Baloch Cultural

24

DEC

By: Pirmohamad M. Zehi

Edited by: Shapour Suren-Pahlav

The Baluchis are the ancient genuine Iranians who have their exclusive and special celebrations and feats.

Basluchis first moved to the region in the twelfth century. During the Moghul period, this territory became known as “Baluchistan.”

Their name, “Baluch/Baloch,” is shrouded in controversy. Some say it means “nomad,” while others claim that it is an Aryan (Old Persian) word meaning “the cock’s crest.”

Balochi language is spoken in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, the Persian Gulf Arab-States, Turkmenistan and East Africa. It is classified as a member of the Iranian group of the Indo-European language family which includes Kurdish, Persian, Pashto, Dari, Tajik, Ossetian. Baluchi is closely related to Kurdish and Persian.

There are two main dialects: Eastern and Western. It is difficult to estimate the total number of Baluchi speakers, but there are probably around six million, most of whom speak Western Baluchi, which is also the dialect that has been most widely used in Baluchi literature. Within the Western dialect are two further dialects, Rakhshani (in the northern areas) and Makrani (in the south). The areas where Eastern Baluchi dialects are spoken (the north-eastern areas of Pakistani Baluchistan, Punjab and Sindh) are in many ways less developed, especially when it comes to education, which accounts for why it is little used in the written form.

For a curious visitor who arrives in ancient province of Sakestan, or today Sistan va Baluchistan, the first interesting issue that attracts the attention most is the way Baluchis are dressed up. Baluchis have preserved their way of clothing with a slight change.

Men wear long shirts, loose pants resembling Partho-Sasanid outfits, added by a turban around their heads while women put on loose dress and pants with needle works that are special of the people of the area and is not common in other parts of the country.

The upper part of the dress and sleeves are decorated with needle works, an artistic work that is specific of the clothing of the women Baluchis. They cover their hair with a scarf that is called `Sarig’ in the local dialect.

Baluchi women usually put on gold ornaments such as necklace and bracelet but their special jewelry is `Dorr’ or heavy earrings that are fastened to the head with gold chains so that their heavy weight will not cause the tearing of the ear. They usually wear a gold brooch called `Tasni’ that are made by local jewelers in various shapes and are used to fasten the two parts of the dress over the chest.

Apart from the dressing style of the Baluchis, there are interesting points in the way they live and in their traditions and customs that this article tries to illustrate in parts. Indigenous and local traditions and customs were of greater importance to the Baluchis in the past as apparently up to about half a century ago when the central and provincial government of the chieftains were imposed as the individual dictatorships.

Therefore, it can be concluded that there were no formulated laws and regulations in order to regulate social behaviors. Under such circumstances, traditions and customs in fact filled the vacuum caused by the absence of laws which were used in the regulation of many social relations and therefore enjoyed special credit among the Baluchi tribal people.

Abdolghaffar Nadim in his book `Gashin’ that is written in Baluchi language says: “The Baluchi folklore is being inspired by the Baluchi way of life and, therefore, could have addressed many needs of the tribal people who were forced to settle their disputes on the basis of their traditions and customs in the absence of a powerful central government.”

Here, it is only enough to review the Baluchi traditions within the two categories of cooperation and feasts:

A.COOPERATION

1. Beggari:

This is a custom specific of the time when the Baluchi youth reaches the age of marriage but apparently his family cannot afford the marriage expenses due to their economic condition. Under such circumstances, the youth would go to his relatives and friends and would discuss with them his decision about marriage and would ask for their `Beggari’, or in other words, their contribution.

Such a tradition is so strongly respected that even the poorest member of the family cannot remain indifferent towards such a demand and feels obliged to pay a certain amount of money in cash or offer material aid. Lack of participation in such a benevolent affair will cause humiliation and disgrace. Therefore, although Beggari is a voluntary contribution, however, a social compulsion can be traced in it somehow. Even in the case of those who have no children and cannot benefit from the advantages of Beggari in future, participation in this benevolent act guarantees further social credit. As a result of this, marriage is being made more easily among Baluchis as the community is meeting the cost.

2. Hashar:

This is a custom that is applied when an individual cannot perform a task alone and needs help of the others.

Traditionally, working for money is not customary, and those who need help would go to their relatives and friends and would inform them of their decision to do a special job on a specific day and for that purpose they need a certain number of work force. Under such circumstances, as many volunteers may join the collective work without being paid.

If the work is accomplished within a day, the only thing that the employer has to do is to prepare lunch and dinner for the workers by usually slaughtering a sheep for making the required food. If the work takes longer, more preparations will be made and new volunteers will substitute the previous ones.

However, there would be enough volunteers to complete the work through collective cooperation, as it is not customary to give a negative response to the call for contribution.

Such a habit is mostly customary in rural areas where people are mainly engaged in agriculture where Hashar is being practiced in various stages of the work from cultivation to harvest. It is also widely practiced in building rural houses and bridges and in collecting dates. Such a habit is still practiced given its positive social effects despite the fact that paid work is gradually established.

3. Bagi:

This custom was widely practiced in the past while these days it is losing importance in areas going through the trend of urbanization.

In the practice of such a tradition, people are used to cook extra food and would distribute it among needy people in their neighborhood. Those who were well off and could have better nutrition would carefully observe this.

The positive social impact of such a tradition has removed the negative feeling of humiliation as receiving Bagi is not tantamount to receiving donations but rather is some sort of contribution among neighbors and is not limited to a specific person or a specific family.

Bagi is not merely confined to consumption but is performed in a wider dimension that forges greater convergence among neighbors and minimizes probable disputes. At the meantime, it helps fair distribution of limited facilities.

4. Divan:

Settlement of disputes in their everyday life is of great importance. In order to solve problems, people would gather in a place and while studying various aspects of disputes, they try to find the best possible solution in an effort to secure satisfaction of the parties involved. The place in the local dialect is called `Divan’ and is normally a house that belongs to the eldest member of the community.

Of course Divan is not merely exclusive for the settlement of disputes but is also used for exchange of information and consultations for the coordination of affairs. However, the significance of Divan at the time of the settlement of disputes lies in the fact that although decision-making at Divan is not legally valid, however, it is applicable and is rarely ignored by the parties to the dispute.

The reason is that presence of the gathering at the place is to some extent the executive and moral guarantee for the parties to the dispute and if one party for any reason ignores the agreement reached at Divan, in fact it would damage its own social credibility. If Divan fails to settle the dispute, the case will be solved on the basis of the rules of the religion.

The tradition of Divan is being gradually forgotten in both rural and urban areas but it is still being enforced among some tribes. A unified Judicial system in fact have substituted traditional Divan and the elderly people are still settling regulations in rural and urban areas but not completely as in primary stages attempts are made to resolve the disputes through local traditions and at the Divans of the elderly.

5. Mayar:

The habit is inspired by a social reality and need for the support of the oppressed against the oppressor. When a powerful individual is oppressing a powerless person for any reason, the former can seek help from a stronger person who has enough power to defend his right. Given the undertakings that the host feels towards the person who seeks help as `Mayar’, he is free either to accept the demand or deny it.

But, as soon as he accepts, the social tradition puts the responsibility of the Mayar’s defense on the shoulder of the host. Of course, the importance of the tradition becomes further evident when the person who seeks help is not guilty and whose rights have been trampled upon. However, when the person seeks help according to the tradition of Mayar, he becomes a member of the family and tribe of the host and can enjoy his support until his problem is solved.

Sometimes the situation will remain unchanged forever and the person who seeks help will remain in the new condition. Therefore, it will become part of the responsibility of the host to find a job for the person who seeks help and puts enough capital at his disposal. This will help enable the powerless people to defend themselves against the oppressors.

6. Karch-va-Kapon:

This tradition is practiced when a person for any reason kills someone else, either intentionally or unintentionally. Under such circumstances an unreasonable feeling of revenge will afflict the Baluchi tribes to the extent that no matter to what tribe the murderer belonged, if he is out of reach, a member of his family or one of his relatives can be killed in his place or, in other words, take revenge.

Under these circumstances many innocent people will become victim of such a revenge merely for belonging to a certain family or tribe. At this moment, in an effort to prevent further bloodshed, the elderly members of the family resort to the custom of `shroud and knife.’ They send the murderer together with a knife and a piece of white cloth to the family of the person who has been killed and they are free either to punish him or forgive him.

However, punishment of the murderer is not a proven act from social and scientific points of view while forgiveness is the manifestation of generosity. For this reason, the murderer will be forgiven and returned to his family.

Sometimes it may happen that in order to remove all the hostilities and misunderstandings, the two families prepare marriages as a means to put aside differences. Of course, sometimes ransom would be demanded. In that case the family of the murderer or the tribe to which he belongs will pay the money.

Although prosecution of the murderer falls within the authority of the law, however, there are still evidences indicating that tribal people are willing to safeguard the tradition of `shroud and knife’.

7. Patardeyag:

This tradition is practiced when there is a quarrel between two or more members of a tribe. The side that is guilty of fomenting the quarrel accepts to apologize but not verbally rather through a mediator who is usually an elderly of the tribe. No matter how deep the difference, the other party usually accepts the apology, as its rejection will cause criticism of others.

Following the acceptance of the apology, the side that had fomented the quarrel will invite the other party to a dinner party through the mediator and a sheep is slaughtered on the occasion. There is no need for verbal apology and normally no word would be said about issues causing the dispute. Holding the Patardeyag ceremony implies acceptance of the apology and removal of all differences.

B. FEATS

1. Mangir:

The important Baluchi traditions are mainly in connection with their ceremonies and feats.

The marriage ceremony stands prominently among such festivities as it goes through different stages starting from engagement to the wedding ceremony. Public participation in the wedding ceremony is normal as in other parts of the country but with slight differences. But there is one exclusive difference in the wedding ceremony and that is the Mangir ceremony.

It seems that the ceremony is a custom acquired by the Baluchi tribes from other customs. Mangir is the ceremony for the simultaneous mass marriage of several couples for various reasons, notably economic considerations.

What further supports the idea is the holding of mass wedding ceremony among lower class people of the society. This would not only reduce the costs but would also economize in time as in the past wedding ceremonies used to last for seven days.

2. Sepat:

Festivities that are held in Baluchistan at the time of the birth of new babies are called Sepat. Some parts of the ceremonies are influenced by superstitious presumptions believing that both the baby and the mother are threatened by a genie called Aal as it awaits the opportunity to seize and swallow the liver of the baby and the mother.

Therefore, in order to prevent such a happening the relatives of the mother and the baby stay awake for several nights and pray to God and seek His help in order to protect the mother and the baby against the genie.

However, there are good and bad customs among the Baluchi tribes that demand more research works and studies.

The Baluchis same as other Iranians are known for their cultural specifications such as hospitality,

bravery, generosity, faithfulness, and moral commitment and mostly Iranian nationalism

Disclaimer

The purpose & scope of the study is to provide cluster level information to the readers. All the material presented is based on primary/secondary data, discussions/interviews with a number of individuals concerned, directly or indirectly, to the cluster, and certain assumptions are also incorporated for the purpose. The information compiled in the document may vary considerably due to any unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, the authors make no warranty, expressed or implied; concerning the accuracy of the information presented, and will not be liable for injury claims pertaining to the use of this publication or the information contained therein.

1. Description of cluster

Small and medium enterprises of Balochi chappal play a very vital role in the economy of Balochistan as they provide employment to about 500 people of Balochistan at Prince Road Quetta only. There are many other small enterprises of Balochi Chappal in other districts of Balochistan. Nearly in every district of Balochistan, Balochi Chappal is made in a smaller quantity as compare to Quetta.

There are many Balochi Chappal producers in different areas, killis of Quetta, e.g. On Jan Mohammad Road, Pashtoon Abad, Sariab Mill, Meezan Chok and Prine Road. Price road is the only area where there are 87 small and medium enterprises of Balochi Chappal. Average employment of each enterprise is 4.

2. Introduction

Balochi Chappal is known as the cultural footwear of Baloch nation. It is made in a large quantity in Balochistan, especially in Quetta. There are more than 100 enterprises in Quetta, which make their products in their shops, where they display and sell them. Average employment of each shop is 4. All the producers are Balochs and Pashtoons, belonging to different districts of Balochistan. It is also being made in other Districts of Balochistan but Quetta is the main place of production.

3. History of Balochi Chappal

Balochi Chappal is being made since the dawn of Baloch nation in the region, which is approximately 95 years ago. The evolution of balochi chappal has come from the southern region i.e. Dera Bugti, Kuhlu, Bolan, Wadd, Khuzdar. Balochi chappal is very much popular in all over Balochistan, because it is the indigenous shoes and is in the civilization of Baloch tribes.

In past time Balochi chappal was completely made up of leather, the sole was also made with leather. Many pieces of leather were joined together and made it hard to some extent and a complete chappal was made. Even at present time, in some tribes of Balochistan such chappals are made used. Such chappal is called Kosh in Balochi. But slowly and gradually when people migrated from tribal areas to cities, they came to know that using leather pieces as sole becomes very much expensive for them, and they also found car tire to be used as the sole. Then they started using tires as the sole of Balochi chappal in place of leather pieces.

4. Geographical location

Cluster is located at Prince Road in District Quetta. Quetta is the capital city of Balochistan and is covered by mountains from four sides. This cluster operates in the middle of the city. In east, there is Liaqat Bazaar which is the main bazaar of the city, on west, there is Jinnah Road. On north, there is Masjid Road and Fathima Jinnah Road and on south, there is Government Science College Quetta.

5. Composition of Balochi Chappal

Balochi Chappal is made of Leather and Car tier. The upper part of Chappal is made of different types of leather and foam. There are many types of leather used to make the upper part i.e. cut piece leather, high kurm leather; foam etc. leather is designed in different shapes for different designs of Chappal. There are many beautiful designs of Balochi Chappal, and are differentiated by the cutting of leather part.

Sole of balochi chappal is made of car tire; both new and old tires are used in making the sole, upper part of old tire is cut and polished for the said purpose. New tire is new, it does not need polish. Old tire is used for general designs and for ordered chappal new tire is used.

There are pieces of tire available for making soles. A piece of *foam is fixed on the tire to make it soft. No any kind of electronic machinery is used for make this unique chappal.

6. Types of Chappal

There are two main designs of balochi chappal.

They are as under:

􀂾 Balochi

􀂾 Shikari

Balochi chappal is mostly used by typical Balochs in cities and other tribal areas of

Balochistan. It has further many types.

Types of Balochi Chappal:

􀂾 Marri cut

􀂾 Jhalawan cut

􀂾 Mangal cut

􀂾 Bugti cut

􀂾 Sada Balochi

These names are given by the artisans them selves, these are all the names of tribes in Balochistan, and one, which is used mostly in a particular tribe, its name is give to that chappal. These types of Chappal are used in all over Balochistan.

Types of Shikari ChappalShikari Chappal is used by Pashtoon. It has further three types

􀂾 shikari

􀂾 Sada shikari

􀂾 Norozi

Balochi chappal is completely hand made, there is no use of any electronic machinery, only in some designs of Shikari and Balochi chappals, sewing machine is used for designing, but all the other designs and fitting is done by hand operated tools.

7. Tools

􀂾 Drashp, (for cutting)

􀂾 Kundi, (for making hols & sewing the sole)

􀂾 Rambi (for cutting purpose)

􀂾 Zamboor, (nail remover)

􀂾 Farma, (mould)

􀂾 Khat kash, (Liner)

􀂾 Plas

􀂾 Scissor

􀂾 HammerThese hand operated tools are used in making chappal.

8. Raw material

Raw materials used in making Balochi Chappal are as under

• Leather,

• Foam, (type of leather)

• Car tire,

• Solution/glue,

• Thread,

• Nail

• Zip

• Aster (a thick piece of soft leather placed on the top of sole to make it soft)

There are many varieties in leather, some are available in Quetta and some are not. Entrepreneurs usually travel to Karachi, Lahore and interior Punjab for the purpose. This thing increases the cost of chappal. Local vendors say that leather, which is not available here, is costly and is not used in all designs, if we bring it in Quetta, entrepreneurs may not afford the cost.

According to the entrepreneurs, they bring leather stock for 6 to 12 months, which covers their travel expenses from Quetta to other cities for the purpose. Leather is the most prominent and expensive part of chappal which differentiates in designs.

9. Types of leather

Many types of leather are used in making Balochi Chappal, i.e.

􀂾 High kurm leather

􀂾 Cut piece leather

􀂾 *Foam

􀂾 Sabir (type of leather)

􀂾 *Aster

*Aster is also a type of leather which is used in Balochi chappal. It is fixed on the sole (tire) to make it soft so that it should not heart the foot. Tire is too hard to put on, that’s why a piece of aster is fixed of it by sticking solution.

Car tire is used for the sole of Balochi chappal. As it is being used to walk on the mountainous areas from the beginning, that’s why car tire was used as the sole for it,

tire is too hard and does not finish by fraction for a long time. In past, people did not have much money to buy shoes and they needed something hard which could go for a long time, except tire, there was no any other alternative which could be used for the sole of their chappal. Drashp is used to cut the tire.

Sole and the upper part of chappal are fixed by sewing with hand operated tools. kundi is used for sewing chappal.

Leather is cut in a way that some parts of leather are passed from that holes of the sole

and is fixed there.

10. Manufacturing process

The beginning of Balochi Chappal starts from cutting the leather according to the size of required number, after cutting designs are made on it, (Sizes of each number of feet are already made on a piece of hard paper). Leather is put on that paper and cut according to that. After cutting the leather, sole is cut according to the required size.

*Aster is fixed on the hard tire sole to make it soft. Holes are made in the sole with an instrument (zamboor) and leather parts are dragged from those holes to fix leather with the sole. When they finished with that, a chappal shaped wooden piece (Farma) is fixed in that to make it hard so that they could easily fix its designs, when the incomplete chappal is fixed in Farma, now leather is cut in different designs to fix them on the chappal and a complete chappal is made.

Cut leather

Make designs on leather

Fix leather with sole

Cut tire for sole

Cut Aster

Fix Aster with sole

Fix leather with sole

Fix leather with sole

Assemble & hand stitch

Polishing & finishing

End consumers

11. Explanation of process

Balochi chappal making is very tough job. It needs too much time and hard work. There are some designs which even take 2 to 3 days in completion, due to leather cut designs on them. But a simple chappal can be made in one day by a single worker.

