mir Mehrab Khan.

“Having regard to Sher Muhammad’s turbulence in the past the Nasirabad fort was garrisoned by seventy-five Kalat sepoys, Panjgur also was garrisoned by twenty-five of the Khan’s troops, and the Nag fort was held by twenty levies. The Nazim was provided with an escort of twenty levy camel sowars.

“Afterwards Baluch Khan’s grandson, Muhammad Umar Khan, was made Naib of Kolwa, and was living with Baluch Khan at Hor Kalat, in 1898.

“Thus tranquillity was introduced into this wretched country. Yet in Panjgur, Kej and Kolwa the elements of disturbance still remained. In Panjgur the fear of Naoshirwani aggression, in Kej also Naoshirwani intrigue and smouldering feuds and animosities amongst the Gichkis and in Kolwa the notorious freebooter Baluch Khan left in power to oppress and to rebel; and moreover the universal dislike of a Muhammadan people to a Hindu Nazim, were sparks to be fanned by the first breath of opportunity into a conflagration.

“It would indeed appear, from a study of after events, that this pacification of the country resulted in gradually combining all the ruling Sardars in common cause against the paramount power, thus putting a temporary end to internal feuds. The troubles in northern Baluchistan and the outbreak in Persian Makran, where Mr. Graves of the Telegraph Department was murdered, caused a certain amount of unrest throughout the country.

“Baluch Khan, Mehrab Khan Gichki, and a large number of other Sardars of Kej all attributed their own discontent and rebellion to the appointment of alleged oppression and tyranny of Diwan Udho Das. It may be here stated that in the final settlement an enquiry was held into these allegations and the Kej motibars signed a paper saying they had no cause for complaint against Udho Das and no complaints against him were substantiated. Nevertheless, this probably was the cause of the outbreak.

“On the 6th January 1898, Mehrab Khan Gichki, attacked the Nazim Diwan Udho Das, looted his treasury and took him prisoner but on the representation of his elder brother he was set at liberty and shut up in Kalatuk, in Kej, under protection of Abdul Karim, Naib of Kej. Mehrab Khan then sent a messenger to Baluch Khan, telling him what he had done. It appears probable that the country at this time was in a state of unusual internal quiescence and that no outbreak was suspected, because four officers of the Survey Department, with a large unarmed following of lascars, etc., and a very small escort of local levies, were sent to undertake survey operations in the Kolwa and Kej valleys.

salimansar52@gmail.com

A banker by profession, Salim Ansar has a passion for history and historic books. His personal library already boasts a treasure trove of over 7,000 rare and unique books.

Every week, we shall take a leaf from one such book and treat you to a little taste of history.

BOOK NAME: Frontier & Overseas Expeditions From India

AUTHOR: Intelligence Branch Division of the Chief of Staff

PUBLISHER: Army Head Quarter India

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 1910

The above excerpt has been taken from Pages: 241 — 245

Brahvi speaking tribe include Raisani, Shahwani, Sumulani, Bangulzai, Mohammad Shahi, Lehri, Bezenjo, Mohammad Hasni, Zarakzai (Zehri) , Mengal and Lango, most of these tribes are bi-lingual and are quite fluent both in the Baluchi and Brahvi Languages. The Pashtoon tribes include Kakar, Ghilzai Tareen, Mandokhel , Sherani, Looni, Kasi and Achakzai.

LANGUAGES
Balochistan, despite its scarce population, has an uncommon racial and tribal diversity. Most of the people in the cities and towns understand and speak more than two languages. In adddition to Baluchi, Pashtoo and Brahvi, the majority of the population understand and speak Urdu, the national language. In Kachhi and Sibi districts, people speak Seraiki and Sindhi. Quetta city, the confluence point of all linguistic groups accommodates not only Urdu, Baluchi, Pashtoo, Brahvi and Sindhi speaking people but Punjabi, Darri and Persian speaking ones as well. Dehwar tribe of Sarawan sub-division in Kalat, also speaks a language derived from Persian.

CULTURE
Cultural landscape of Balochistan portrays various ethnic groups. Though people speak different languages, there is a similarity in their literature, beliefs, moral order and customs. The cementing factor is religion which provides a base for unity and common social order.