There are two phases of balochi chappal making. In first phase, the upper part of chappal is made and in second phase, sole is made.

Upper part of chappal is completely leather made, leather is cut in the required size

and designs are made on it.

A piece of car tire is taken as the sole, as the car tire is too hard to wear so a piece of *Aster is fixed on tire to make it soft. When sole and upper part are completed then these two parts are fixed together by some hole in the sole. This unfinished chappal is put in the Farma (wooden mould) to fix the leather cut designs on the upper part.

By this way a complete chappal is made and displayed in the outlet for sale.

12. Current output

There are 100 enterprises of Balochi Chappal in the cluster, and average employment of each enterprise is 5. Usually each worker can make 2-5 pairs in a full working day, but the duration of making of a Balochi Chappal depends upon the design, size and the season. Balochi chappal is a seasonal product that’s why the quantity of its manufacturing differs from season to season. Its market rises in summer and decreases in winter. In this way the entrepreneurs also change the quantity of production in different seasons.

But generally, monthly production of each enterprise is 300. In this way the monthly production of the cluster is 6000 pairs.

But this quantity changes with the change in seasons.

Cost breakdown

cost of raw material 65%

cost of labor 16.667%

Travel cost 8.334%

Other misc. 1.667%

Electricity 8.334%

Total 100%

13. Market

Mostly these entrepreneurs rely on direct sale to the end users at their outlets at prince road. Even Balochi Chappal has a great demand in the national and international market, but because of lack of knowledge about the markets and no access to these markets, these entrepreneurs can not take their products to big markets of the country.

Pricing of the chappal is made on fixed profit margin Their products are also taken to other countries by personal relations, which are very much liked by the people of those countries, and earn a great profit from there. But this thing does not give any extra benefit to the entrepreneurs, because these entrepreneurs do not export their items, but they just sell them at the current market price. Extra profit goes to the person who takes them to other countries. According to them, this cultural Chappal has a great demand and market in other countries.

The average sale of these entrepreneurs is 7 pairs/day. Prices of Balochi Chappal start from Rs.300 to Rs.700, because of the expensive and unavailable raw material in Quetta.

These entrepreneurs also make Chappal on order which costs upto Rs.1500. the cost of ordered chappal is high because of the selected design and material of the customers, they make the chappal according to the wish of the customer.

14. Finance

Finance system of this cluster is very weak; there is no concept of book keeping in these enterprises. It is all because the illiteracy of the entrepreneurs. Mostly they are uneducated that’s why they are not able enough to keep the records of their daily transactions. Only few of them keep records i.e. Pazwar, master cappal makers, Noorozi chappal makers etc.

They use the credit terms min. 10 days and max. 30 days. Them main problem in this area is that the suppliers are not willing to provide finance.

These suppliers do not sell their products on credit to the customers from other areas who want to buy on a large quantity because they are afraid of loosing their money.

15. Problems identified

The most common problems faced by these enterprises are as under:

Supply End:

􀂾 Raw matrial is expensive and some types of leather are not available in quetta, they have to travel to Karachi, Lahore and interior Punjab and sindh for the purpose.

􀂾 They need training in designing and product development

Manufacturing:

􀂾 Hand operated tools are problem for them in the production process.

􀂾 Their shops are very much close to the road and are open. All the dust and smoke of vehicles inter directly into their shops which cause many diseases in\ them. i.g. asthma, chest pain, cough etc.

Marketing:

􀂾 No proper market / distribution channel through which they could distribute their products into domestic and international markets

􀂾 They have no resources to develop marketing material, i.e. Brouchers, website, adds in print and electronic media, for the publicity of their products

16. Working conditions

Working conditions are not that much bad. If a local person visits the cluster and observes the working conditions then they are good, the chappal makers are sitting on the floor, working in an open shop having fresh air, in the main bazaar. In some shops, a small piece of wooden table is there in front of the designer where he cuts leather in different shapes and rest of the workers have a piece of huge stone. And in most of other shops, this wooden table is not available; they use the piece of stone as their table and to sharpen their cutting instruments.

But when some one from a factory visits the cluster and observes the working conditions then it will be very painful for him, because he knows the facilities provided for performing different works, and these workers are setting on floor, absorbing polluted air and the disadvantage of such work is, the effect on the backbone of the workers. They set to work from early morning till evening; this thing has a very dangerous affect on the health of the workers. Nearly all the workers complain pain in their backbones after finishing their work.

Fear of cutting their hands by sharp hand used instruments is always there. Their shops are very much close to the road due to which all the dust, spread by the cars, goes directly into the shops and they inhale it. This thing causes many diseases for them. They think that they are sitting in a free area with fresh air but their air is fully polluted with dust and smoke of the cars.

Lighting arrangements are not problems for them because they work only in day time so they do not need extra arrangement for that.

17. SWOT analysis

􀂙 Strengths

􀀹 Quality products

􀀹 Skilled labor

􀀹 Cultural / ancient crafts

􀀹 High consumption in domestic market

􀀹 Large number of producers

􀀹 High quantity of monthly production

􀀹 Hard working workers, spend most of time at their shops

􀀹 Can compete with other shoes companies

􀂙 Weaknesses􀀹 Illiteracy

􀀹 Conservative/tribal community

􀀹 Lack of trust with each other

􀀹 Inconsistency in pricing

􀀹 Low capacity of investment

􀀹 Non availability of raw material

􀀹 Low level of modernization and up gradation of products

􀀹 Have no unions

􀀹 Have no recognized brand name i.e. Bata, Service etc

􀂙 Opportunities

􀀹 Demand of traditional designs

􀀹 Utilization of product as culture

􀀹 Scope in national and international markets

􀂙 Threats

􀀹 Modern / contemporary designs

􀀹 Duplication of their products in low quality and low rate

􀀹 Slow improvement in quality

18. Strategies

Following strategies can be adopted by the government and non government organizations for the betterment of the cluster.

􀂾 Managerial and accounting training for accurate record keeping to minimize risk of loosing products

􀂾 Awareness training to overcome internal grievance

􀂾 Encourage entrepreneurs to invest more in business for greater profit

􀂾 Provision of raw material within the cluster (Quetta), encourage local vendors to provide quality raw material in affordable prize

􀂾 Training of modern designs and awareness training about modern market demand

􀂾 Make registered association for their legal rights

􀂾 Develop linkages with domestic, national and international markets

􀂾 Prepare marketing material to promote sale of this ancient craft

􀂾 Marketing and product development training

􀂾 Provide Micro credit to the entrepreneurs so that they could run their business Smoothly

19. Vision

• Increase sale by developing market linkages. (Please quantify the vision and also include time frame e.g. 3 years or 5 years)

• Modify existing products into modern designs and patterns by designing and Product developing training.

• Confirm availability of raw material within the cluster in affordable prize

• Developing a marketing strategy to increase the sale of Balochi Chappal in Balochistan as well as in National and International Markets

20. Mission

To modify the existing product according to the modern market demand so that the sale of Balochi Chappal increase and these entrepreneurs could get some profit.

Sale of Balochi Chappal can be increased by providing quality raw material in affordable cost, modify the existing chappal according to the need of modern market.

There is no union or team work among these entrepreneurs due to which their production and pricing is being disturbed. We aim to make a registered association which will tackle their legal issues in future.

21. Expected result

􀂙 End users

People who wish to wear balochi chappal but can afford its cost, will be able to buy it, by this way the sale will also increase accordingly.

􀂙 Entrepreneurs

When they get raw material within the cluster, the production cost of cappal will automatically decrease which will increase the sale of their products.

􀂙 Managerial and accounting trainings will make them able to keep proper record of their sale. They will be able to sell their products on credit to the customers from other cities

􀂙 Whole seller

Whole sellers will take balochi chappal to other districts which will increase the sale of these entrepreneurs

Action plan for Proposed Association for 2 year

First 8 months• Product Development

􀂃 Mobilization for group/team work

􀂃 Union / Association formation and registration

􀂃 Introduction of modern market taste and demand

􀂃 Research and information about quality Raw Material

􀂃 Managerial and Accounting trainings

Second 8 months• Sample production

􀂃 Product Development Training

􀂃 Marketing training

􀂃 Designing training

􀂃 Quality sample production

􀂃 Searching for markets for quality raw material

􀂃 Contact with raw material dealers in other cities for raw material

Third 8 months

• Marketing and publicity

􀂃 Preparation of Marketing material (printing brouchers, making

Website, ads in print and electronic media)

􀂃 Searching for reasonable Local, National and International

markets

􀂃 Linkage development with Local, National and International

markets

* Foam is a type of leather which is comparatively softer then the other types of leather

Pile Rugs of The Baluch and Their Neighbors

By Dr. Dietrich H. G. Wegner

Pile rugs are an important part of the material culture of Central Asian peoples. The attraction that emanates from these textiles inspires us to learn more about the people that produce them.

Traditional patterns and colors, the way to combine them, as well as the material and the techniques of production are often determined by the ethnic origin of the weavers. This background also explains the way in which man and his product reflect foreign influences. This aspect for the Baluch and their rugs shall be studied in the following series.

History and Geographical Distribution of the Baluch

Exact dates concerning the history of the Baluch are rare. Conclusions about their origin are all based on linguistic studies. According to these, Baluch is a separate Indo-European language with relations to the Middle Persian, the Kurdish and the Parthian languages. This indicates an original home south of the Caspian Sea (Elfenbein 1960:1038). History mentions the Baluch for the first time as nomads in the area of Kirman, whichwas conquered by the Arabs in 644. In response to the expansion of the Seljuks the Baluch began to evade and retreat to the southeast at the end of the 10th century. Continuous massive raids by the Baluch into Khorassan and Sistan triggered counter attacks during which they suffered heavy losses. Their defeat at Khabis by Mas’ud of Ghazna was very probably decisive; forcing the majority of the Baluch to move through Sistan into the area that is today known as Baluchistan (Frye 1960:1036). In the east, at the coast of the Indian Ocean called Mekran, they came upon the Djat and further north upon the Brahu’i nomads, who were partly absorbed by the Baluch1. Until the 17th century groups of these eastern Baluch spread into Sindh and further into Pandjab. There they are mentioned among the troops that helped the Mogul emperor Homayun to conquer Delhi (Frye 1960:1036). It is interesting to note that the Baluch never formed influential political organizations, as we know of them from Turks and Turkomans. But even subtribes and clans kept kept their total independence to the point of fierce battles developing among themselves.

The accompanying map explains the actual distribution of the Baluch, though incompletely, and does not tell us anything about the history of the Baluch north of Sistan, in a hundreds of kilometers wide strip, east and west of today’s Iranian/Afghan border, and up to the Soviet Turkmen Republic. The history of those Baluch is, however, of utmost interest, since only they, who actually live outside the geographical region of Baluchistan, have a tradition of pile weaving. The patterns in their rugs lead us to the question why these “north” Baluch do not utilize typical Baluch motifs as they are used by their southern brothers, but rather apply ethnologically foreign Turkoman designs. Among those designs are, especially in older rugs, very attractive tribal guls. The answer to that may lie in the fact that these Baluch had close contacts to Turkoman tribes whose tribal device they had to learn to reproduce as soon as they fell under Turkoman rule (Moshkova 1948:32). A hint at the possibility of very early contacts can be found in Moinuddin Isifizari’s “Rauzat ul Jannatfi-’l-ausaf-i-Madinat-’l-Herat” (Tate 1977:367 and Bijarani 1974:285). According to this, the Baluch nomads constituted already in the 14th century a great part of the population in the area north of Herat and up to the region of Badghiz. Oral history (Yate 1888 and Wegner 1978:287) underlines the above report. With all required discretion one can imagine how Baluch from Sistan came into this region that up until the 19th century always had been influenced by Turkomans. Without doubt, later on Baluch groups came also from Sistan to the north. That is during the reign of Nadir Shah (1736 to 1747), who was Safavi governor of Sistan at the beginning of his career. In 1740 he freed North Khorassan from Uzbeks and Turkomans during his successful expeditions against Bokhara and Khiva (Sykes II 1963:263). After his death, however, many of those regions came again under Uzbek and Turkoman domain (Vambery II 1969:150). Consequently, the population there became once again very dependent on the Turkomans. This development may have caused a gradual migration back towards Sistan by parts of the Baluch, during which smaller groups settled in the area of today’s Khorassan, where they are still living In light of this background, it becomes clear that Turkoman influences made the pile rug weaving tradition among these Baluch not only possible but even caused it. All of this was a slow development over a long span of time because Baluch have tended to hold on to their traditions in spite of constant and sometimes aggressive foreign influences from their neighbors, who have outnumbered them by far, and who have been very conscious of their own traditions. Up to today many groups of Khorassan Baluch have preserved not only their own language and own family structure but also some other customs, for example, the form of their tents. This points to the fact that the introduction and the spread of originally unknown technique of pile rug weaving, the adoption and modification of foreign Turkoman symbolism, and the development of the Baluch’s own patterns started a long time before and not at the time of Nadir Shah, as is often assumed (Edwards 1953:185; Eiland 1976:75)..

Flat-weave Fabrics and Pile-weave Rugs

It needs to be pointed out that, contrary to widespread opinion, there is no old tradition of pile rug weaving in Baluchistan itself (Imp. Gaz. Ind. 1908). Besides that, another kind of geometrical design dominates there. Up to today embroidered patterns from Sar-had (southern Persian Baluchistan) resemble ornaments on Baluch tombs near Thatta (“Chaukandi-Tombs”), which date back to the middle of the 18th century (Zajadacz-Hastenrath 1978:3foll.). Likewise, forms and colors of embroideries from Mejran (Pakistan Baluchistan) do not reflect any distinct Turk ornaments as do similar pieces from Baluch areas from Sistan on to the north.

The Baluch of Baluchistan have, however, a long tradition in the making of pileless fabrics (IMP. Gaz. Ind. 1908; Konieczny 1979). Mainly saddle bags and storage sacks are flat-woven. For rare floor coverings, woven pieces, about 80cm wide, are sewn together lengthwise so that pieces of 160x300cm are obtained. Very often they have small white and/or red geometric patterns in horizontal rows on a mostly very dark background.

The borderline between the pile rug and the pileless rug weaving Khorassan Baluch and the only pileless rug weaving Baluchistan Baluch ran around the middle of this century through Iran, approximately from the area around Iranshar in the south of the Lut Desert, to the east through the northern part of the region of Kwash, and on across today’s Iranian-Pakistani border, through the area south of Quetta toward Kelat. It is obvious that this border, considering the mobility of the Baluch, cannot be very rigid. Due to the growing construction of roads and highways, especially in Iran in the last decades, this border might have been shifted further to the south in the same measure as modern commercial demand has created new cottage industries in areas that were inaccessible up to then.

It is more difficult to determine the borders of the east Persian/west Afghan territory of the pile rug weaving Baluch towards the other directions. To the east their number diminishes gradually towards a north-south zone, which goes roughly from Quetta in today’s Pakistan, to the Amu Darya River in northeast Afghanistan. Single clans were, however, still to be found in northwest Pakistan, India, and even in the western part of Chinese Turkestan.

In the north they reach into the Soviet Turkmen Republic (Pikulin 1959) where, according to Russian information (1933), about 10,000 Baluch were settled in kholkhoes (Benningsen 1960:1036; Gafferberg 1969). There, pile rugs are probably no longer produced in great numbers.

Only very few Baluch are to be found west of the deserts Lut and Kavir, in northwest Iran. Some products of the Shahsavan point to the possibility that also Baluch did partake in the development of this recent and rather heterogeneous formation.

Identification of Baluch Tribes

In recent years growing government authority in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and especially in Persian Khorassan has limited the freedom and mobility of the Baluch. It is, nevertheless, difficult to identify specific clans over a longer period of time. Even the name of the Nahru’i, a tribe that was mentioned several times in history (Pottinger 1816:56; Bijarani 1974:287; Tate 1977:341-354) is hardly remembered among Khorassan Baluch nowadays even though they themselves probably belonged to that tribe originally. It seems that today some tribes still like to rename themselves after their Khans, who were of singlemost importance to them. One example are the Salar-Khani. The part that returned, however, adopted the name Said-Mohammed-Khani. In 1954 they consisted of 400 people and possessed about 20,000 sheep and more than 1,000 camels. The Khodadad-Khani, who settled about 100 kilometers northwest of the latter, are supposedly a splinter group of the Salar-Khani. Edwards (1953:185) calls the Salar-Khani, also Kurkheili, a name that was no longer in use ten years later.

former Afghan pastures after the death of Nadir Shah. These peoples are partly of Iranian, partly of Turk-Mongol origin and belong to the loose confederation of the Tsharar Aimaq (Chahar Aimaq). “The Four Peoples.” Sometimes the above mentioned Timuri are also said to be one of those.

A further example are the Ghara’i Baluch. They settled down in the territory of the Ghara’i tribe about 150 years ago and called themselves after their protectors. Similarly, the name of the Djanbeghi, neighbors of the Said-Mohammed-Djanbeghi, neighbors of the Said-Mohammed-Khani, could allude to a former dependence of a subdivision of the Herzegi with the same name. The Herzegi are a sub-tribe of the Saryk Turkoman. Also, the name of the Tshu(b)dari in the area of Kashmar reminds us of the Tshaudor (Choudor) Turkoman.

These observations explains why it is with little success today to search for the Baluch tribal names that were gathered by, among others, Pottinger (1816), Bellow (1891), and Tate (1910). It also shows why among Baluch it is far more difficult to attribute certain rug patterns to a clearer definable group of pile rug weavers than it is among Turkomans. It seems more meaningful to classify the patterns according to the geographical regions in which thay are most often found.