Brahvi, Balochi and Pashtoon tribes are known for their hospitality. Guest is accorded is held in high esteem and considered a blessing from God. Better off people even slaughter sheep or goat for their guest. Sometimes, it so happens that where there are more houses, the guest is assumed to be the guest of the whole village. This open heartedness is the loving feature of the tribal people and is not as deep in the city or town dwellers.

Another adorable feature of Balochistan culture is faithfulness and sincerity in all relationships. There is no place or respect for unfaithful people in prevalent moral order. If fidelity is reciprocated with disloyalty or betrayal it is never forgotten.

DRESS
The mode of dress among the Balochi, Pashtoon and Brahvi tribes is very similar having a few minor dissimilarities. Turban is the common headwear of the men. Wide loose shalwar (a bit similar to loose trouser) and knee-long shirts are worn by all. The dress of the woman consists of the typical shirt having a big pocket in front. The shirt normally has embroidery work with embedded small round mirror pieces. Big ‘Dopatta’ or ‘Chaddar’, a long rectangular piece of cloth cascading down the shoulders and used to cover head, are used by the women.

FESTIVALS
There are religious and social festivals celebrated by the people of Balochistan. Two major religious festivals are Eid-ul-Azha and Eid-ul-Fiter. On these festivals people adorn their houses, wear new dresses, cook special dishes and visit each other. Eid-Meladun-Nabi is another religious festival. It is a celebration of the Holy Prophet’s birthday. Numerous colorful social festivals are also source of jubilation. Sibi festival that traces its roots to Mehergar, an archeological site of ancient human civilization, attracts people from across the country. It is attended by common folks, ministers and other government officials. Folk music performance, cultural dances, handicrafts stalls, cattle shows and a number of other amusing activities present a perfect riot of color. Buzkashi is a peculiar festival showing valour of Balochistan people. It is celebrated on horse-back by two teams that use their skills to snatch a goat from the each other.

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Here Full text of an interview;

Q.Where is international political scenario leading to?

Dr. Allah Nazar (DAN): After collapse of soviet union, it is said that there is an unipolar world system where capitalism rules. In international system many problems have emerged, and most significant of these is aspirations of oppressed nations. In this context, we assume that this century is century of nationalism and freedom of oppressed nations. Across the world, national question is emerging in many countries and many of these are marching toward their resolutions.

Q.NATO is withdrawing from Afghanistan. Has it achieved its interests?

DAN : They have succeeded in certain aspects. USA and its allies have economic interests in the region that are interdependent with resolution of Baloch National Question. If they want to take Central Asian resources, gas and oil to western markets, the only way out is that of Baloch. Without resolution of Baloch National Question, they will never achieve their interests completely because resolutions of problems in the region depend upon freedom of Baloch and other oppressed nations.

Q.How do you see the arrest and killing of Osama ?

DAN : Osama was their own creation. For Pakistan and ISI, he was a golden bird. I can say that Pakistan equally mourned his arrest as US celebrated it because Pakistan Army lost a credit card.

Q.What will be the impact of the recent changes in Mid-East on Baloch society? Can you evaluate?

DAN :A permanent resolution of Mid-East issues inter-depends with Palestine’s freedom. Until it is not recognized as an independent state, and its borders are not protected, the peace will not prevail in the region. Whereas the popular sentiments exist in Egypt, Tunis, and Yemen, it’s not a big blast. However, wherever changes come it will leave its impact, negative and positive, upon us. We will try to adopt their positive effects.

Q.How does Iran deal with Baloch in Western Balochistan? What are your views on the arrest of Abdul Malik Rigi?

DAN :Iran deals with Baloch the same way what Pakistan deals with us here. Baloch are occupied there too. They too have aspirations that their brethren Baloch in the East and the North live free, and they freely communicate with them. They too aspire for a free country. Iran kills Baloch in cold blood. They have been killed in thousands. The only difference between killing modus operandi is that Pakistan kills Baloch and dump their bodies in desolated regions, and Iran hangs them in the streets. I mean the attitude is same. Whereas the question is about Abdul Malik Rigi and his killing, as a Baloch I mourn death of every single Baloch.

Q.What will be the impact of strategic war between US and China and that of economic interests among Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, especially over access to energy resources?

DAN : Strategic interests are different for each of them. They want to get their strategic interests from Pakistan ,and economic interests in Balochistan. To Baloch, I say, everyone who helps the enemy is an imperialist. For example China is helping Pakistan military against Baloch, Baloch consider its role as imperialistic. In nutshell, the war of interests does not auger well for Baloch.

Q.It’s said that Pakistan has been using carpet bombs and chemical weapons against Baloch. What do you think whether it can use nuclear weapons or not?

DAN : Colonizers always use such lethal weapons to annihilate its enemy. We consider that its biggest goal is genocide of Baloch people. It has speeded up the genocide. Today, we as well as the civilized world is concerned about the safety of Pakistan’s nukes. These being in irresponsible hands with a dangerously irresponsible political thought can be used anytime for destruction of humanity.

Q.Can you estimate the scale of damage that ongoing Baloch war of freedom has inflicted upon Pakistan?

DAN : Perhaps Pakistan itself is not aware of the scale of damage. This is why it has not yet withdrawn from Balochistan. However the war has benefited Baloch so far. The proof of this is that this war halted the plan of huge colonial settlements in the shape of deep sea ports and other mega projects to devour and marginalize Baloch. The colonizer’s plan failed.I would add one thing here that Baloch is very sensitive about its freedom. The Baloch nation has passed through great changes in political thoughts and political consciousness, and the end result of the great change is an independent state (Balochistan).

Q.Is there any possibility of negotiation with Pakistan?

DAN : Impossible. Except on freedom. I would add here that Baloch nation will never accept any attempt of negotiation and reconciliation with occupant Pakistan at the cost of the life of Baloch nation.

Q.How far parties fighting for freedom are organized?

DAN : Whereas matter related to the organizations fighting for freedom when you see and analyze role of each of them, one thing would be clear that Baloch nation is going through a very painful and critical phase. Till today many tactics are being used to externally and internally control those who are fighting the war of national freedom, and these elements have become active. Instead of this, the freedom fighters are consistently and vigorously fighting the war of freedom.

Q.What is the standard of nationalism to you? In present circumstances, which party can be called a nationalist party?

DAN : Perhaps everyone has its own standard of nationalism. However, my standard of nationalism is that a person who fights and takes parts in armed struggle and in politics for national liberation, and is ready to sacrifice his life for the cause is a true nationalist. Similarly those who enjoy looking at the bodies of martyrs and strive to get privileges and benefits a particular class, can’t be categorized as nationalists. For example there are Baloch parliamentary parties like Balochistan National Party (BNP), Balochistan National Party( Awami), and National Party which do politics in the name of Baloch but in fact these are working against Baloch national freedom. They are helping Pakistan counter-insurgency efforts against Baloch nation.

Q.In your point of view, in what scale Baloch National Question has been highlighted in the world?

DAN :Due to the sacrifices of Baloch martyrs and indefatigable struggles of Sarmachars [freedom fighters], Baloch national question has echoed across the world.

Q.What is the role of Baloch women in the movement?

DAN :Its very inspiring and satisfactory.

Q.Everyday mutilated bodies of Baloch people are found. What’s the reason that they become easy prey to security forces and their intelligence wings?

DAN : Political cadres always work in surface. Therefore they get as easy prey. Secondly the enemy abduct and kill political workers to spread fear among people not to join the war of freedom. But, this strategy is counter-productive and pushing them more towards failure because the enemy has no idea of Baloch’s strong and uncompromising intentions.

Q.What will be the end of pro- Pakistani Sardars and tribal chiefs? And how many of them will be murdered during the struggle?

DAN : I don’t use the term “murder” here. Albeit, Baloch nation will hold them accountable. In the current war, in my view, except one Sardar, all other have negative roles. When we look into their present roles, we find them against Baloch and Baloch movement. In my opinion, they are not of Baloch traditions and culture but few commodities ready to be sold out.

Q.Who is that one sardar?

DAN :He is Nawab Khair Bux Marri.

Q.What is your message to the Baloch who serve currently in army, FC (Frontier Constabulary), intelligence agencies, and in administration?