The Ethnic Environment of the Baluch

A regional classification allows us to also include those pattern modifications that originated in the same area that are, however, obviously not made by Baluch, but were developed when their producers learned the technique of knotting carpets from the Baluch (Wegner 1964:147; ibid. 1978:288, 292). These circumstances could be studied closer in some “Djulghe”, valleys, east of Turbett-i-Heidari between 1950 and 1960. Besides a multitude of Baluch clans, some semi-nomad village communities were found here which had immigrated from the farther east lying main territory of the Timuri around 1800 (Maitland 1975:416) and lived under a “tribal” name of their own. Among those “immigrants” the Moreidari and their subdivision, the Sarbuzi, the El-Khani, and the Boruti in the Djulghe Khaf have traditional independent pattern variants. In the further north situated Djulghe Barkharz appear the Porbuzi and the Seldjuqi as original Timuri, and in the even further north Djulghe Djam, the Sangtshuli. Only the Moghulzadeh in the Djulghe Khaf and the Mokhtari maintain that they are not Baluch. The classification of the Yaqub-Khani is also unsure because they consider themselves Baluch (Edwards 1953:187), as well as Timuri. Today the Timuri are mainly to be found in west Afghanistan. Ethnologically they do not belong to the Iranian people. Their original home in the region of Bokhara makes a Turk/Mongol derivation more probable than an Arab one claimed for reason of alleged greater distinction (Maitland 1975:416). The Afghan Timuri produce pile rugs, too. Many of their tribal devices can, however, not be sufficiently identified. Apart from the Yaqub-Khani, who are also to be found in Afghanistan, the sub-tribes of the Kaudani (also Kuduani), the Shir-Khani, and the Zakani have acquired a good reputation as pile rug weavers (Janata 1975:10 and 1978:11). The Bah’luri also are one of the main foreign family units among the Baluch. They are to be found in northeast and east Khorassan, between Tayabad and Gha’in, as well as in Afghanistan. They were still camel-raising nomads around 1950. According to their tradition they are originally west Iranian Turks. Thet were resettled to Khorassan by Shah Abbas (1587-1628) because they were notorious trouble-makers. In their pile rugs they have modified elements of Baluch patterns so much that the inner relation to the typical Baluch symbolism of these motifs is missing.

Pile rugs with Baluch features, cruder though and not as plentiful, are also found among the Firuskuni and Taimani. They live today as farmers and semi nomads in rather confined areas in west Afghanistan: north and east of Herat, and south down to the region of Adreskand. The Djamshidi live here also. According to Janata (oral information, 1979), the question arises whether their sub-tribe, the Maududi, is identical with the Mush(a)wani, whose typical pile-weave rugs (Fig. 1) were mentioned in more recent publications (Eiland 1976:79). About 250 Djamshidi moved into the area of Meshhed in Persian north Khorassan only after 1885 (Janata 1978:11). Firuzkuhi are also still to be found in Iran, in the area south of Nishapur (Bellew 1973:59). Presumably they stayed behind when their tribe, which had been resettled their by Nadir Shah, returned to their former Afghan pastures after the death of Nadir Shah.

These peoples are partly of Iranian, partly of Turk-Mongol origin and belong to the loose confederation of the Tsharar Aimaq (Chahar Aimaq). “The Four Peoples.” Sometimes the above mentioned Timuri are also said to be one of those.

We do not know of any pile rugs made by the three first mentioned peoples before 1900. And there are no pieces in which natural dyes are used exclusively. This leads us to the conclusion that they learned how to knot rugs in very recent times, probably from the neighboring Baluch.

The flat-weave products of those groups seem to be of more significance than their pile-weave products. Small and big saddle-bags, old and new ones, all have the same typical patterns, that Janata (1979) and Bolland (1971:169) reported from the Afghan Djamshidi and Firuzkuhi. Such bags were still sold in the bazaars of Meshhed between 1950 and 1960. Since their patterns remotely resemble the ornaments on web-ends of Baluch carpets, dealers sold them as Baluch rugs, locating the place of production however, within a wide area around Meshhed. It can, therefore, be assumed that these fabrics were made by the already mentioned splinter groups of the Tshahar Aimaq in Khorassan. Another proof for that is the fact that none of the pieces, whose provenance was determined, were brought from Afghanistan as personal property of pilgrims and other travellers, and later sold in Meshhed. Tent bands from the Afghan Firuzkuhi remind us of the ornaments of the Pathan Ghilza’i, or even of the Turkoman Beshiri, while the patterns of the Taimani resemble sometimes those of the Mishmast, another nomad Aimaq group in west Afghanistan (Janata 1978:11 and 1979: Fig. 13).The pile rug weaving group of the so-called Arabs also needs to be mentioned, more because of geographical proximity than because of similarities of their carpets with those of the Baluch. These Arabs are almost without exception villagers, who became sedentary a long time ago, and who derive their name — maybe out of reasons of prestige — from those Arabs who Islamized their homeland in the 7th century. Their main settlements are in the area of Ferdows with Ayask, Arisk, Dohuk, Seghale, and Serayan as the most important pile rug weaving centers in 1951. Motifs, structures, and colors of those farmers’ carpets seldom resemble products made by Baluch from the same area2. Apart from a few exceptions most of the pieces are coarsely knotted, had a long pile and were very colorful. They were a favorite among the rich Arabs from the emirates of the Persian Gulf, who preferred the summer in Iran to that of an even hotter home country. The demand caused an almost assembly-line type of cottage industry , a general degradation of the product, and to a very superficial reproduction of the patterns. We see very crude Afshar designs in the central field and even more so in the borders. These pile rugs must, however, not be confused with other carpets that also have a distinct Afshar influence, that were without doubt made by Baluch in Sistan, about 500 kilometers from Ferdows. In contrast to Arab products, these Sistan Baluch rugs have central fields rich with small, carefully designed motifs and a stepped and/or incised central medallion, similar to those on runners made by southeast Iranian Afshar (Fig. 2.). The main border has an alternating latch-hook pattern, which is favored by some Baluch groups, but is originally a Turkoman pattern (Fig. 3).

As a rule the fabric structure of these rugs points to Baluch weavers. Some fabrics from very small groups, who were semi-nomadic at least until 1960, and who call themselves and are called by their neighboring Baluch, Arabzadeh, descendants of the Arabs, show how difficult it is to classify the rugs. In 1955 a group of 50 Arabzadeh could be in close neighborhood to the Moreidari and the Said-Mohammad-Khani in the eastern Djulghe Khaf. The few small pieces they had woven, however, were not distinguished from those made by the Moreidari (Fig. 4).

In order to complete the study of the ethnological environment that influenced the pile-weave products of the Baluch, the Brahu’i and the Shadlu need to be mentioned. As concerns the Brahu’i, it has been said above that the Baluch absorbed many units of them , although they belong to the Dravadian language group of south India. However, independent Brahu’i are still to be found in Sistan (Tate 1977:316, 363), Baluchistan (Imp. Gaz. Ind)1976:89, 90), in the area of Herat (Snoy 1974:181), and in the Turkmen S.S.R. (Gafferberg 1969:17-18). Pile rug weaving Baluch lived close to them in many of these regions.

We do not know of any pieces that can definitely be assigned to the Brahu’i. Maybe their name was transmorgrified to “Barawi,” a group of pile rug weavers that supposedly belong to the Sistan Baluch. Only isolated pieces of their pile rugs with typical, but rather meaningless designs were found.

The Shadlu belong to the Kurdish tribes, which were resettled by Shah Abbas to the northern Khorassan border, as protection against the Uzbeks (Sykes 1963:174). Up until today the Kurds have held on to their Caucasian influenced designs, which they had imported from north-west Persia. They weave easily identifiable long piled runners and rugs of much greater size than are produced by the neighboring Baluch. Between 1950 and 1960 the Shadlu around Budjnurd made saddlebags that cannot be distinguished, neither in the technique nor in the design, from very good Baluch products.

Pile and pileless rugs are made by female weavers as it is true also for the Turkomans, if a horizontal, collapsible wooden loom is used. Irregular formats do not disclose an unskillful weaver, but her nomadic way of life: A not yet finished piece was rolled around the warp beams of the disassembled frame when the group moved on to another pasture. The frame was then not readjusted accurately at the new location. Sheep’s wool, and more rarely camel wool is used for the pile. This wool looks dull in a new piece and gets its attractive sheen only after longer use. Since in recent time Balouch carpets have been in great demand for export, local dealers thought they could abbreviate this process and had rugs made with synthetic silk, whenever such a material was available. These products were offered in Europe as especially valuable.

The use of silk is indeed very rare. Until recently it was only used to accentuate certain colors, that were not easily obtained in wool with natural dyes, e.g. green and purple. For about 40 years metal threads have been incorporated every now and then.

Undyed or brown sheep’s wool, or sheep’s wool mixed with black goat’s hair is much used for warp and weft. The small sides of the rugs have dark web-ends with very delicately woven or embroidered ornaments in white and/or red.Some older pieces have web-ends that are woven in Kilim fashion: Stepped or undulating stripes are formed through color changes, e.g. from medium blue to red to black to medium blue. There are also rugs without web-ends from the second half of the last century. More recent pieces have 3 to 6 cm wide web-ends, which are usually devoid of ornaments.

Balouch in the Afghan province of Herat preserved the tradition of web-end ornaments longer than those in the area of Turbett-i-Heidari. In Herat, pieces with elaborate ornaments in web-ends were still rather recently produced.

The fringes are either twined or braided. Some times there are knots close to the web-ends that may have special colorful weft threads to prevent unraveling of the pile. Very often the fringes of the lower terminating end are more carefully finished than the ones at the beginning upper end.

The finish of the selvage is very characteristic: It is twined two to four times with black goat’s hair and shows sometimes a “herring-bone” pattern. rhe pile is knotted onto the warp threads applying the asymmetrical Persian or Senneh knot. The Tekke and Salor Turkomans use the same knots in their carpets (Azadi 1975:36).

This and the fact rhat the Khorassan Balouch used Tekke and Salor tribal devices leads us to assume once again that the Khorassan Balouch learned the skill of knotting rugs particularly from those Turkomans.

(Black 1976:21) and (Eiland 1976:81) examined a great number of Balouch carpets and found out that 10% of the knots were of the symmetrical Ghiordes kind. This might be partly explained by the fact that the authors did not analyze the rugs on-site. Maybe they are not original Balouch products, but were made by Timuri. It is also possible that the rugs are indeed of Balouch provenance, but that the weaver had a different ethnic origin and applied her techniques when she married into a Balouch tribe. Fine pieces have 2500-3000 knots to a square dcm, and each weft thread bears pile. Those products are as valuable as the Tekke and Salor rugs. But due to the different kind of wool they are still softer than comparable Turkoman rugs. The Salar-Khani, the Said Mohammad-Khani, the Ghara’i Beluchi, the `Ali Akbar-Khani in the Iranian region of Turbett-i-Heidari, and the Afghan Dokhtar-e-Ghazi made rugs of this quality. They very rarely reached the bazaars of Meshed and Herat, or even Europe. Products of minor quality were known there, and mistakenly taken as characteristic of Baluch work. Those rugs are loosely knotted with coarse yarn and are very soft or even flabby. They were made e.g. by Baluch groups from central Afghanistan, and by the Baizidi, in the region of Mahwalat, south of Turbett-i-Heidari.

In the last decades these weavers have also used cotton warp threads. This change is due to the opening of, so far, remote areas to modern transportation. Clever dealers have now the possibility of buying raw wool directly, and cheaper, from sheep breeding nomads, who have succumbed very easily to the temptation of “fast money”. The nomads’ economic situation has not improved though. On the contrary, some Balouch clans have given up knotting rugs altogether or have at least started to incorporate the cheap “foreign material” cotton. Since the use of it does not affect the life of the rugs, they have even used it in rugs for their own use.

Up to the middle of this century pile-weave and flat weave fabrics were mainly made for home use. The demand was never big, but at least continuous. New pile rugs were part of the customary dowry and served to prove the weaving skills of the bride. In addition rugs wore out soon in a Balouch tent, that does not offer as much protection as a Turkoman yurt, and thus they had to be replaced more often. This also explains why older or even semi-antique pieces are rarely found among the Balouch themselves.

During good years a Balouch family would weave one or two additional rugs. They were sold in the nearest city bazaars or exchanged for utensils, that they could not make themselves, for tea and sugar, as well as for red calico for dresses, and once in a while for silver coins for jewelery. Many Balouch from central and north Khorassan made those for the Persian New Year, on March 21st according to our calendar. Some of them came from far away to the bazaars of Meshed. Therefore the rugs had to be finished by the middle of March. Corresponding dates were sometimes inscribed into the rugs, e.g. 20. 12. 1319 (see Fig. 13). Also the neighboring Iranian villagers then replaced their worn out Balouch rugs with newer ones. Particularly, richer people in the villages of Djulghe Khaf used to cover the floors of their “mehman-khane”, the room where guests were welcomed, with nomad rugs. A new rug was also needed whenever one was damaged by glowing coals falling from the stove. Such rugs from the “mehman-Khane” then substituted for worn out rugs in the “endetun”, the living and women quarters, which were inaccessible to outsiders, the doctor excepted.

Thus only a very limited number of carpets reached the markets in Iran and Afghanistan that were accessible to European merchants. They were not much sought after in the cities because the urban middle class, that was able to afford rugs, preferred larger sizes. But those could not be woven on Balouch looms. The people in the cities also favored more colorful rugs, and if possible floral designs, “to bring the garden into the house”.

Up until recently there was no big foreign demand for knotted fabrics made by those nomads. Pile, pattern and colors of their rugs did not appeal to the prevailing taste of the first decades of this century. Even the much more attractive Turkoman rugs became popular rather late. This explains why in many older but also in some newer books on rugs, floral museum carpets are described in detail while Baluch rugs are ony mentioned for the sake of completeness.

Popularity for Baluch rugs was lacking for more than a hundred years. this fact contradicts the idea that the reproduction of Turkoman guls and other motifs was caused by foreign demand and respective orders by importers. foreign demand and taste have, however, strongly influenced patterns and color combination of Persian manufactured rugs since the middle of the last century. At the time when Turkoman patterns were knotted in Baluch rugs, such marketing strategies could not possibly be discussed with nomads, who have known how to preserve their independence in every respect until this century. All this is surely a reason for the fact that the Baluch used natural dyes much longer than many Turkoman weavers. There were still new Baluch rugs without any synthetic dyes until around 1950. At that time chemical wool dyes were already offered in the village bazaars, but the were still more expensive than the home-made natural dyes. In some pile rugs from those years natural and synthetic dyes were simultaneously used. Red shades and brown yellows — to imitate camel’s wool — were soon used on bigger surfaces while yellow and green tints were used only sporadically in some motifs. Some red and almost all green tones of that period were neither fadeless nor waterproof. In the last decade the quality of synthetic dyes, however, has improved and there have been a greater variety of colors, but at the same time the rugs have lost much of their charm. Unusual colors like crimson red, bright orange, malachite green and purple seem to have animated the weavers’ imagination to excessive experiments that were in contrast to tradition. The result was disharmony in the rugs.

This shows that so-called progress can lead to the destruction of good nomad traditionsThe more important traditional colors of the field are found — with exceptions — in the following geographical centers:

Dark blue to black blue (made with very concentrated indigo): Areas of Turbett-i-Heidari and Kashmir, Djulghe Khaf and the northern part of the Herat region.

Medium blue (weaker concentration of indigo): North Khorrassan. There are only very few pieces with this color. Most of them were made in the second half of the last century.

Brick red, fire red to dark red (made from madder of different ages): Regions of Nishapur and north of Meshed, Djulghe Turbett-i-Sheikh-i-Djam, Djulghe Bakharz, Mahwalat and Gha’inat.

Aubergine shades (old madder with additional dyes): Sistan and central Afghanistan (southern province of Herat), a small area southeast of Gounabad in prayer rugs without mihrabs. Camel brown (undyed camel wool): Gha’inat, Bidjestan, Mahwalat, Djulghe Khaf and eastern Kjulghe Turbett-i-Sheik-i-Djam. Very often in prayer rugs, always in the “akhundi” type.

White to cream-colored (undyed, sometimes bleached sheep’s wool): Area around Turbett-i-Heidari, but only in the last decades as substitute for camel wool, which has become rare. Camel wool has always been used mainly for men’s clothes.

Black brown (natural wool with additional dyes, e.g. walnut shells): Southern Afghanistan, e.g. province of Farah.

In many Balouch rugs the ground color in the (main) border(s) is the same as the one in the field. If the center field is, however, camel brown, red tints are usually used in the borders. Red borders can also enframe a dark blue field. A reverse color combination was not seen in older rugs.

Different shades of ground colors are frequently used for field motifs. When red tints are used the design is still discernable. But this is not the case when dark blue is used on dark brown, like in many very finely knotted saddle bags made by south Afghan Balouch. Details in motifs, like small petals, as well as outlining strips are very often white and/or yellow or yellow orange. Green was used in older carpets only sparingly. Darker tints are seen in older rugs from Sistan and Afghanistan. Up until the beginning of this century lighter blue colors were often found in rugs from central and north Khorassan. Very often motifs were set off with black bordering lines. If Ihere was not enough black brown sheep’s wool available, brown wool was dyed several times by boiling it together with steel filings. This was done over and over again, according to an exactly scheduled process of eight days. Such a treatment damages the wool. It becomes brittle and mouldy, but this fact is not considered to lessen the value of the rug. Those rugs have a relief effect (corrosion), that makes them very often especially appealing.

Recipes for the production of plant and stone dyes have repeatedly been published. But they are only valid for those interviewed: In the geographical area of my field studies recipes were jealously kept secret among the families and not revealed even within the clan.

Baluch Style or “Baluch Aesthetics”

By: Tom Cole

Baluch rugs are intriguing; their designs provide a window onto the past, an exceptionally graphic reflection of old traditions. The common thread throughout the literature of Baluch rug weaving is one of ethnographic information, with analysis mainly confined to technique and craft. Baluch enthusiasts and ‘experts’ typically debate which tribe or subtribe made which type, where and when, with artistic composition and aesthetic impact assuming a secondary role.

Khorassan

The Khorasan (northeast Persian) style is the most familiar of the three, and in a sense may be considered ‘classical’. In a provocative interview in HALI 76, Jerry Anderson proposed that Khorasan Baluch rugs are closely related to those of their Turkmen neighbours, although some also employ historic Persianate motifs and design conventions. A restricted red and blue palette, with white highlights, predominates, and many motifs echo archetypal Turkic themes which are also seen in the ‘classical’ weavings of the Turkmen tribes. Indeed, it can be argued that the oldest Khorasan Baluch rugs retain many of the design characteristics of old Turkmen (and Turkic) weavings.