DAN :The Baloch who do trivial jobs should consider freedom sacred instead. In a free country everyone has his due respect and role. On the other side, in a colonial system job is only a way of getting paid.

Q.What is your view about Mafia and the people who work as spy?

DAN :The liberation organizations have warned people in the Mafia for several times and have identified them. Not only among us but everywhere colonial power always use such tactics to defame freedom movement and to malign reputation of the freedom fighters.

Q.What is the figure of disappeared Baloch?

DAN :There are about 14,000 Baloch disappeared and they have been abducted by intelligence agencies: ISI(Inter-service Intelligence) and MI ( Military Intelligence). No one count the number of martyrs in a war of liberation.

Q.By this time, how many Baloch have migrated from their motherland? Can you estimate?

DAN :Hundreds of thousands. Even it is beyond estimation.

Q.In future, in a free Balochistan, can Baloch Sarmachars (freedom fighters) come up to the standard of a regular army?

DAN :They can absolutely because a freedom fighting organization is an alternative state, and they are trained in such manner that they can take the charge of administration of the state. In my opinion Baloch guerrilla can control state affairs in a standard way after freedom.

Q.Are you satisfied with current pace of struggle? Is there any need for speeding up the struggle?

DAN :Every time and every moment there is space for improvement, and there is need for struggling more. I think we have to struggle hard this time to compel the occupant to leave our country.

Q.Have you ever regretted that a large number of people have been killed and many disappeared? What will be the end?

DAN :I have no regret. This war is a war of sacrifices. No one can reach to the destiny without sacrifices. Half a million people were killed in South Sudan. Did they regret? Baloch is also fighting the war of independence. It is possible that the enemy would speed up the oppression in coming days. But our people are brave. You will regret if you don’t have a goal. We have an explicit goal. We are fighting and being martyred for the liberation of our motherland. Therefore, Baloch is proud of it, and ready for more sacrifice.

Q.According to some groups, a scenario of provincial autonomy will diminish the cause for freedom. What is your opinion?

DAN :This is absolutely a wrong hypothesis. This is being spread by touts of the state. Provincial autonomy is a deception. It is a fraud, and a source of gathering wealth by the privileged class. It is a way to placate the members of the parliament and promote their status.

Q.What were you feeling while being arrested?

DAN :I was deeply feeling my slavery. It confirmed the belief that I am an occupied people.

Q.What did you feel after being released?

DAN :I decided to start the struggle again, and joined the war of liberation.

Q.What makes you happier?

DAN :It is human nature that one becomes happy over happening of good things, and sometime one feels pain too. If these both things do not exist in a human, one can’t be called a human.

Q.Any hobbies?

DAN :Struggle for liberation and study.

Q.What do you study?

DAN :I study on freedom movements, autobiography of warriors, history, philosophy, religion, literature and almost I am interested in study of every subject.

Q.It is said that you smoke more. Any reason?

DAN :I am addicted now. At the start, I used to smoke less. Now I smoke more. However sometime, I do try to quit it.

Q.Are you interested in hunting?

DAN :Yes, I am.

Q.How many languages can you speak and understand?

DAN :I can speak in Balochi, Brauhi, and Urdu ,and I can understand English.

Q.Who is your ideal?

DAN :Every person who fights for his independence.

Q.Do you have any interest in sport?

DAN :I had interest in playing but now I have no time. I used to enjoy playing chess, volley ball, and table tennis.

Q.Have you ever fallen in love?

DAN :Yes, with my land.

Q.When did you weep last time in life and why?

DAN :Such moments come in life but can’t say anything.

Q.What is your weakness?

DAN :No comment.

Q.When do you get outrage?

DAN :No comment.

Q.Do you fear from death?

DAN :If death is inevitable, then why to fear it!

Q.Generally, political leaders are polygamist but you have married once. Why?

DAN :The matter is that I am not a political leader. I am only a fighter in the war of liberation.

Q.Which animal do you like?

DAN :I like ox and chakoor.

Q.What are your favorite colours?

DAN :Yellow, white, light blue and red.

Q.Which weapon do you like?

DAN :The weapon that is in the hand.

Q.Any message for Baloch nation?

DAN :They should understand the notorious strategies and trickeries of the enemy ,and should join the war of liberation because the enemy is in the trouble. It is in strain and very weak. The enemy is using new tools such as abduction against war of liberation. It is duty of every Baloch to understand trickery of the enemy, and be united.

Translated from Urdu by Adeenag Baloch

A wave of violence and killings has taken over the country with sporadic incidents of killings taking place in areas of Balochistan too, including Mastung, HUB and Quetta. No group has taken responsibility yet. Security agencies and the provincial government has failed in bringing order in the province.

http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/08/04/body_bags_in_baluchistan

On Aug. 1, Pakistan’s military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said the Army and its intelligence agencies are not involved in so-called “kill-and-dump” operations in the restive province of Baluchistan. Kayani was speaking in Quetta, the provincial capital, where Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that Islamabad “should immediately end widespread disappearances of suspected militants and activists by the military, intelligence agencies, and the paramilitary Frontier Corps.”The report follows similar findings by Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Human rights watchdogs have repeatedly called on Islamabad to stop unlawful killings in Baluchistan, where hundreds of political activists have been killed in separatist and sectarian violence involving both homegrown and regional insurgents.

Most of the violence stems from the targeting of suspected Baluchi separatists. They are often kidnapped, only to be found dead weeks later, their decomposing corpses having been dumped by the side of the road. Baluchi nationalists accuse the Pakistani security forces of orchestrating such killings. Islamabad counters that separatist insurgents are killing ethnic Punjabi migrants and politicians loyal to Islamabad. Independence-minded Baluchis have frequently clashed with the federal government over the control of resources in the region, and now even moderate nationalists fear hard-line militants who are pushing them to completely abandon electoral politics as relations with Islamabad continue to deteriorate.

While Baluchistan makes up nearly half of Pakistan’s 800,000-square-kilometer territory, its population accounts for less than 5 percent of the country’s 180 million people. Baluchi separatist factions headed by young leaders are now perpetuating their fifth rebellion in Pakistan’s 64-year history — Islamabad crushed earlier insurgencies in 1948, 1958, 1962, and 1973 to 1977.

Baluchistan borders Iran and Afghanistan and is hemmed in by the restive Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khyber-Puktunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh provinces. Rich in hydrocarbon resources and minerals, including one of the world’s largest gold mines, the region also has a long shoreline on the Arabian Sea along one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, and it is home to the increasingly important strategic port at Gwadar. The region extends into Iran, where ethnic Baluchis make up around 2 percent of the country’s population of 80 million.

The region’s strategic location at the crossroads of Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and West Asia has reinforced regional rivalries and insurgent movements. In Pakistan, thousands of separatist Baluchis, soldiers, political leaders, and civilians have died since the onset of the current insurgency in 2004. Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced, many of whom are ethnic Punjabis who are only now beginning to return to Quetta after the military targeted insurgent cells in the city. Iran’s Baluchis, meanwhile, live under severe political and cultural oppression as a Sunni Muslim minority under the nation’s Shiite clerical regime.

Additionally, despite differences over the endgame in Afghanistan, Tehran and Islamabad appear to be on the same page in dealing with their respective Baluchi populations. Last summer, Iran and Pakistan signed a $7 billion gas-pipeline project that envisions meeting energy-hungry South Asia’s needs for decades. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) route even has support from the Asian Development Bank as well as key Afghan partners (and even some insurgents), but its viability will remain in question as long as Baluchi insurgents continue to blow up gas pipelines in the region, a factor influencing current harsh efforts on both sides of the border to suppress the Baluchi insurgencies.

Yet Baluchistan also remains a battleground for competing regional interests. Pakistan is suspicious of an Indian-financed road network linking southwestern Afghanistan to the southeastern Iranian port of Chabahar, a predominantly Baluchi city. Tehran invested in the Arabian Sea Port project hoping to attract business from across Central Asia. Over the last decade, China has invested a hefty $200 million in the development of Gwadar, downstream on the same shoreline. Many observers believe the project showcases Sino-Pakistani cooperation and may signal their possible cooperation in the Afghanistan endgame, cooperation that New Delhi eyes with suspicion.