The Khorasan weaving area is geographically contiguous to Turkmenistan, where the town of Sarakhs is no great distance from Mashad. The design within the rectangular panels of a camel-ground Baluch balisht from this area (1) bears comparison to that found on rare Tekke Turkmen ‘white-panel’ kaps.
A very pretty Khorasan khorjin face (2) demonstrates the kinship between traditional Turkic design and ‘Baluch’ tribal weavings of Khorasan. The motifs on its deep red ground are reminiscent of Mughal floral ornamentation, as well as of later Turkic weavings from the Caucasus. A Khorasan rug (3) employs a similar field aesthetic, but with a border more often associated with rare Turkmen weavings made by the so-called Eagle-göl groups of the wider Yomut Turkmen family.
Another northeast Persian khorjin face (4), features a zoomorphic design within the familiar octagonal gül found on Salor, Saryk, Tekke and Ersari chuvals. This small bag is one of the most extraordinary examples of its type; the weave is very fine and the drawing precise with wonderful composition of the elements.
Other recurrent themes within the Khorasan repertoire that bring to mind aspects of ‘animal-style’ iconography on Turkic weavings from the steppes include the decoration of the ubiquitous ‘bird-bag’ design type (5). There is little doubt that the bird forms are derived from a Turkic prototype, perhaps the best known example of which is a Seljuk period rug from the Mevlana Museum, Konya (inv.no. 841; Ölçer et al., Turkish Carpets of the 13th to 18th Centuries, 1996, pl.13).
A particularly pleasing Khorasan rug (6) confirms the connection of Baluch design and aesthetic to weavings from Central Asia. The rather random arrangement of dark blue-black crab-like palmette forms ‘crawling’ up the blood-red ground is very close to (though more interesting than) that seen on certain Kirghiz rugs from Central Asia. The similarity of its primary field elements to those found on one of the well-known Seljuk carpets now in the Türk ve Islam Eserleri Museum, Istanbul, is striking (inv.no. 688; Ölçer et al., pl.4), and exemplifies a commonplace, if as yet unpublished, discussion concerning the design relationship between Baluch rugs and the carpets of the Seljuks from Konya and Beysehir.

I have not seen another Baluch weaving remotely similar to this one, a fact which suggests to me that it may be of an earlier period. The border design, palette, and slight warp depression may indicate an origin in the region of Torbat-e Heydari, about a hundred miles southwest of the city of Mashad.
Prayer rugs made by the various Baluch tribes have always commanded significant collector interest, but rarely seem to me to be anything other than commercial production, judging by the fact that few old examples show a pattern of wear consistent with use. One of the most common design types is the tree-of-life, usually on a camel-ground. The incorporation of Turkic elements in the hand panels and field may assist in identifying the genealogy of the people who wove them, but does not diminish the commercial nature of the weaving. One might expect an older example of the type to look like (8). Note the spacious treatment of the tree, the boldly articulated Turkic design elements and the remnants of a heavy four-cord selvedge. The handle of this piece is more substantial than that of most Baluch rugs, rather like an Ersari Turkmen piece. It is likely that this prayer rug was made by Baluch tribes in southern Turkmenistan, possibly no later than the mid 19th century.
One of the most extraordinary design types in the Khorasan repertoire may be of Taimuri origin (7). Siawosch Azadi published one example (Carpets in the Baluch Tradition, pl.1), assigning it to Sistan and dating it to the 18th-19th century. As it appears to incorporate elements of 18th century northwest Persian ‘tree’ carpet design, the earlier date is not impossible. The present fragment has lost most of its borders, but traces remain at top and bottom. These borders too suggest greater age; the ‘lightning’ motifs are well drawn and relatively rare on Baluch rugs (seen mainly on Taimuri pieces). The trace of a cartouche element in the third border is unfamiliar to me, and may also indicate an early date, as does the dense profusion of Turkic ornamentation, including the jewellery-like elements, the representation of water and the shamanistic anthropomorphic winged figure in the trunk of the tree.
Other excellent examples of the type have recently appeared at auction (Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, 22 November 1997, lot 116), and in a dealer’s exhibition in New Hampshire.

Sistan

The Sistan (southeast Persian) aesthetic is a different animal altogether, employing hardly any of the ‘classical’ themes of Khorasan and rarely echoing the Afghan renditions. Few if any Turkmen relationships are apparent; individual repeat patterns (perceived as continuing beyond the borders to infinity) are seldom used. On the other hand, the use of colour and space in abstract form may be the single most obvious characteristic of typical Sistan weavings. These pieces are often similar to the flatweaves of the same area in both palette and design.
The serrated medallions of the so-called ‘Mushwani’ types (9, 10) probably represent the essential Sistan motif. These medallions serve as a visual focal point, radiating from within, as do mandalas. Such simple motifs may be dated mainly through a critical assessment of colour and space; older pieces tend to have a diverse palette comprising a profusion of green and teal blue-green coupled with the sparing use of white (usually confined to highlights). Later examples tend to have a darker, more limited palette which is at times harshly contrasted with substantial amounts of bleached white wool.

The loosely drawn serrated medallions are ultimately more pleasing in my view than regular, stiffer renditions. Similarly, those pieces with more upright, ‘taller’ medallions (9), possibly representing older drawing, seem to me more attractive than those with a more elliptical orientation (10). The absence of specific imagery, replaced by abstract motifs, recalls the refreshingly accessible ‘contemporary art’ aesthetic of Persian gabbehs.

The boteh motif is perennially popular in Baluch rugs. The Khorasan version often appears to derive from the Persian model and, perhaps ultimately, the Kashmir shawl, representing a ‘classical’ inspiration. The Sistan boteh is very different. It may have initially entered the Sistan design pool through the migration of the Sharakhi and Sarabani Mushwani tribes from the Caucasus region. While it is easy and convenient to label this a provincial rendition, I believe it may represent an animal or bird form. Sistan botehs may appear less interesting to an eye more accustomed to the familiar classical form, but when well executed, are colourful and suggest zoomorphic elements, often composed of simply drawn figures (11) or squares (12).

Western Afghanistan

The third group, Baluch pile weavings from western Afghan tribes, has a style related to that of the neighbouring Khorasan tribes, but with a less austere, warmer palette. The saturated blood-red of Khorasan is seldom found as a primary ground colour. The designs are related to those of Khorasan weavings, but are usually executed in a less formal manner.

While prayer rugs may be an essentially commercial production, examples do exist which appear to be ‘real’ pieces, in the sense that commercial influences are reduced to a minimum, if not completely absent. In (13), the field design is reminiscent of Central Asian felt and appliqué work, while the hour-glass motifs in the hand panels recall tertiary elements in Uzbek weavings. The bold drawing of the border system suggests an older aesthetic, with a pleasing scale, which, combined with skilful use of colour, imparts a sense of movement. However, the rug cannot be dated to earlier than about 1870, as it contains early synthetic dyes, including the yellow (faded from red) guard stripes in the barber’s-pole minor border, as well as the light orange of the reciprocal trefoil motif. Some of the warps were once bright purple, but have since faded. We assume the use of such newly imported dyestuffs was considered attractive by the weaver at the time of manufacture. I have never seen another prayer rug with anything approaching this layout and believe it to be an ‘authentic’ weaving, reflecting a local design tradition rather than commercial market demands. One of a pair of khorjin that I place in the west Afghan group shows particularly artful drawing of the ubiquitous Memling gül motif (14).

Another familiar Baluch theme, derived from the Seljuk repertoire, features diagonally placed cartouches arranged to form octagonal medallions in a way that recalls some Azerbaijan embroideries (Orient Stars, pls. 48, 50) and later Alpan Kuba rugs, but executed in a rather looser manner than one normally encounters (15). Zoomorphic imagery is common to the art of many Central Asian tribes, but the way in which the Baluch express it here, with one design grid laid over another, is typical of their aesthetic sensibilities. The Khorasan version, far more mathematical in concept, is visually dazzling, but lacks the idiosyncrasies associated with ‘tribal’ (or rural) weavings.

Conclusion

The study of Turkmen rugs has produced a strict codification of the various weaving groups, contributing to a relative chronology which is generally agreed upon, if not actual hard dates. Nothing similar has occurred for the weavings of the Baluch. No single aesthetic quality truly defines Baluch rugs from disparate regions, and there are always exceptions to general rules – for instance, Arab rugs from the Qain region are very different in palette to other pieces woven in Khorasan.

While the Baluch design pool has often been considered derivative of other Central Asian weaving cultures, few authors show any real understanding of the antecedents of the variety of nomadic peoples whose rugs are loosely labelled ‘Baluch’. For example, the ‘Mushwani’ (according to a Pushtu text translated into English by a young lawyer in Quetta, Baluchistan) may trace their earliest origins to Syria, then to the Transcaucasus region, primarily in an area of present day Armenia, before their dispersal throughout the Sistan region. Other segments of the tribe went to Afghanistan, adopted the Pushtu language and are not thought of as weavers of pile rugs. One may equally ask who are the Taimuri tribes and from where do they come?

Who are the people who wove the camel-ground prayer rugs with bold Turkic motifs? The clues lie within the rugs themselves.

The traditions of design and palette are integral components of the puzzle and, in their purest forms, a tangible view of a distant past. Commercial rug patterns are like a written language, stored on paper, unwavering and static. The unwritten language of tribal (nomadic) rugs is retained in the minds of the weavers and subject to the diverse influences a clan or tribe may experience over generations. Many interesting Baluch rugs survive, but the truly significant and beautiful ones offer clear reflections of an old and developed art tradition. Great rugs endure as a physical manifestation of myth and meaning in the pan-tribal consciousness of the weaver’s mind.

POSTSCRIPT

The poster session at the Philadelphia ICOC and this particular article grew out of, was a natural extension from the HALI 76 article, From the Horse’s Mouth. Given the confusion wreaked by Jerry’s confident as well as controversial attributions and the rebuttal it inspired not only by Andrew Hale but many others, it became apparent that there really is a Baluch style that appears to be, more or less, predicated by provenance rather than by specific tribal attributions. Given the attempts to assign a tribal name to a 19th century weaving, and the odds for error, such a method seemed to be much easier to understand. As time has passed, the Sistan identification has grown in popularity, entering the everyday lexicon of the committed Baluchophile. Afghan Baluch pieces seemed to have gained some notoriety based upon actually having been identified while Khorasan Baluch weavings have always enjoyed a certain amount of respect within the genre.

The relationship of some Baluch weavings to an earlier Anatolian and/or Turkic aesthetic, while not unknown at the time of publication, still demands further research and exploration, something that I attempted to do at the recent seminar on Central Asian rugs sponsored by Itinerant Eden featuring Elena Tsareva with myself in a subsidiary role. Given time, this concept, too, will become an essential element in the mind of the average Baluch rug enthusiast.

                          Baluch Rugs in Afghanistan

By: Tom Cole

The market in and the study of Baluch carpets have evolved dramatically over the past decade. Even a symposium dedicated to these pile rugs and flatweaves from eastern Iran and western Afghanistan has recently taken place, an unimaginable event a few years ago when Baluch rugs were often given by dealers to buyers of costlier weavings. But many specialist collectors still demonstrate an undemanding level of aesthetic awareness, paying lip service to the quality of affordable but pedestrian examples of the genre.
My first Baluch encounters occurred in the early 1980s at Adraskand, Inc. in Point Reyes, north of San Francisco. At that time, Anne Halley was assembling her acclaimed collection of Baluch rugs and Michael Craycraft was engaged in creative Hajji Faizullah and his brothers manned a small shop in Quetta’s Suraj Gunj Bazaar. Their association with one of the groups confronting the Kabul regime was well known, and the huge amounts of cash at their disposal led to talk that they had been given license to operate with impunity, using the rug trade as a front for their activities, which offered material support to the fundamentalist resistance to the communist puppet government in Kabul and the coalition regime which followed.
Their tiny cement cubicle with rugs piled up along the walls and a dim light bulb hanging from the peeling whitewashed ceiling was hardly an ideal atmosphere for rug appreciation. A Pashtun tribesman from Kandahar, with no background in the art trade and addicted to opium, Hajji was always huddled on a cushionin the corner beside an electric heater, a blanket wrapped around his hunched shoulders, drinking tea. His appreciation of tribal rugs was minimal, preferring ornate Safe home a few weeks later I realised that this was a carpet I had to have. But I was unable to return to Baluchistan for another six months. In the meantime, rumours had spread throughout the market in Pakistan. Dealers in the Peshawar bazaar whispered about a fantastic rug of great size and beauty, and a few foreigners had ventured to Quetta to see it. But none had pulled the trigger. So I paid Hajji the money and with some difficulty carried the carpet to Peshawar and shipped it back to California.
Even then I did not appreciate the true magnitude of the rug. Its sheer size was obvious, but its history, and the composition of the design remained enigmatic. Special circumstances accounted for its entering the market. Originally belonging to a Khan’s family in the Chakhansur region of western Afghanistan, south of Herat and close to the Persian border, and in their hands since it was woven, it was first taken to a small Baluchistan village between Quetta and Nushki, where the Khan and his family sought refuge, then on to Quetta.
Rugs of this type have been referred to in Afghan marketplace vernacular as “Taimani”, an attempt to indicate their unmistakeable Afghan provenance, but an inadequate attribution based solely upon a slightly coarser weave type. The palette of the true Afghan Baluch weaves (including the Taimani) is never so saturated, nor as diverse as those from Chakhansur, while the mainly dark red and blue tones of Khorasan pale beside similarly patterned rugs from this region.
The people of Chakhansur are said to be ‘cousins’ of the Sistan tribes. musings on tribal rug classification. My initial interest was kindled there, but my real initiation into the world of Baluch rugs occured a little later in Baluchistan in southwest Pakistan.
Unusual circumstances dictated the direction that the region’s rug trade was to follow during the 1980s and 1990s. War raged in Afghanistan, and Baluchistan’s villages, towns and its only city, the provincial capital Quetta, overflowed with refugees. Trade in arms, financed by the parallel trade in drugs, flourished, financing the struggle in Afghanistan against the Soviet invaders and their communist vassals. As the refugees’ need for cash increased, a trade in antique rugs and textiles also developed. But only those with cash could participate, and the only people with cash were drug dealers and gun runners.
Persian town carpets to the coarser weavings of the peoples of Central Asia, but some of the best Baluch rugs in Pakistan passed through his hands. One day in December 1994 he took me up to the roof to look at a carpet which could not be properly seen within the confines of the shop. We climbed the crumbling stairs to the top of the one-storey building. The cold, clear winter air and views of the city and the surrounding snow-capped mountains were refreshing, but any preconceptions of what I might see were immediately dashed. There lay a rug of unimaginable size, unbelievable colour and unexpected design. My senses reeled as my mind struggled to assimilate the information when, in response to my enquiry in Farsi, “Chan ast?”, Hajji uttered what seemed to be an unbelievable, certainly unprecedented, price. No one had ever asked such a sum in Pakistan for any rug, and few Baluch weavings in the international marketplace had ever achieved such a level.
The Chakhansur origin is important in understanding the rug in art historical terms. The so-called ‘crab’ border is a ‘classic’ configuration depicting a convergence of animal heads around a central motif, often an ashik device or floral element. This scrolling dragon head/serrated leaf border also occurs in Transcaucasian rugs, and within the Baluch context is often associated with ‘Timuri’ weavings from Khorasan.
The field design incorporates both Timuri ‘shield palmette’ elements and the hooked forms of west Afghan rugs generally known as ‘Mushwani’. Such synthesis defies conventional wisdom. The more formal, evolved aesthetics of the Chakhansur weavers’ northern neighbours, with ‘classic’ themes executed true to the Khorasan prototype, are combined with the aesthetic and chromatic sensibilities of their tribal cousins from Sistan in the west. Their use of colour is less restrained than in Khorasan. Indeed, the total embrace of a diverse palette is a distinguishing characteristic of this group of rugs.
A study of their weavings, including flatweaves, supports this suggestion, as they show shared tastes in palette and design, albeit with some divergent traits as well. In this carpet we find a true confluence of traditions, with ‘Timuri’ themes in conjunction with the striking palette of Sistan and the boldly articulated hooked medallions of the ‘Mushwani’. This has produced a true masterpiece of woven art, transcending the Baluch aesthetic as it is generally understood. Such a grand and beautiful carpet raises the bar for our evaluation of Baluch weavings as a whole.

The culture of East African Baluchis

By: Abdul kadir Noor Mohamed,
Kenya, East Africa

The culture of East African Baluchis has undergone quite a metamorphosis from the 1700s to the present day. With time traditional Baluchi lifestyle gradually eroded and a more Swahili one took its place. Our ancestors interacted with the local people and assimilated to become part and parcel of the social life of the region. As the Baluchi language gave way to Kiswahili, the lingua franca of East Africa, so too did a lot of our traditional cultural norms. It must be noted however, that at no time did we ever lose our identity.

Language apart, the Baluchis here have always maintained a separate identity from the rest of the people. The use of Baluchi names and the continuous narration of our culture and Iranian history has kept the awareness of our roots still fresh in our minds, and our yearning for self- preservation still very much alive. Some families have successfully resisted the change of language and still proudly speak good Baluchi, albeit diluted in grammar and vocabulary, but fluent. We have also managed to maintain strong social cohesion amongst ourselves. For a very long time, families strictly married only from each other, perhaps in an effort to preserve the tribe. Although this provision is no longer strictly followed, it is still highly preferred.

Today the Baluchis of East Africa can be said to have inter-married with almost every other local community. Despite the observable diversity, we have remained essentially close knit. Perhaps what has remained more or less unchanged culture-wise is the way we celebrate our weddings. The ceremonies have remained the same, made even more pronounced by the bride, who can still be seen on her wedding day in full Baluchi regalia. The younger Baluchi population of Mombasa can be said to be developing an impressive impetus on self-awareness.

The Baluchi language, which was slowly fading away from the society, is gradually finding its way back with new awakened interest. The recent contacts with the Baluchis of Iran, Muscat and Quetta will perhaps help build an exchange of information, which should help us revive our culture.

Education Most of East African Baluchis are literate. Education in schools is secular with English as the medium of instruction. Mombasa Baluchi youth have attained High School education and almost all of the younger generation are advancing towards universities and colleges. One of Kenya’s top surgeons is Baluchi. The Mombasa and Nairobi communities have produced several young doctors, architects, aviation engineers, bankers, pilots, accountants and lawyers. Baluchis can also be found in respectable positions within Kenya’s tourism industry, Tanzania’s politics, the banking sector, and of course the various businesses Baluchis have done remarkably well in.

Religious education, however, is not so well developed, and in most cases it has taken a backhand to the secular one. Apart from one Quran school in Makadara run by a Baluchi mullah, there are literally no Baluchi institutions for Quranic instruction. However since the East African coast is predominantly Muslim, parents send their children to the various madrassas for Islamic lessons. There is the Baluchi Mosque that stands at the junction of Baluchi Street and Makadara Road in Mombasa, that was first built in 1865, and has since undergone two renovations, one in 1964 and another one recently in 2005.

Present day In Mombasa, Baluchis have successfully launched a community committee whose main aim is to promote social welfare, self-awareness and the propagation of culture. Mombasa now has a Baluchi Centre on Makadara Road. The Baluchi Centre’s most prominent function is the getting together of the Baluchis on various occasions and the running of the Baluchi mosque and the Mbaruk mosque, a local sunni mosque whose maintenance and welfare has been adopted by the Baluchi Community.

Presently, Mombasa Baluchis portray more as part of the modern Kenyan social life with hints of western urbanism. However the families in Mbeya and Rujewa are still admirably traditional. Despite rare inter-mingling, East African Baluchis are well aware of each other’s existence and all Baluchis, even of mixed race, hold a tremendous pride in being Baluchi. Mombasa’s Baluchi youth have moved on to establish communities as far off as in London in the UK, and Toronto in Canada.

Our hope now is to be able to establish a productive relationship with the Baluchis in Iranian Baluchistan, and help create, through medium like the internet, a cultural forum in which all Baluchis, those “back home”, and those of us in the diaspora, can engage in, to enable the Baluchi Nation of the world keep links with each other. As I said, we sailed here in armoured dhows three centuries ago to settle in this part of the world where in time we absorbed part of its culture into ourselves, and given a part of ours to the land. But despite the influence of the years and the erosion of time, we still hold dear in our hearts the richness of our heritage and the memory of our distant home in the vast mountains of Baluchistan.

Sources upon which I derived information for the article:

1. Searchlight on Baloches and Balochistan by Mir Khudda Baksh Bijrani
2. Khuda Baksh Bijrani’s book, History Versus Legend, which was translated by M. L. Dames, who is a major proponent of the theory of our origins being in thev Elborz Mountains around the Caspian Sea. This theory is supported by the Soviet anthropologist L.W Oshananen. The Caspian Sea origins was also recently propounded by Russian Orientalist Professor Yu Gankovsky.
3. Tarikh al Rasool wa al-Malook, Abu Jaffar Al Tabari, This historical chronicle is renowned for its historical detail and accuracy concerning Muslim and Middle Eastern accuracy. One version published under the editorship of M.J de Goeje in three series,comprising thirteen volumes, with two extra volumes containing indices, introduction and glossary.
4. The writings of E.Herzefield who is a major proponent of the Allepo Origins theory. He states that we inhabited Halab, northern Syria and later the Iranian Medes and that the name ‘Baluch’ comes from the Median word ‘brza-vak’ which is a Median war cry.
5. Baluch elders in Makadara.

Balochi Oral Tradition.

04
JUN
By:Sabir Badalkhan

What is Oral Tradition?

The oral tradition of the Baloch belongs to an ethnic group speaking a northwest Iranian language called Balochi and inhabiting Balochistan, a country now divided among Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. It was until recently—and to a great extent in many parts of the country it remains even now—a living art. It is, however, an art that is losing ground rapidly to the written word and to modern means of communication and entertainment. A few decades back oral tradition was present in a Baloch’s life from cradle to grave. It was so diffused, authoritative, and highly esteemed that among some Baloch tribes a newborn baby boy was presented with the recital of several heroic epics—either three or seven—by an old man in place of the call of prayers, azan (the proclamation of faith among Muslims saying that Allah is the only God and Muhammad is his only prophet), as is usually done in many other Muslim communities. A special session of epic recitation would be arranged and male elders of the family would be invited, animal(s) would be sacrificed, and a male elder of the family or someone else from the family or tribe would recite these epics for three to seven nights (Badalkhan 1992:38, n. 39). This was the first lesson the newborn boy would receive from the elders of his family, who expected him to behave accordingly and to follow in the footsteps of past Baloch heroes who left their legacy in historical epics with heroic deeds that safeguarded true Baloch values (balochiat). After that, the baby was sung lullabies by his mother, sisters, and maidservants until he grew old enough to be circumcised, wear trousers, enter the ranks of men, and assume all the obligations and duties that a man of the tribe had to manage. From then on, he was expected to participate in tribal warfare and other affairs of the tribe and to involve himself in cycles of revenge as necessary. Before that age he was considered a child and there was no consequence to any of his actions. A boy’s circumcision ceremony was in itself a great moment for his parents and family members, and also an event of even greater importance for his tribe in that a new man was entering their ranks and strengthening the tribal body. In such festivities, the whole tribe participated and often it was the tribal chief who sponsored the whole ceremony and covered all of the expenses. Famous minstrels would be invited by well-off families and local female singers would perform, accompanied by other women. Among poor families only the local female singer, usually the wife of the village blacksmith (Badalkhan 2000-01:163-64), would sing along with women of the village and the neighbourhood; no circumcision or wedding ceremony went without singing and music lest it be considered an ill omen for the boy and his family. Similar oral traditional performances accompanied other life-cycle activities of the Baloch. Weddings were one recurring site for such activities. In some parts of Balochistan, especially in the north until recently, mourning, mostly of men but also of women if they belonged to an important family, included sung elegies, in some places accompanied by drums if it was the funeral of a tribal chief. Although the birth of a girl was not celebrated except in those families with no child at all or in the upperclass families, a daughter’s wedding was celebrated by her family with much singing and dancing, as well as animal sacrifices. Oral tradition has been very important for the Baloch as an ethnolinguistic group. It served them as their history when there was no written history in their language. It was also the record of their cultural values, a mark of their identity, a guideline for the younger generation, and a check on their behavior and way of conduct. Oral tradition also “flavors” assemblies via taletelling, the recital of poems, and the quoting of proverbs or excerpts from past poets; in this way various speech-acts are strengthened and opinions can be authenticated. There can be no dispute about the wisdom of the past. Reciting poems or inserting proverbs in discourse also demonstrates that the speaker is well versed in the Baloch traditions, serving as a kind of presentation card certifying the speaker as a true Baloch (asli Baloch). While verse narratives (sheyr) and their composers (shair) certainly held a high place in Baloch society, other genres of verbal art did not occupy a lesser position in regard to daily life. For example, people with a talent for reciting proverbs in discussions always have a prominent place in men’s gatherings. Similarly, proverbs are equally popular among women, and in some areas women quote more proverbs than their menfolk do. Riddle competition is also highly valued since it is considered to be an important test of a person’s wittiness. When sitting or walking in a group, it is not unusual for a person to observe something, put it in riddle form, and ask others to see whether they can guess the meaning. Oral tradition has also served as a pastime during long winter nights. During this period people spent a considerable part of the night gathered at a chief’s guesthouse or visiting neighbors or the village blacksmith to listen to tales and legends or to compete with each other in posing riddles. Each village has a blacksmith, who in addition to being a craftsman also plays music and tells tales on festive occasions. Although they belonged to the lower strata of Balochi society and had no or little social position in a traditionally hierarchical organization, blacksmiths’ mastery of the verbal art always secured them a central place at public gatherings during leisure times or when someone was needed to entertain the assembly. They were in the service of the people, and people provided them with a livelihood by bestowing special gifts on festive occasions as well as at harvests.
To sum up, we can say without hesitation that Balochs have a very rich oral tradition that includes poems and songs to celebrate or commemorate many events. But although they boast one of the richest song genres in the region (see Badalkhan 1994:ch. 3), it remains the least studied so far.
The most interesting new directions in Balochi oral tradition studies The first fieldwork on Balochi oral tradition stems from the nineteenth century, when the British came in contact with Baloch tribes and felt the need to study the local language to be able to communicate. British missionaries and administrators concentrated mainly on the collection of samples of Balochi oral poetry, but some also gathered folktales and other genres such as riddles, proverbs, and so forth. The most important collection was that done by Longworth Dames, chiefly on the Dera Ghazi Khan district of southwestern Punjab. His Popular Poetry of the Baloches, published in London in two volumes in 1907 (vol. 1 is the English translation of the Balochi texts given in vol. 2) was a landmark in the study of indigenous oral tradition and a great stimulus for Baloch men of letters during the second half of the twentieth century (see Badalkhan 1992). It was the only such work that contained an introductory note dealing with the sources, origin, and character of Balochi poetry, with material on classification, forms of verse, methods of singing, the antiquity of heroic poems, and so on; the second volume contains an account of the language of Balochi poetry. But after the publication of this important collection no work of any scale was carried out until the withdrawal of the British from the Indian subcontinent and the emergence of Pakistan in the second half of the twentieth century. Balochistan, with its capital at Kalat, declared its independence and survived as a separate country until late March, 1948, when the Pakistan Army moved to Kalat and forced the ruler to sign a document of accession. In 1949 Radio Pakistan’s Karachi station began broadcasting in regional languages. The new 45-minute programs in Balochi were a development that encouraged the Baloch literate class to write in their own language and to collect material from the rich oral tradition of their people. But such collections resulted only in sporadic publications of a poem here and there in a Balochi journal; since the language was not taught in schools and had no official sponsorship, attempts to publish in Balochi were viewed with suspicion by the central government. Indeed, Balochi publications were severely limited and came under constant censorship. As a result, the oral tradition is still largely unrecorded, and Balochs themselves still consider their oral literature as having no value. I remember once talking to a native compiler of a volume on Balochi folktales who recounted once making a collection and presenting the manuscript to the chairman of the Balochi Academy. He told me that the Academy chairman, who himself was a famous writer, had shouted at him, berating him for undertaking such a useless project. “This was the last time that I made any attempt to collect folktales,” he told me in an interview in Quetta in 2000 (oral communication with Surat Khan Mari). One can say without hesitation that oral tradition is now a dying art in Balochistan. Notwithstanding the emergence of a strong nationalistic feeling among the Baloch population both in Iran and Pakistan, the existence of pahlawan (professional singers of verse narratives), and the love for suroz (a bowed instrument played as an accompaniment to narrative songs and considered to be the national instrument of the Baloch) among the educated classes, there seems to be no future for the oral tradition in Balochistan. Times are changing rapidly and it is unlikely that Balochi oral traditions, such as minstrelsy and storytelling sessions, can survive even a couple of decades from now. Worst of all is the fact that many of these forms have not been collected and preserved at all. If the bearers of this centuries-old, highly refined art die, we will have very little material in hand on which to base a description and study of the Balochi oral tradition. For example, about 30 years back when I was in elementary school the children of our village spent every moonlit night in outdoor games (every village had a playground for such purposes), while dark nights were devoted to telling tales to each other or organizing riddle competitions. Winter nights, on the other hand, were ideal for storytelling sessions and indoor games such as riddle competitions, where children were sometimes also joined by elders, both men and women. There were also additional indoor games that involved rhymes and songs. On other occasions, people of the village, including children and adults of both sexes, gathered at the house of an aged man or woman or at the house of the village ludi (professional blacksmith but also musician, singer, storyteller, handicraftsman, circumciser; see Badalkhan 2000-01:163-64). Very often, boys from farming families would collect wood for fuel while those from wealthier families would bring sugar, tea, and the like for the storyteller and her/his audience. These homes would function as storytelling institutions where long winter nights became “short” and tales remained “long,” as one of the formulae in Balochi storytelling puts it (Badalkhan 2000-01:171). Frequently, someone from among the audience would also come up and tell tales. Very rare was the night with no storytelling or indoor games. Other factors were operative as well. Since the people of the village were in the majority of cases related to each other by blood, there was no concept of refusing the favor of telling tales to each other. The case was the same with the ludi, who was economically dependent on the village community and so had a professional duty to entertain the village people with his tales whenever they gathered at his place or called him to some other place. The Muslim fasting month of Ramazan was another occasion for such regular sessions; people kept the fast for 30 days from sunrise to sunset, with many nights spent awake from dinner up to the last meal at around 5 a.m. These were occasions when people were kept busy by storytellers, either professionals or amateurs, and the repertoires of these storytellers were so rich that they never came to an end. In the past, itinerant minstrels would also visit regularly after every harvest or during religious festivals; they were frequently invited for wedding and circumcision ceremonies or upon the birth of sons of important families. During their seasonal tours these minstrels would visit all of the villages on their route. One was followed by another, and this sequence would continue for weeks, keeping the people’s interest fresh and their attachment to the tradition alive. But now, alas, people of all ages and of both sexes are stuck to television sets, sometimes spending every bit of their free time there. There are numerous satellite television networks, and local distributors have made them accessible even to families with minimum earnings. Since television is a new phenomenon, people are lost in it and have abandoned interest in all other types of traditional entertainments and engagements. And since these networks mostly telecast their programs in Hindi, which when spoken is very similar to Urdu, people have no difficulty
in understanding them. Indeed, even when people do not understand the language, they enjoy these performances and are entertained. Balochi verbal art and musical traditions have also suffered a severe setback from the constantly rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism in the region. This influence started soon after the Communist coup in Afghanistan in April 1978, followed by the holy war of the West against the Soviets in Afghanistan using the card of Islam; all reactionary Arab regimes joined the West in this war. As a result, Islamic fundamentalism has made gains throughout the area and Balochistan has been no exception. In many places where Islamic fundamentalist parties have established roots, singing and playing music have been prohibited and replaced by religious sermons.
Even clapping hands has been declared un-Islamic and replaced by chanting “Allah o Akbar” (“Allah is Great”), following the model of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Balochi oral tradition needs the urgent attention of folklore scholars. We must collect as much material as possible because time is running out very fast. The most urgent necessity is to interview living minstrels and record their repertoires, for all of them have reached an advanced age and no new minstrels have emerged for decades. The simple reason is that the social, cultural, and economic situation in Balochistan has undergone drastic change, and under the new circumstances this centuries-old art has not found any place. People in modern times lack both the interest and the time to listen to and appreciate these long narrative songs, which sometimes require many nights to be sung fully. Other types of verbal art also need the attention of folklore scholars. Balochi is very rich in folktales, riddles, simple proverbs and anecdotal proverbs, songs related to the life cycle (the birth of a child, e.g.), lullabies, cradle songs, praise songs to babies, circumcision and wedding songs, elegies, play songs, work songs, songs of nostalgia and longing, and so on. All this needs our immediate attention lest we lose this rich material forever.

References

Badalkhan 1992 Sabir Badalkhan. “A Glance at Balochi Oral Poetry.” Newsletter of Balochistan Studies, 8:3-45.
Badalkhan 1994 . “Poesia Epica e Tradizioni Orali Balochi: I Menestrelli Pahlawan del Makran.” Ph.D. diss., Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Naples.
Badalkhan 1999 . “A Brief Note on Balochi Folktale and Folktale Studies.” In The Studies of the Ethno-Religious Images in Jhalawan and Las Bela Provinces [sic] in Balochistan. Ed. by K. Maeda. Tokyo: Wako University. pp. 83-88.
Badalkhan 2000-01 . “An Introduction to the Performance of Verbal Art in Balochistan.” Annali dell’IUO, 60-61:161-96.
Baluch 1977-84 M. S. K. Baluch. A Literary History of the Baluchis. 2 vols. Quetta: Baluchi Academy.
Dames 1907 L. M. Dames. Popular Poetry of the Baloches. 2 vols. London: Folk-Lore Society and Royal Asiatic Society.
H. Mari 1987 Hayat Mari. Garen gohar [Lost Pearls]. Quetta: Baluchi Academy (in Balochi).
S. M. Mari 1970 Sher Mahmad Mari. Baluchi Kahnen Shahiri [Balochi Old Poetry]. Quetta: Baluchi Academy (in Balochi).
Shad 2000 Faqir Shad. Mirath [Patrimony]. Karachi: n.p. (in
Balochi)

Modern Balochi Dress Design in Foreign Countries

 

                                Balochi Dress Design

Baluch Carpets, Rugs, and Other Products

06

APR

Baluch Carpets, Rugs, and Other Products

By: S. Azadi

A distinct group of carpets, woven by Baluch tribes in the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan and the Sīstān area, is known as Baluch carpets (Edwards, p. 185). These carpets were not, as is frequently erroneously assumed, made in Makrān, where the main body of the Baluch tribes live (Wegner, 1980, pp. 57, 59).

In addition to the Baluch, many other ethnic groups in Khorasan weave carpets that look like the Baluch carpets and are designated as such. The tribes that make such carpets in the same region are the Tīmūrī, the Kurd, the Arab, the Brahui, the Jamšīdī, and the Barbarī (Azadi and Besim, pp. 15, 16). The main characteristics of carpets in the Baluch tradition are the following:

Colors. The use of dark colors like dark blue or blue-black, dark brownish red, dark reddish brown, dark brown verging on black (mainly for outlines), dark purplish brown, dark brownish violet, and occasionally some ivory is characteristic. Because of the almost black outlines the dark colors appear even darker. These carpets thus possess a somber charm that appeals to many connoisseurs and collectors.

Camel hair is sometimes woven into the niches (meḥrāb) of Baluch prayer carpets. These rugs are less somber, even occasionally light in ground color. The idea that this material is actually wool dyed with walnut husks (Edwards, p. l86) is incorrect; it is undyed camel hair.

Occasionally a few old carpets are found with ivory fields; most of them come from the Qāʾenāt and Sīstān areas. They sometimes seem more colorful than the normal Baluch carpets.

Ornament. Because of the prevalence of ornaments like rectangles, hexagons, and octagons, Baluch carpets belong to the geometric category of nomad carpets. Repeated or alternating lozenges and medallions, in regular or offset rows, play an extremely important role in the design of these carpets. Frequently the rows create a honeycomb pattern, so that the ground color of the field is no longer distinguishable. Indeed, this feature is characteristic of Baluch carpets. Plant motifs also occur in the Baluch repertoire of forms, but they have been rendered angular and geometric.

The nomenclature and meaning of Baluch motifs are not very well known. Statements in the carpet literature that the craftsmen did not understand what they were weaving are incorrect. Such statements are a sign of retreat before the extraordinarily difficult problems of research in this area. Such complex questions cannot be understood or explained through quick investigations. Rather, they require years of arduous study in the field, which have not yet taken place.