Baluchistan is also a key component of the regional rivalries centered in Afghanistan. Islamabad is fighting the Baluchi insurgency with full vigor, occasionally diverting the resources it gets from the West to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda. Washington and its allies have in the past and are likely still considering ending the Baluchistan sanctuary of the Mullah Omar-led Afghan Taliban as a top priority to salvage their transition plans and force the Taliban to the negotiating table. This creates further friction in the already deteriorating relations between Islamabad and Washington. And some Baluchi activists have told me of their belief that one reason for the increased effort to crush the newest insurgency in the province is so that the Afghan Taliban’s sanctuaries could remain protected.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has publicly accused India of supporting Baluchi separatists, and some officials in Islamabad are privately skeptical about Iran, too, while Iran has accused Pakistan of sheltering members of the Iranian terrorist group Jundullah, mostly composed of Sunni Baluchis fighting against the Shiite government. Islamabad has also accused Kabul of sheltering Baluchi rebel leader Brahamdagh Khan Bugti for years. And in the 1970s, Afghanistan supported a Baluchi insurrection and later sheltered the insurgents.

While in Quetta, Kayani advised the Baluchi insurgents to talk to Pakistani political leaders to work toward a solution to the conflict. But these politicians have no real power and will look to the all-powerful security forces and intelligence agencies Kayani controls to begin substantive talks.

Unlike in the past when insurgents followed tribal leaders, Baluchi separatists are now loyal to a new breed of middle-class leaders, and satisfying them will take much more than offering cabinet slots and amnesty. Baluchistan, like Afghanistan, will need regional cooperation to see development and a permanent settlement to ongoing conflicts. And more body bags will only push a settlement further away.

Abubakar Siddique is a senior correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty covering Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Welcomme contacted Nawab Akber Khan Bugti and told him the story of that spectacular discovery. Bugti not only gave him the permission for further excavations but helped him with every day needs and workers. In 1997, Welcomme discovered the first finger of the Baluchitherium in a stony valley near Dera Bugti.

The giant of the hidden valley

After the first clue, Welcomme and other mammalian experts unearthed an array of amazing fossils. The team discovered uncountable fossils in a mere 200 square meter area, which could be considered the best exposed bone-beds on Earth. They found many remains of male and female Baluchitherium simply lying on the ground, which was a quite rare event in paleontological findings. Perhaps the massive creatures were swept away by a river and had accumulated on the banks. Scientists also found traces of crocodile’s teeth on bones which suggested that the Baluchitherium was also a common prey of crocodiles.

In 2003, the French team carefully examined every major and minor bone and finally put them in proper place, building a composite skeleton of the Baluchitherium. The skeleton suggested that the giant creature was five-meters tall and weighed 20 tonnes, almost as massive as the size of three large elephants!

Scientists got the rough idea of the Baluchitherium’s height by examining its bones. But defining the mass of any extinct mammal is a tricky job. Teeth and especially bones are very helpful to identify the mass of any mammal. Over decades of investigations, scientists have devised many techniques to find the mass of a mammal by looking at the length and diameter of its bones. These methods can be successfully applied to assess the bone-mass relation of the mammals.

In the geological time scale, Baluchitherium roamed Asia in Oligocene epoch or 30 millions years ago. According to plate tectonics, some 200 million years ago, the sub-continent was locked – it was a part of the great Gondwanaland which comprised South-America, Africa, Sub-Continent and Australia.

This block had been dismantled into parts and slowly moved towards Asia. 55 million years ago, one part of the Indian plate hit the Asian plate and 43 million years ago the contact between the two was complete. This collision brought about the Great Himalayan Mountains. The Indian-Asian plate collision changed the whole climate of the region.

Heavy rains and erosion turned Balochistan into a lush green rainforest like today’s Amazon. The conditions were suitable for a hornless rhinoceros or Baluchitherium to flourish. The lush forest provided enough vegetation for the bulk-eater mammal to survive. Baluchitherium lived for 11 million years, nearly 35 to 24 million years ago.

After working on the Baluchitherium, Welcomme tried to uncover the entire environment it shared. The team discovered the diversified fossils of fish, turtles, crocodiles, rodents and other small mammals. He studied 40 sites that described 12 distinct levels of different geological ages. He also discovered prehistoric trees, flowers and leaves.