Technique. Baluch carpets are all knotted with the asymmetrical knot, that is, the so-called “Persian or Senna knot,” open to the left. In traditional pieces the warp (tār) always consists of two-ply wool, Z-spun and S-twisted (čap-o-rāst rīsīda), and is light in color. In newer pieces the warp can also be of cotton. The weft (pūd) of Baluch carpets consists of two sinuous brown or dark brown shoots, contrary to C. A. Edwards’ opinion that all Baluch carpets are single-wefted (p. 186). On rare occasions the first weft is drawn taut, thus creating a difference in levels, as for example in the Kurd Baluch. The weft is usually two-ply, Z-spun, and loosely twisted. Frequently, however, the weft can be a single strand.

The pile is also two-ply, Z-spun and loosely twisted. Many Baluch carpets, for example, the Sālār-ḵānī from the area of Torbat-e Ḥaydarī, include some silk in the pile of wedding and dowry carpets. This material is extremely expensive for the Baluch and represents the ultimate in luxury. They must buy or barter for the silk because they do not themselves manufacture it.

Selvedges. One of the most notable characteristics of Baluch carpets is the way in which their selvedges are handled. These can be up to 2 cm wide; the material is dark brown or black goat hair. In rare instances the selvedges may be worked in a form of braiding with supplementary wefts. Usually, however, they are produced by passing the supplementary wefts over and under groups of four or more warps two, three, or four times, thus creating respectively double-, triple-, or quadruple-corded selvedges.

Uses. The Baluch, like many other nomads, manufacture a number of objects in pile or flat-woven technique, which serve different functions. Such products include double saddlebags (ḵorjīn, asb-jol; cushion covers (bāleš); saddle covers (rūzīnī); horse blankets (rū-asbī); ground covers on which meals are served (sofra); weavings for catching flour as it comes from the mill (sofra-ye ārd); bags for special purposes (dārāk); donkey chest bands (gūr-band); blinders for donkeys, horses, and camels (čašm-bandān); etc.

Although we have general knowledge of the characteristics mentioned, it is nevertheless extremely difficult to attribute carpets to specific makers (tribes, subtribes, clans, etc.) and regions (Khorasan and Sīstān, Saraḵs, Torbat-e Ḥaydarī, etc.). The main reason is that there are almost no detailed publications on Baluch carpets, in contrast, for example, to Turkman carpets, on which there are many Russian field studies. Besides, it is still not known even which tribes and subtribes produce carpets at all. The single published monograph (Azadi and Besim, pp. 28-29) includes only the second attempt (the first being Edwards, p. 185) to provide a list of tribes that manufacture knotted-pile carpets. These tribes are as follows: ʿAlī Akbar-ḵānī from the Qāʾenāt region; ʿAbd-al-Sorḵ from the area around Saraḵs, Nīšāpūr, and Sabzavār; ʿAlī Mīrzāʾī, from the Saraḵs area; Bahlūlī (or Bahlūrī) from the vicinity of Ḵᵛāf, Jangal, and Torbat-e Ḥaydarī; the Bāyazīdī from around Maḥvalāt and Torbat-e Ḥaydarī; the Jān-Begī from the area of Rošḵᵛar and Torbat-e Ḥaydarī; the Jān-Mīrzāʾī from the Torbat-e Ḥaydarī district; the Fatḥ-Allāhī (Fatollāhī) from the northern Zābol area; the Ḥasanzāʾī found dispersed throughout the entire region; the Qarāʾī, who belong with the Sālaṟ-ḵānī, from Torbat-e Ḥaydarī; the Ḵānzāʾī from the Saraḵs area; the Kolāh-derāzī from the neighborhood of Kāšmar and Torbat-e Ḥaydarī; the Kūrḵa-īlī or Sālār-ḵānī in the area of Jangal and Torbat-e Ḥaydarī; the Kurd from around Saraḵs; the Lāḵī from the area of Saraḵs and Qāʾenāt; the Madad-ḵānī from the region of Zābol and Qāʾenāt; the Narīmānī from the area of Torbat-e Jām and Mašhad; the Raḥīm-ḵānī from the Saraḵs and Torbat-e Ḥaydarī area; the Sarbandī from Sīstān; the Šāhzāʾī from around Torbat-e Jām; the Tūḵī subtribes Jamālzāʾī and Sūrānī from the area south of Nehbandān and the Sīstān region; the Vāḵerī in the neighborhood of Seydābād in the Mašhad district.

Bibliography :

S. Azadi, Persian Carpets I: Inauguration of the Carpet Museum in Teheran/Iran, Hamburg and Tehran, 1977. Idem, “Einige Teppiche in Belutschtradition,” Weltkunst 48/8, 1978. Idem and A. Besim, Carpets in the Baluch Tradition, Munich, 1986. R. Barberie, Geknüpfte und gewebte Arbeiten der Belutsch-Nomaden, Vienna, 1982. P. Bausback, Alte Knupfarbeiten der Belutschen, Mannheim, 1980. I. Bennett, “Three Baluch Rugs,” Halı 1/4, 1978, pp. 399-400. D. Black, Rugs of the Wandering Baluchi, London, 1976. J. W. Boucher, “Baluchi Weaving of the 19th Century,” Halı 1/3, 1978, pp. 284-87. M. Craycraft, Belouch Prayer Rugs, Point Reyes Station, Calif., 1982. M. L. Dames, The Baloche Race, London, 1904. A. C. Edwards, The Persian Carpet, London, 1953, 1960, 1975. J. Elfenbein, “Balūčistān,” in EI2 I. M. E. Enay and Azadi, Einhundert Jahre Orientteppich-Literatur, Hanover, 1977. W. Geiger, Ethymologie des Baluči, in Abh. Königlich. Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, l. Kl., 19, Munich, 1899. S. A. Hilhofer, Die Teppiche Zentralasiens, Hanover, 1968. W. Ivanov, “Notes on the Ethnology of Khurassan,” The Geographical Journal 67/1, 1926, p. 143. A. Janata, “Die Bevölkerung von Ghor,” Archiv für Völkerkunde 17-18, 1962-63, pp. 73-156. Idem, “Völkerkundliche Forschungen in West-Afghanistan 1969,” Bustan 2-3, 1970, pp. 50-65. Idem, “Flachgewebe aus West-Afghanistan,” Heimtex 3, 1979, pp. 72-92. H. M. Jones and J. W. Boucher, Baluchi Rugs, Washington, D.C., 1974. M. G. Konieczny, Textiles of Baluchistan, London, 1979. P. W. Meister and S. Azadi, Persische Teppiche, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main, 1971. Pakistan-American Cultural Centre, ed., Folk Craft of Baluchistan and Sind, Karachi, 1968. D. Schletzer, Alte und antike Teppiche der Belutsch und Ersari, Hamburg, 1974. W. Stanzer, “Balutsch-Teppiche Werden Salonfähig,” Afghanistan Journal 9/4, 1982, p. 146. B. and D. H. G. Wegner, “Stickereien in Afghanistan,” Textilhandwerk in Afghanistan [Bibliotheca Afghanica 3], Liestal, 1983, pp. 133-57. D. H. G. Wegner, “Nomaden- und Bauernteppiche in Afghanistan,” Baessler Archiv, N.S. 12, 1964, pp. 141-77. Idem, “Some Notes on the Rugs of Baluchi Nomads and Related Weavers,” Halı, 1/3, 1978, pp. 287-93. Idem, “Der Knüpfteppich bei Belutschen und ihren Nachbarn,” Tribus 29, 1980, pp. 57-105. J. Zick-Nissen, Nomadenkunst aus Belutchistan, Berlin, 1968.

Clothing of the Baluch in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Feats

1. Mangir:

The important Baluchi traditions are mainly in connection with their ceremonies and feats. The marriage ceremony stands prominently among such festivities as it goes through different stages starting from engagement to the wedding ceremony. Public participation in the wedding ceremony is normal as in other parts of the country but with slight differences. But there is one exclusive difference in the Baluchi wedding ceremony and that is the Mangir ceremony. It seems that the ceremony is a habit acquired by the Baluchi tribes from other people such as African slaves who have been probably brought from Africa to Baluchistan. Mangir is the ceremony for the simultaneous mass marriage of several couples for various reasons, notably economic considerations. What further supports the idea is the holding of mass wedding ceremony among lower class people of the society. This would not only reduce the costs but would also economize in time as in the past wedding ceremonies used to last for seven days.

2. Sepat:

Festivities that are held in Baluchistan at the time of the birth of new babies are called Sepat. Some parts of the ceremonies are influenced by superstitious presumptions believing that both the baby and the mother are threatened by a genie called Aal as it awaits the opportunity to seize and swallow the liver of the baby and the mother. Therefore, in order to prevent such a happening the relatives of the mother and the baby stay awake for several nights and pray to God and seek His help in order to protect the mother and the baby against the genie. However, there are good and bad habits among the Baluchi tribes that demand more research works and studies. The Baluchis are known for their cultural specifications such as hospitality, faithfulness, and moral commitment as well as deep-rooted religious beliefs and attachment to their homeland.

Cooperation

The Baluchi traditions within the two categories of cooperation and feasts:

1. Beggari or Bejaari:

This is a custom specific of the time when the Baluchi youth reaches the age of marriage but apparently his family cannot afford the marriage expenses due to their economic condition. Under such circumstances, the youth would go to his relatives and friends and would discuss with them his decision about marriage and would ask for their `Beggari’, or in other words, their contribution.

Such a tradition is so strongly respected that even the poorest member of the family cannot remain indifferent towards such a demand and feels obliged to pay a certain amount of money in cash or offer material aid. Lack of participation in such a benevolent affair will cause humiliation and disgrace for the Baluch who would be rejected in the Baluchi community. Therefore, although Beggari is a voluntary contribution, however, a social compulsion can be traced in it somehow. Even in the case of those who have no children and cannot benefit from the advantages of Beggari in future, participation in this benevolent act guarantees further social credit. As a result of this, marriage is being made more easily among Baluchis as the community is meeting the cost.

2. Hashar:

This is a custom that is applied when an individual cannot perform a task alone and needs help of the others. As working for money is not customary among Baluchis, those who need help would go to their relatives and friends and would inform them of their decision to do a special job on a specific day and for that purpose they need a certain number of work force. Under such circumstances, as many volunteers may join the collective work without being paid.

Marriages which generally took place after puberty were performed with ceremonies which included music, dancing and distribution of food. The girl was usually a few years junior to the boy. Marriage was arranged to a closely knit family. Expenses of food prepared on either side was borne by the bridegroom. To meet the expenses and amount of labb, bride price, relatives of the bridegroom collected bijjari, subscriptions from friends and relative. Traditionally, everyone who was asked gave according to his means. Sheeps, cows, goats or camels were also presented as bijjar. Relatives of the bride also collected bijjar called giwari on the marriage evening. The general characteristics of a wedding included negotiations by parents and other relatives. All details were agreed upon and the wedding was formalized later on. Labb was fixed before hand. Sang or harbarsindi, betrothal, was the first step. The expenses, pardach, was incurred by the bridegroom. Pardach was paid in cash and kind before by the marriage date. It also included embroidered clothes and other essential articles for the bride. Sang was almost as absolute as the marriage itself. After engagement, the parents of the girl were bound to give the hand of the lady to the person to whom she was betrothed. There was no backing-out from either side save in exceptional circumstances. Only in rare cases, could the man forego his fiancée, distar.Sahbadal or system of exchange of girls between families without stipulations paid was also prevalent. Sometimes conditions were made that a daughter born of a marriage would be given to relations of bride’s parents. However, if there was a marked difference in the ages or personal attractions of would-be-bride and bridegroom, it would then be compensated in money by either side. Betrothal in childhood among close relatives was also common.The date of marriage was usually announced well in advance and all the relatives and friends were duly informed. In former times, the invitation for participation was sent to the entire clan which then selected the individuals for taking part in the ceremonies on their behalf. However, at a much latter stage, the invitations were sent to individuals and family heads. The persons sent for inviting the people, Lotuki, included singers and dancers who started singing and dancing before entering a village. The party would then be feasted by the village headman before their return.A few days before the event, a kapar or a large wooden tent was built, a few yards from the home of the bridegroom. In coastal areas this temporary tent was called mangeer where more than on marriage ceremonies were performed. This was built for the occasion by the people under supervision of the village headman. All ceremonies including dancing and singing were performed there. This would also serve as a guest house for visitors from the nearby villages. Among peculiar customs, korag, was most prominent. The bridegroom was taken a few furlongs outside the settlement, as the word connotes, most probably to the riverside, in the evening, where arrangements were made for his bath and make-up. He would then mount no horseback or camel and was brought to diwanjah or mangeer amid much singing and dancing.Another peculiar custom was that a week before the marriage, the girl was secluded from the rest of the family. Only the closest female relatives and friends could visit her. During this period she was also briefed regarding her duties and responsibilities after marriage. After sun-set the bridegroom profusely arrayed, accompanied by close friends and relatives moved to the bride’s house where proper arrangements were made. Formal wedding was performed after the guests were feasted.

If the work is accomplished within a day, the only thing that the employer has to do is to prepare lunch and dinner for the workers by usually slaughtering a sheep for making the required food. If the work takes longer, more preparations will be made and new volunteers will substitute the previous ones. However, there would be enough volunteers to complete the work through collective cooperation, as it is not customary to give a negative response to the call for contribution.

Such a habit is mostly customary in rural areas where people are mainly engaged in agriculture where Hashar is being practiced in various stages of the work from cultivation to harvest. It is also widely practiced in building rural houses and bridges and in collecting dates. Such a habit is still practiced given its positive social effects despite the fact that working for money is gradually established among the Baluchis.

3. Bagi:

This habit was widely practiced in the past while these days it is losing importance in areas going through the trend of urbanization. In the practice of such a habit, people are used to cook extra food and would distribute it among needy people in their neighborhood. Those who were well off and could have better nutrition would carefully observe this. The positive social impact of such a tradition has removed the negative feeling of humiliation as receiving Bagi is not tantamount to receiving donations but rather is some sort of contribution among neighbors and is not limited to a specific person or a specific family. Bagi is not merely confined to foodstuffs but is performed in a wider dimension that forges greater convergence among neighbors and minimizes probable disputes. At the meantime, it helps fair distribution of limited facilities.

4. Divan:

Among Baluchi people, settlement of disputes in their everyday life is of great importance. In order to solve problems, people would gather in a place and while studying various aspects of disputes, they try to find the best possible solution in an effort to secure satisfaction of the parties involved. The place in the local dialect is called `Divan’ and is normally a house that belongs to the eldest member of the community.

Of course Divan is not merely exclusive for the settlement of disputes but is also used for exchange of information and consultations for the coordination of affairs. However, the significance of Divan at the time of the settlement of disputes lies in the fact that although decision-making at Divan is not legally valid, however, it is applicable and is rarely ignored by the parties to the dispute. The reason is that presence of the gathering at the place is to some extent the executive and moral guarantee for the parties to the dispute and if one party for any reason ignores the agreement reached at Divan, in fact it would damage its own social credibility. If Divan fails to settle the dispute, the case will be solved on the basis of the rules of the religion.

The two parties to the dispute will be brought to the clergy in the area who will judge between the two. The religious ruling will be usually issued at the mosque in order to secure a stronger guarantee for its application. But, this is not necessarily essential as the ruling can be also issue in Divan or at any other places.

The habit of Divan is being gradually forgotten in both rural and urban areas but it is still being enforced among tribal Baluchis. Laws in fact have substituted Divan and the elderly people are still settling regulations in rural and urban areas but not completely as in primary stages attempts are made to resolve the disputes through local traditions and at the Divans of the elderly.

5. Mayar:

The habit is inspired by a social reality and need for the support of the oppressed against the oppressor. When a powerful individual is oppressing a powerless person for any reason, the former can seek help from a stronger person who has enough power to defend his right. Given the undertakings that the host feels towards the person who seeks help as `Mayar’, he is free either to accept the demand or deny it.

But, as soon as he accepts, the social tradition puts the responsibility of the Mayar’s defense on the shoulder of the host. Of course, the importance of the habit becomes further evident when the person who seeks help is not guilty and whose rights have been trampled upon. However, when the person seeks help according to the tradition of Mayar, he becomes a member of the family and tribe of the host and can enjoy his support until his problem is solved.

Sometimes the situation will remain unchanged forever and the person who seeks help will remain in the new condition. Therefore, it will become part of the responsibility of the host to find a job for the person who seeks help and puts enough capital at his disposal. This will help enable the powerless people to defend themselves against the oppressors.

6. Karch-va-Kapon:

This tradition is practiced when a person for any reason kills someone else, either intentionally or unintentionally. Under such circumstances an unreasonable feeling of revenge will afflict the Baluchi tribes to the extent that no matter to what tribe the murderer belonged, if he is out of reach, a member of his family or one of his relatives can be killed in his place or, in other words, take revenge.

Under these circumstances many innocent people will become victim of such a revenge merely for belonging to a certain family or tribe. At this moment, in an effort to prevent further bloodshed, the elderly members of the family resort to the custom of `shroud and knife.’ They send the murderer together with a knife and a piece of white cloth to the family of the person who has been killed and they are free either to punish him or forgive him. However, punishment of the murderer is not a proven act from social and scientific points of view while forgiveness is the manifestation of generosity.

For this reason, the murderer will be forgiven and returned to his family. Sometimes it may happen that in order to remove all the hostilities and misunderstandings, the two families prepare marriages as a means to put aside differences. Of course, sometimes ransom would be demanded. In that case the family of the murderer or the tribe to which he belongs will pay the money. Although prosecution of the murderer falls within the authority of the law, however, there are still evidences indicating that tribal people are willing to safeguard the tradition of `shroud and knife’.

7. Patardeyag:

This habit is practiced when there is a quarrel between two or more members of a tribe. The side that is guilty of fomenting the quarrel accepts to apologize but not verbally rather through a mediator who is usually an elderly of the tribe. No matter how deep the difference, the other party usually accepts the apology, as its rejection will cause criticism of others.

Following the acceptance of the apology, the side that had fomented the quarrel will invite the other party to a dinner party through the mediator and a sheep is slaughtered on the occasion. There is no need for verbal apology and normally no word would be said about issues causing the dispute. Holding the Patardeyag ceremony implies acceptance of the apology and removal of all differences.

Crimes and Punishments

In Baloch society an offence against the individual such as theft or robbery was a corporate against the entire tribe. Any contravention was punished according to the nature of the crime committed. But if the offence was committed outside the tribe, it was considered an offence against that tribe. The individual acts consequently would become the responsibility of the tribes concerned. His family and the entire people suffered. The opposing tribesmen could revenge the guilt in an appropriate manner, not necessarily against that particular individual but against any person belonging to the tribe of the offender.

Sentence for misdemeanor was the payment of appropriate fine or compensating the loss of property in case of theft or robbery. Sometimes robbery was also punished with death. Punishment of corporate crime was outlawry of person, that is, disowning the individual and declaring him isolated from the tribe. This was one of the major punishments and rarely awarded. In that case he was also banished from the area.

There is least evidence of awarding punishment of dore kassag, tearing to pieces by horses; pahao, hanging, which was awarded to traitors and the enemy agents. These forms of punishment nevertheless were clearly a later addition and not the original Baloch practices. Beheading was the common mode of inflicting the sentence. There is, however, no evidence of any permanent hangman or jallad among the Baloch for the purposes of executing criminals. In Kalat State, there was no permanent post of a hangman. Death sentence, however, was always awarded in public.

There is no evidence of punishment of death by drowning, throwing from rock, burning or burying alive, pouring molten lead on the criminal, starvation in the dungeons, tearing to death by red hot pincers, cutting asunder and stoning to death, or the Persian and Mughal practices of blinding and maiming. Most of these forms of punishment were prevalent in Semitic societies and sanctioned by Mosaic Law , (Jews used these forms of punishments against the conquered peoples in Palestine in the Biblical times), and later on crept into many cultures through Islam.

In case of murder the relatives of the deceased had the inalienable right to claim blood for blood; and this claim had the tribal code of conduct, the deceased family and the entire tribal strength behind it. The murderer could be forgiven only by the nearest kin. Among a few tribes blood compensation was given by the offender or his family. Relatives of the offender had to accept the punishment and were obliged to agree to the award if no settlement was reached. Extreme torture or dishonouring was against the tribal norms. Torture to low-castes involving serious crimes was sometimes perpetrated. The Baloch thought it more honourable to be beheaded than hanged. Other modes of capital punishment were insulating.

The only crime which could invoke death penalty or banishment besides treason was adultery. Sometimes mere suspicion of unfaithfulness by wife was sufficient to put her to death. The man would also get the same punishment. But among some tribes who were alleged to be inferior in caste, the adulterous woman was divorced and the adulterer was obliged to marry her. In case of adultery there was no need for the aggrieved husband to resort to any tribal council to get a decision. He himself inflicted the sentence. The unmarried women or widows get punishment from their near relatives.

A very peculiar cultural trait was that even the criminal or offender, if apprehended, would never tell a lie even in the face of instant punishment. This was against his sense of honour and pride. he was always truthful. This made torture to extract information or confession of guilt quite unnecessary.

Among the ancient Baloch, like other Aryan groups, trial by ordeal was perhaps in vogue. The culprit had to prove his innocence by walking through the fire or putting his hands on a hot rod. In Balochi folk stories there are numerous instances when the innocence of the offender had to be proved by putting his hands on the hot stones, tapag. This practice was perhaps discarded early in the Christian era.

In most cultures any child of less than ten years was usually considered incapable or guilt on the ground that he or she was too young to differentiate between right and wrong. The practice was completely reversed among the Baloch. The Baloch child had a penetrating sense regarding his enemies and friends. Old blood accounts sometimes were settled by persons of less than ten years. A Baloch child took part in battles. Therefore, the case of guilt or criminal responsibility for the minor was always judged according to circumstances and merit of the case. The members of the family of the minor would have to bear the responsibility of his guilt if the crime was provoked by them. The home of any Baloch elder was a safe refuge and place of protection for all the offenders of law till the decision of the dispute through the Jirga or med.

Cultural Anthropology of Baluchis in Iran Summary

The Baluchis are the ancient genuine Iranians who have their exclusive and special celebrations and feats.


Pir Mohammad Mulla Zehi who is an expert in the Baluchi culture has studied selected examples of such ceremonies and has classified them into two categories of cooperation and feats.


Beggari, Hashar, Bagi, Divan, Mayar, Karch-va-Kapon, Patardeyag, Mangir and Sepat are among the said ceremonies that are discussed in the following article.


Text: For a curious visitor who arrives in Baluchistan, the first interesting issue that attracts the attention most is the way Baluchis are dressed up. Baluchi people have preserved their way of clothing with a slight change.


Men wear long shirts, loose pants and a turban around their heads while women put on loose dress and pants with needle works that are special of the people of the area and is not common in other parts of the country. The upper part of the dress and sleeves are decorated with needle works, an artistic work that is specific of the clothing of the women Baluchis. They cover their hair with a scarf that is called `Sarig’ in the local dialect and wear `chador’ over it.


Baluchi women usually put on gold ornaments such as necklace and bracelet but their special jewelry is `Dorr’ or heavy earrings that are fastened to the head with gold chains so that their heavy weight will not cause the tearing of the ear. They usually wear a gold brooch called `Tasni’ that are made by local jewelers in various shapes and are used to fasten the two parts of the dress over the chest.
Apart from the dressing style of the Baluchis, there are interesting points in the way they live and in their traditions and customs that this article tries to illustrate in parts. Indigenous and local traditions and customs were of greater importance to the Baluchis in the past as apparently up to about half a century ago when the central government established its control over Baluchistan, local governments of the chieftains were imposed as the individual dictatorships. Therefore, it can be concluded that there were no formulated laws and regulations in order to regulate social behaviors. Only the rules of the religion were valid and practicable. Under such circumstances, traditions and customs in fact filled the vacuum caused by the absence of laws which were used in the regulation of many social relations and therefore enjoyed special credit among the Baluchi tribal people.


Abdolghaffar Nadim in his book `Gashin’ that is written in Baluchi language says: “The Baluchi folklore is being inspired by the Baluchi way of life and, therefore, could have addressed many needs of the tribal people who were forced to settle their disputes on the basis of their traditions and customs in the absence of a powerful central government.”


Here, it is only enough to review the Baluchi traditions within the two categories of cooperation and feasts:


A. COOPERATION


1. Beggari or Bejaari:
This is a custom specific of the time when the Baluchi youth reaches the age of marriage but apparently his family cannot afford the marriage expenses due to their economic condition. Under such circumstances, the youth would go to his relatives and friends and would discuss with them his decision about marriage and would ask for their `Beggari’, or in other words, their contribution.


Such a tradition is so strongly respected that even the poorest member of the family cannot remain indifferent towards such a demand and feels obliged to pay a certain amount of money in cash or offer material aid. Lack of participation in such a benevolent affair will cause humiliation and disgrace for the Baluch who would be rejected in the Baluchi community. Therefore, although Beggari is a voluntary contribution, however, a social compulsion can be traced in it somehow. Even in the case of those who have no children and cannot benefit from the advantages of Beggari in future, participation in this benevolent act guarantees further social credit. As a result of this, marriage is being made more easily among Baluchis as the community is meeting the cost.


2. Hashar:
This is a custom that is applied when an individual cannot perform a task alone and needs help of the others. As working for money is not customary among Baluchis, those who need help would go to their relatives and friends and would inform them of their decision to do a special job on a specific day and for that purpose they need a certain number of work force. Under such circumstances, as many volunteers may join the collective work without being paid.


If the work is accomplished within a day, the only thing that the employer has to do is to prepare lunch and dinner for the workers by usually slaughtering a sheep for making the required food. If the work takes longer, more preparations will be made and new volunteers will substitute the previous ones. However, there would be enough volunteers to complete the work through collective cooperation, as it is not customary to give a negative response to the call for contribution.


Such a habit is mostly customary in rural areas where people are mainly engaged in agriculture where Hashar is being practiced in various stages of the work from cultivation to harvest. It is also widely practiced in building rural houses and bridges and in collecting dates. Such a habit is still practiced given its positive social effects despite the fact that working for money is gradually established among the Baluchis.


3. Bagi:
This habit was widely practiced in the past while these days it is losing importance in areas going through the trend of urbanization. In the practice of such a habit, people are used to cook extra food and would distribute it among needy people in their neighborhood. Those who were well off and could have better nutrition would carefully observe this. The positive social impact of such a tradition has removed the negative feeling of humiliation as receiving Bagi is not tantamount to receiving donations but rather is some sort of contribution among neighbors and is not limited to a specific person or a specific family. Bagi is not merely confined to foodstuffs but is performed in a wider dimension that forges greater convergence among neighbors and minimizes probable disputes. At the meantime, it helps fair distribution of limited facilities.


4. Divan:
Among Baluchi people, settlement of disputes in their everyday life is of great importance. In order to solve problems, people would gather in a place and while studying various aspects of disputes, they try to find the best possible solution in an effort to secure satisfaction of the parties involved. The place in the local dialect is called `Divan’ and is normally a house that belongs to the eldest member of the community.


Of course Divan is not merely exclusive for the settlement of disputes but is also used for exchange of information and consultations for the coordination of affairs. However, the significance of Divan at the time of the settlement of disputes lies in the fact that although decision-making at Divan is not legally valid, however, it is applicable and is rarely ignored by the parties to the dispute. The reason is that presence of the gathering at the place is to some extent the executive and moral guarantee for the parties to the dispute and if one party for any reason ignores the agreement reached at Divan, in fact it would damage its own social credibility. If Divan fails to settle the dispute, the case will be solved on the basis of the rules of the religion.


The two parties to the dispute will be brought to the clergy in the area who will judge between the two. The religious ruling will be usually issued at the mosque in order to secure a stronger guarantee for its application. But, this is not necessarily essential as the ruling can be also issue in Divan or at any other places.


The habit of Divan is being gradually forgotten in both rural and urban areas but it is still being enforced among tribal Baluchis. Laws in fact have substituted Divan and the elderly people are still settling regulations in rural and urban areas but not completely as in primary stages attempts are made to resolve the disputes through local traditions and at the Divans of the elderly.


5. Mayar:
The habit is inspired by a social reality and need for the support of the oppressed against the oppressor. When a powerful individual is oppressing a powerless person for any reason, the former can seek help from a stronger person who has enough power to defend his right. Given the undertakings that the host feels towards the person who seeks help as `Mayar’, he is free either to accept the demand or deny it.


But, as soon as he accepts, the social tradition puts the responsibility of the Mayar’s defense on the shoulder of the host. Of course, the importance of the habit becomes further evident when the person who seeks help is not guilty and whose rights have been trampled upon. However, when the person seeks help according to the tradition of Mayar, he becomes a member of the family and tribe of the host and can enjoy his support until his problem is solved.


Sometimes the situation will remain unchanged forever and the person who seeks help will remain in the new condition. Therefore, it will become part of the responsibility of the host to find a job for the person who seeks help and puts enough capital at his disposal. This will help enable the powerless people to defend themselves against the oppressors.


6. Karch-va-Kapon:
This tradition is practiced when a person for any reason kills someone else, either intentionally or unintentionally. Under such circumstances an unreasonable feeling of revenge will afflict the Baluchi tribes to the extent that no matter to what tribe the murderer belonged, if he is out of reach, a member of his family or one of his relatives can be killed in his place or, in other words, take revenge.


Under these circumstances many innocent people will become victim of such a revenge merely for belonging to a certain family or tribe. At this moment, in an effort to prevent further bloodshed, the elderly members of the family resort to the custom of `shroud and knife.’ They send the murderer together with a knife and a piece of white cloth to the family of the person who has been killed and they are free either to punish him or forgive him. However, punishment of the murderer is not a proven act from social and scientific points of view while forgiveness is the manifestation of generosity.
For this reason, the murderer will be forgiven and returned to his family. Sometimes it may happen that in order to remove all the hostilities and misunderstandings, the two families prepare marriages as a means to put aside differences. Of course, sometimes ransom would be demanded. In that case the family of the murderer or the tribe to which he belongs will pay the money. Although prosecution of the murderer falls within the authority of the law, however, there are still evidences indicating that tribal people are willing to safeguard the tradition of `shroud and knife’.


7. Patardeyag:
This habit is practiced when there is a quarrel between two or more members of a tribe. The side that is guilty of fomenting the quarrel accepts to apologize but not verbally rather through a mediator who is usually an elderly of the tribe. No matter how deep the difference, the other party usually accepts the apology, as its rejection will cause criticism of others.
Following the acceptance of the apology, the side that had fomented the quarrel will invite the other party to a dinner party through the mediator and a sheep is slaughtered on the occasion. There is no need for verbal apology and normally no word would be said about issues causing the dispute. Holding the Patardeyag ceremony implies acceptance of the apology and removal of all differences.


B. FEATS


1. Mangir:
The important Baluchi traditions are mainly in connection with their ceremonies and feats. The marriage ceremony stands prominently among such festivities as it goes through different stages starting from engagement to the wedding ceremony. Public participation in the wedding ceremony is normal as in other parts of the country but with slight differences. But there is one exclusive difference in the Baluchi wedding ceremony and that is the Mangir ceremony. It seems that the ceremony is a habit acquired by the Baluchi tribes from other people such as African slaves who have been probably brought from Africa to Baluchistan. Mangir is the ceremony for the simultaneous mass marriage of several couples for various reasons, notably economic considerations. What further supports the idea is the holding of mass wedding ceremony among lower class people of the society. This would not only reduce the costs but would also economize in time as in the past wedding ceremonies used to last for seven days.


2. Sepat:
Festivities that are held in Baluchistan at the time of the birth of new babies are called Sepat. Some parts of the ceremonies are influenced by superstitious presumptions believing that both the baby and the mother are threatened by a genie called Aal as it awaits the opportunity to seize and swallow the liver of the baby and the mother. Therefore, in order to prevent such a happening the relatives of the mother and the baby stay awake for several nights and pray to God and seek His help in order to protect the mother and the baby against the genie. However, there are good and bad habits among the Baluchi tribes that demand more research works and studies. The Baluchis are known for their cultural specifications such as hospitality, faithfulness, and moral commitment as well as deep-rooted religious beliefs and attachment to their homeland.

Baloch and Baloch Culture

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Baloch culture is rich, varied and deep-rooted. Balochistan held one of the earliest human settlements in the World in Mehrgarh around 7,000 – 3,000 B.C. There are plenty of evidence and artifacts concerning the richness of Balochi culture throughout centuries. Balochistan is one of the ancient inhibited land. The history goes back to around 15,000 years ago. During the last century French archaeologists discovered a new site in Balochistan at Mehergarh (Mehregan), which is believed to be the earliest civilization in the world. It pre-dates the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The site was occupied from 7,000 B.C. to 2,000 B.C. and it is the earliest Neolithic site where “we have first evidence of domestication of animals and cereal cultivation – wheat and barely – and also the centre for craftsmanship as early as 7.000 B.C.There are many historical sites across Eastern Balochistan (politically part of Pakistan), Western Balochistan (politically part of Iran), and Northern Balochistan (politically part of Afghanistan). The Burn City in northern Balochistan is a unique archeological site and a prime proof of sophistication, engineering and planning. Evidence from these sites show a very clear deep rooted history of civilisation, craftsmanship and exploitation. Amir Tavakol Kambozia wrote that Cupper was first discovered in Balochistan. It was transported from Balochistan to present day Iraq by water-born vessels. The names Baloch and Balochistan appears in literatures as old as 2000 years ago.

The Baloch had a very successful methodology in irrigation and agriculture as well as in cultivation and husbandry. You can read a great deal in the history section. Despite the brutal political oppressions in Balochistan, the Balochi literature has emerged strong and vibrant. Baloch poetry is one of the most beautiful poetry and one of the oldest in the World. In Baloch culture poetry has always been combined with music. Balochi music and folklore has been passed from generation to generation as a valuable art. Baloch handicraft are world-renowned – be it Baloch carpets and rugs or embroidery. The Baloch are very hospitable, nice and friendly. They are generally intelligent, learned, well-informed, initiated, cultivated, socially accomplished and politically attentive. Culturally, they are rich and self-dependent. The deliberate deprivation is a political tool used by the central governments of Iran and Pakistan in order to ensure Balochistan and particularly the Baloch people are kept back-ward.

Baloch Traditions

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Birth of a child

The occasion of the birth of either a male or a female child was marked with much music and singing. The women folk attended the mother for seven nights and sang sipatt or nazink , literally meaning songs of praise. Food and sweets were prepared and distributed. The birth of a boy was greeted with greater rejoicing than the birth of a girl. Among some tribes no ceremonies were performed on the birth of a girl, while among other tribes usual ceremonies were performed from birth to death. They included birth, sasigan (selecting name on sixth day), burruk (circumcision), padgami (child’s beginning to walk) and salwar (wearing of trousers) etc.

Hal

Hal was giving and receiving news when one chanced to meet another. It was an obligation, and always reciprocal. A person must communicate the latest happenings which may include the prices of essential goods in a nearby market or some political events o a more serious nature. This helped in conveying the latest happening in remote areas. When travelling in groups, the hal was given by the elderly person of noble birth. This was called chehabar. To reveal or receive hal was a mark of distinction.

MESTAGI

Mestagi was the reward for giving good news as birth of a son, news of the arrival of a lost relative or report of a victory in the battle. It was appropriate and according to the good news conveyed.

Diwan

The Baloch had an open society with its unique charachteristic of equality and freedom, which is now deep-rooted. Every Baloch was expected to be active member of the tribe. He took part in discussion in diwan which was open to everyone, at the house of the Sardar or the elder. Sometimes there were separate place, diwanjah, for such getherings. Social, political and economic peoblems concerning the tribe were debated in these assemblies. Diwan literally means gathering or assembly. Diwan in it formal nature was to be participated in by the elders and elected personalities. In all informal get-togethers everybody felt his presence. This spirt had made the Baloch into a close knit tribal structure based on mutual benefit and loss.

The house of the leader, or diwanjah was the place where history, legends, ballads, drama, lyrics and tales of love were told and sung. Every one wished that he could exert himself and attract others by his knowledge and manners during such discussions.

The Baloch Names and Titles

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Traditionally the name of a child was chosen a few days after birth, mostly on the sixth. The child was given a name of some worthy forefather who was not alive. But at the first instance, he was given an alternate name. As the Baloch had great respect for their departed elders, they gave names to the children formally, but in the meantime alternate names were chosen because the children by those would be receiving rebukes, which was considered an insult even to those names and alway avoided.