Amazingly, the team found shark teeth, fish and shells which suggested that around 32 million years ago an epicontinental sea had appeared in the heart of Balochistan, which was a rare phenomenon.

Is Balochistan a cradle for humanity?

Prehistoric Balochistan can also be considered an exact place of migration of mammals coming from South East Asia on the road to Africa or Europe. Simply put, it could be called a cross road for African mammals. Amazing fossils of ancestors of elephants and lemurs also discovered in Balochistan, strengthened the hypothesis that many animal groups have Asian origins. We can assume that this place was an evolutionary highway for the kin of today’s many advanced animals. Surprisingly the French team discovered some 20,000 fossils of mammals only from and around the areas of Dera Bugti.

Two important discoveries are worth mention here, one is the mystery of lemur. Bug-eyed and slow moving lemurs now only live on the island of Madagascar. Before 2001, scientists had believed that only Africa was the birthplace of lemurs. But a lemur fossil discovered in Pakistan changed the paleontology text books.

Laurent Marivaux, another French expert discovered a 30 million-year-old fossil of a lemur from Balochistan. Dubbed as Bugtilemur Mathesoni, it is now the oldest fossil of lemur found anywhere on the planet. Bugtilemur triggered a new debate among scientists that lemurs may have Asian rather than African roots.

The details of that discovery were published in the prestigious research journal, “Science”, in which Marivaux said, “The discovery was totally unexpected and the time has come for the Asian scenario to receive more serious attention.”

The evidence of the above statement came from other finding of Jean Loup Welcomme. He discovered another fossil valley called “Paali” in Balochistan. On a very hot day in Paali, he filled his clear plastic bags with sand. Back to the small lab in a Dera Bugti guest house, he washed and screened the sand and was surprised that the grains were so little that the screen was empty except for some dark grains. But, later, under the microscope, he realised that those grains were in fact the teeth of small-sized mammals which had remained well preserved. Among them was a tooth of a primate!Thus Paali became a window to our own group – Anthropoid Primates. Afterward, more teeth of primates discovered from the same site suggested that Balochistan could be the motherland of all animal groups including humans. But further excavation is needed to find more astonishing results because scientists have been screening other areas for decades but only five per cent of Dera Bugti  searched so far. It is important to unearth Balochistan’s paleontology scenario, because its open fossil beds are ready to reveal the treasure to the whole world. For instance, only Paali area holds the secret of more than 10 million years of ancient life on the planet.

Why did the Baluchitherium become extinct?

The answer lies in the same conditions which developed a stage for Baluchitherium to flourish. Some 22 million years ago, the movements of Asia and Africa destroyed the most important prehistoric sea, the “Tethys”. The disappearance of the sea gradually changed the climate of Asia. Balochistan turned into stony desert from a green valley. The vegetation disappeared and Baluchitherium became extinct in the battle of survival.

Fortunately, Nawab Akber Khan Bugti kept the Baluchitherium bones in 10 metallic containers. After he was killed, the fossils were recovered and sent to the museum of the Geological Survey of Pakistan and still remain there.

Pakistan is an ‘El Dorado’ for fossil hunters. However, serious attention is also required to highlight the discoveries from Pakistan. It has been a decade since the complete skeleton of the largest land mammal was discovered from Pakistan. Beautiful series of postal tickets could be issued or the Baluchitherium could be declared the symbol of Balochistan.

A veteran artist, Asim Mirza, beautifully carved a one-tenth scale model of the Baluchitherium. He also invited Jean Loup Welcomme to see how it looked.

When Welcomme first saw the fiber glass model, he was amazed to see the authenticity of the prehistoric giant. By his own resources, Mirza has also been working on a life model of Baluchitherium for the past five years and is now on the verge of completing it.

Fortunately, Jean Loup Welcomme will again visit Pakistan in Spring 2011, to work on a joint project with the Sindh University.

The village of Kahoum is located by the hillside of Birak Mountain in the province of Baluchistan in southeast Iran. About 40 families live in this village under primitive conditions in tents called kapar.  The residents are deprived of schooling, healthcare and clean water. Baluchestan is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the southeast of the country, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan and its capital is Zahedan. The province is the largest in Iran, with an area of 181,785 km² and a population of 7.2 million.