The Baloch borrowed names from animals, trees, plants, colours and even parts of the body. Names were also derived from the name of week days.

Father’s name was sometimes added to the actual name, as Chakar-e-Saihakk (Chakar son of Saihakk) or Haibitan Murad (Haibitan son of Murad). This practice most probably has crept into Baloch culture through Arabic influences at a much later stage.

SHAHI DARBAR

When the British Government took over the area completely they exploited the occasion for their political motives. They gave it a proper shapes, in order to attract greater attention of the people of different areas. The first British agent of the Governor General and Chief Commissioner in Balochistan, Captain Sir Robert Sandeman introduced the Shahi Darbar during the year 1882 held on the occasion of the Horse and Cattle Show. They used to grant Sanads, Khil’ats and other awards in the Shahi Darbar. Contented with the settled life, most of Sardars used to express their loyalties on this occasion.

The significance of the occasion can not be denied. Now it is at times small assembly of people to come together, sit together and discuss together their problems and find out ways and means to solve them. The system was reformed with the advent of independence and the people started, hinking in different terms The name of the Shahi Darbar was, therefore, changed to the Shahi Jirga, ultimately the word of “shah” was done away with and it was named as Divisional Jirga. Its importance could be well realised from the fact that since inception of Pakistan. The Heads of the State, the Prime Minister and other dignitaries have graced the occasion by attending this function. They included Father of the Nation, Ouaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who visited Sibi in his capacity as the first governor-general.

Now councillors’ convention is arranged on the occasion, which is attended by the government officials notables and people’s representatives. The tribal Sardars attend the Jirga in their traditional robes consisting mostly of very loose shirts. Showers and ‘Patches’ all in white, and locally made chapels.The Chief Executive of the Province gives a resume of the Governmental activities in different fields.

The Annual Sibi Week has now taken shape of more or less of a national festival. It begins with the Horse and Cattle show in which almost all domestic animals of the area. Specially horses and cattle take part. The Show plays an important part in improving economy of the people of the area; they make transactions to the tune of lakhs of rupees on this occasion. Besides Horse and Cattle Show, a number of items have been added in order to make the week more attractive.

By: Vyacheslav V. Moshkalo,

Dept. of Iranian Languages,

Institute of Linguistics,

Russian Academy of Sciences,

MoscowIntroduction

In the Republic of Turkmenistan a small national minority lives little known to others than a narrow circle of scientists and specialists. This national minority is the Baloch. The Baloch are a people which have a strong sense of unity, sharing a common origin, history, language, traditions and religion. The Baloch of Turkmenistan are a part of this people which was divided by the peculiar will of history mainly between three countries: Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. Outside these countries there are rather small Balochi communities in India, East Africa and Oman. The Baloch are scattered over a vast territory. The Turkmenian Baloch live in the very north of this vast territory. Only Baloch in the diaspora, e.g. in Northern Europe live farther to the north.

The Baloch in Turkmenistan

     The first Baloch migrants in Russia appeared in the region of Mari in Turkistan, i.e. in the territory which nowadays belongs to the Republic of Turkmenistan. The statistical report on Turkmenistan for 1917 – 1920 mentions 936 Baloch living in the Bayram-Ali district. The Baloch of Turkmenistan mostly came from Afghanistan, from the Chakhansur district located in the province of Nimruz, in the Sistan area of Afghanistan. Apart from them there were also a small group of Baloch who migrated to Turkistan from Iran (from Khurasan). In these migrations there were also some Brahuis who came together with the Baloch.[1]

     In the 1920s separate groups of the Baloch belonging to different Balochi tribes were united by Kerim Khan. This Baloch chief was an extraordinary personality. He was a poor shepherd from the beginning but managed to make a career and to become a famous, even legendary chief of the Baloch in Turkmenistan. The Baloch of Turkmenistan, united under his power, at the beginning supported the Soviet power and being very brave warriors, they helped the Soviet authorities in their struggle against the Basmachis (counterrevolutionary movement in Turkistan, which lasted actively from 1920 till the mid-30s). At the end of the 20s, because of disagreement with the Soviet authorities, Kerim Khan together with the majority of his people left Turkmenistan for Iran or Afghanistan. Nobody knows where he went. I tried to find it out during my trips to Turkmenistan, but in vain. Kerim Khan’s traces should be looked for outside Turkmenistan, either in Iran or in Afghanistan. It would be very interesting to find out what happened to him and his people afterwards.

     At the present time the Baloch of Turkmenistan live mainly in the districts of Bayram-Ali and Iolotan of the region of Mari (Mariyskiy velayat). According to the data of the 1959 census in the USSR, 7 800 Baloch lived in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Turkmenistan, in the valley of the Murghab river, in the districts of Bayram-Ali, Turkmen-Kala and Iolotan, and 94,9 % of them considered Balochi to be their mother tongue. In the 1970 census there were 12 600 Baloch in Turkmenistan, and 91,8 % regarded Balochi as their native language. In the 1979 census there were 18 997 Baloch in Turkmenistan, and 18 633 persons (98,1 %) stated that Balochi was their native language. There are in 1997 probably approximately 38 000 – 40 000 Baloch in Turkmenistan, although some give a higher estimation of around 50 000 or even more. The very strong loyalty among the Baloch to their mother tongue is quite remarkable, and can at least to a certain degree be explained by their rural way of life. A thorough investigation of the socio-economic conditions under which this strong retention of the Balochi language has been possible would be very interesting to carry out.

     The Turkmenian Baloch believe themselves to be a part of the big ethnos. For a long time, however, they were separated from the other Baloch by the “Iron Curtain”, and had practically no contacts with the Baloch of the other countries. In 1934 the Soviet border with Iran and Afghanistan was closed and this event became a source of many personal tragedies and disasters. It was unexpected, and those who were in Iran or Afghanistan making their earnings or visiting relatives could not return to their families. Thus, parents were separated from children, brothers from sisters etc. It was impossible for them to unite again. The only reason for that was the “Iron Curtain” along all the Soviet borders. It was only at the end of the 1980s, with the beginning of Gorbachov’s perestroika and after the disintegration of the USSR that many Turkmenian Baloch got the opportunity to visit Iran and Afghanistan in order to find their lost relatives and reunite with them after long years of separation.

     The history of the Baloch is the history of constant migrations over vast territories. However, the lack of a written literary tradition and written sources makes it difficult to study, not the legendary, but the real history of the Baloch. The Baloch never had an independent state of their own in the proper sense of the word. The Kalat State could not be considered a truly independent Baloch state. In spite of the fact that the Kalat State united many Baloch tribes, it did not exist long and it could not play a prominent part for the Baloch culture nor for the establishment of a tradition of writing in the Balochi language.

     From a political point of view, throughout history the Baloch were generally subdued by the power of stronger and better organized conquerors, and as usual, they did not pay attention to the Balochi language and culture. Anyway, in spite of all the complications and peculiarities in the destiny of the Baloch, they have managed not only to create an enchanting, rich and original culture, but also from many points of view very interesting and unique literary specimens. To my profound regret, these have not up till now been described or studied to the extent that they deserve to be. The masterpieces of the Balochi literature have not to any large extent been translated into the main world languages.

     From this point of view the Turkmenian Baloch are not an exception. They are even in a worse position in comparison with the others. Not very much has been done to study their language and culture, even though some studies on the Balochi language and Balochi culture were made in Moscow and Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg) during the Soviet period. When it comes to the oral literature of the Turkmenian Baloch, for example, I. I. Zarubin collected and published a number of folk tales with translations into Russian.[2] It is, however, striking enough that in the twentieth century not a single book or monograph has been published in Turkmenistan about the Baloch.

     It should be said that the disintegration of the USSR has brought for the Baloch of Turkmenistan more losses and disillusions than joys and achievements, especially in such fields as education, culture and science. Moscow was always for the Turkmenian Baloch the force which helped them to stand against the domination of the Turkmens, and in spite of all the difficulties, they had some opportunities for education (there were special quotas in different institutes for the Baloch students) and cultural progress. After the disintegration of the USSR, Moscow ceased to be the centre for Turkmenistan, and nowadays the Turkmen central government does little for the national minorities living there.[3]

Attempts at developing the Balochi language in Turkmenistan

The first alphabet used by the Turkmenian Baloch was based on the Roman script. An attempt to turn Balochi into a written language was made in the 1930s. A few books and a newspaper in Roman script were published in Mari and Ashkhabad. There was a mother tongue education programme for the Turkmenian Baloch. But after switching to Cyrillic script for minor languages of Turkistan, due to lack of special national policy towards the minorities, financial problems and the switch of education at all levels to Russian and Turkmen etc., Balochi was not further developed as a written language. During my trips to Turkmenistan I met several old men who could still use that Balochi Roman script of the 30s.

     Fifty years later, at the end of the 1980s, an enthusiast for his mother tongue, a modest school teacher named Mammad Sherdil, together with his friends worked out an alphabet for Balochi based upon Cyrillic script. They managed to publish several text books in Balochi for primary schools and obtain the permission from the authorities to start an experiment with mother tongue education in one or two schools. Besides that, Mammad Sherdil and Saidquli Mammadnur initiated the publishing of one full page in Balochi twice a week in the Turkmenian newspaper of the district called Taze durmush (New Life).[4]

     These attempts coincide with the period of “perestroika” and disintegration of the USSR. An independent Republic of Turkmenistan has since then appeared on the political scene. Thereby a new life began also for the Turkmenian Baloch. But this new life is characterized by neglect of the Baloch and their cultural life. It should be mentioned that the Baloch in Turkmenistan never have had any political, social, or even cultural organizations which could defend their rights and draw the attention of the authorities to their needs.

     It seems that the Turkmenian Baloch are in great need of help from international organizations and cooperation with Balochi scientific and cultural organizations in other countries. Nowadays, as far as I know, there are no relations either on state level or on the level of organizations. I know only of one incident in the past when there was an attempt at establishing relations between the Turkmenian Baloch and the Baloch of Pakistan. In the mid 1980s the Union of the Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries invited the Balochistan Provincial Assembly speaker Mīr Muhammad Akram Baloch to Moscow. The USSR – Pakistan Friendship Society organized a trip to Turkmenistan for him. In Ashkhabad he met Baloch students and took part in one of their traditional gatherings. In addition, he visited the town of Tejen, where only few Baloch families live nowadays. He was, however, unable to visit the Mari region where practically all the Turkmenian Baloch are concentrated. After that there were no contacts on such a high level. Mīr Muhammad Akram Baloch’s notes about this trip were published in one of Māhtāk baločī‘s editions.[5]

 

Notes on the Balochi dialect spoken in Turkmenistan

 

The Baloch of Turkmenistan speak a dialect of the Balochi language which is very close to the dialect of the Afghan Balochi. The dialect of the Turkmenian Baloch belongs to the Western Group of Balochi dialects, to the Rakhshānī dialects. The dialect of the Turkmenian Baloch possesses a number of phonetical and grammatical characteristics, which are specific to this dialect. Professor Ivan I. Zarubin was the first scientist who paid attention to these characteristics. Zarubin was a pioneer of Balochi studies in Russia. In Turkmenistan he selected a group of young talented people and took them to Petersburg to be educated there.

     There are no aspirated plosives at all in this dialect. There are no fricatives /θ/ and /δ/ either. The fricatives /f/, /γ/ and /x/ are to be found only in late loanwords. The pharyngeal fricative /h/ is never pronounced, e.g. Asan (Hasan).

     The indicative mood of the verb in Balochi has got a rich system of tense forms which are united by a common modal meaning (i.e. a real action in the present, past or future), and are opposed to each other on the one hand by aspect and temporal meaning and on the other hand by person and singular/plural forms. The number of these tense forms are different in the different dialects of Balochi. The simplest system of the tenses (with less number of innovated forms) is presented in the dialect of the Baloch of Turkmenistan. There are only five tense forms to be found in this dialect:

1) Present-future tense (man kār-a kanīn ‘I work’, man-a raīn ‘I go’)

2) Preterite (simple past) (man kār kurtun ‘I worked’, man šutun ‘I went’)

3) Past continuous (man kār-a kurtun ‘I was working’, man-a šutun ‘I was going’)

4) Present perfect (man kār kurtá un ‘I have worked’, man šutá un ‘I have gone’)

5) Past perfect (man kār kurt-átun ‘I had worked’, man šut-átun ‘I had gone’)

There is another indicative tense system in most other Balochi dialects, where there are no preterite versus past continuous forms. On the other hand continuous forms are formed with auxiliary verbs, e.g. man rawagā-y-un ‘I am going’ and man rawagā-y-atun ’I was going’ (Rakhshānī Balochi).[6] However, also in the dialect of Zahidan, Iran, this preterite – past continuous distinction is retained.[7]

     Temporal meaning of the verbal forms is closely connected with aspect, or manner, of the verbal action. In general, judging by the material I have studied, the tendency to further distinctions of aspectual and temporal relation in the indicative is very characteristic to Balochi dialects, especially by means of new descriptive forms such as the present continuous and past continuous tense forms in Rakhshānī dialects. This process has progressed more in Rakhshānī than in any other Balochi dialect group. This may be one of the reasons why Rakhshānī is of increasing importance as a literary vehicle nowadays and why it also potentially could develop into a standard literary language of the Baloch in the future.

     The great importance of a standard literary language cannot be underestimated for the Baloch. The need of a universally accepted standard to be employed by all Baloch is urgently felt. The Baloch intelligentsia, intellectuals and literary men are indeed concentrating more and more effort on this important problem.

     In the dialect of the Turkmenian Baloch there is a special inclusive pronoun māšmā ‘we and you’.[8] It is declined in the following way:

Nominative:                 māšmā

Genitive:                      māšmay

Accusative/dative:       māšmārā

 

A three case system governs the declension of nouns and pronouns in this dialect. The oblique case which is usual for the agent in the ergative construction is not used in the Turkmenian Balochi dialect, because there is no ergative construction left there. Past transitive verbs are constructed actively: man trā dīstun ‘I saw you’, brās-ī sarā čandent ‘his brother nodded his head’, murād watī kitābā pa ammā wānt-ī ‘Murad read his book to us’, dušman āī dast-u-pādānā baštant ‘the enemies tied his hands and feet’ etc.

     The ergative construction has been eliminated from the dialect, but there are still traces of it. The enclitic pronoun (or suffixed pronoun) of the 3rd person singular -¬ is very often used with transitive (and even sometimes with intransitive) verbs: gušt-ī  ’he/she said’, kurt-ī ‘he/she did’ šut-ī ‘he/she went’, jist-ī ‘he/she ran away’, zarbīk hamā dawle ki mās-ī gušt kurt-ī ’Zarbik did the way her mother told her’ etc. It should be pointed out that enclitic (suffixed) pronouns are not commonly used in the dialect of Turkmenian Balochi as in most Balochi dialects. (Cf. Persian where they are very common.)

     The vocabulary of the Turkmenian Balochi dialect has not been studied properly up till now. But it is indisputable that the main Balochi lexicon is of Iranian origin, as in all Balochi dialects. Certainly there are a large number of loanwords. The largest number of loanwords definitely come from Persian and Arabic (through Persian). The Baloch of Turkmenistan also borrowed some words form Russian and Turkmen during the Soviet period of their history. It is difficult to estimate the number of loanwords, because up till now there is no comprehensive Balochi dictionary. However, based on Zarubin’s collection of Balochi folk tales, Josef Elfenbein compiled A Vocabulary of Marw Baluchi, where he also gives etymological information for most of the entries.

 

 

[1] See also Axenov’s article in the present volume.

[2] Zarubin, Beludžkie skazki, I-II, see bibliography.

[3] Apart from the Baloch there are e.g. about 100 000 Kurds in Turkmenistan.

[4] See Axenov’s article in the present volume for more details.

[5] Note also that there are several articles on the Baloch in Turkmenistan in the May 1957 issue of Māhtāk baločī.

[6] For a thorough description of the tense forms occurring in a variety of Rakhshānī spoken in Pakistan, see Barker-Mengal, vol. I.

[7] Information obtained from Carina Jahani.

[8] Also found in other Northern Rakhshānī dialects.

Baloch and Balochi

04

JAN

What is the adjective of “Baloch” in English? Our country is called Balochistan, that point is clear. We live in Balochistan. We speak Balochi, we have several Balochi dialects, we weave Balochi carpets, we ride Balochi camels, we (hopefully!) give Balochi names to our children. We read Balochi poetry which is published at the Balochi Academy.

However, I have also noticed that often “Baloch” is used as the adjective:

Baloch cultural tradition

Baloch Students’ Organisation

Baloch authors

Baloch ethnicity

Baloch nationalism

Baloch National Movement

Baloch men

Baloch ethnic group

Baloch people

And what about the noun? Am I a Baloch or Balochi? Are my parents Baloch, Balochs, Balochis or Baloches?

Baloch: Baloch is generally known as a noun. The native people who live in Balochistan are called Baloch. Generally Baloch people speak Balochi, but even if native people can’t speak Balochi, they are still called Baloch. They can migrate and live in other parts of the world. They can still refer to themselves as Baloch. So, I believe that it is now accepted that “Baloch” is noun in this context.

Mistakenly, some non-Baloch scholars use the word “Balochi”, instead of “Baloch” when referring to people of Balochistan. For instance, they may say: “Baaraan is Balochi”. It is wrong. “Baaraan is a Baloch” is the right expression. One my say that “Baaraan is a Balochi name”, which is a correct phrase to say.

So, I am a Baloch, not Balochi (likewise, Hazhaar is a Kurd. Hazhaar is a Kurdish name. But saying “Hazhaar is a Kurdish” is a rather an inaccurate expression).

On many occasion, it is rather use a “the” before Baloch, when we refer to people of Balochistan (in national adjective usage). For instance, national adjectives ending in “ch” or “sh” e.g. the Dutch, the Spanish, the Welsh (see The Oxford Library of English Usage, Chapter I, 1990. Similarly we can say “the Baloch” etc.

Other parallel examples:

Javier is a Spaniard. He speaks Spanish. He eats Spanish food. He is a Spanish person. (But although one may say that “He is a Spanish”, the more accurate way is to say it is “Javier is a Spaniard”, instead of “Javier is a Spanish. The same applies for Scot (native Scottish person from Scotland) etc.

Please remember that there is not a universal rule about this issue. e.g. ” Shah Latif was a Sindi (Sindhi). He spoke Sindi (Sindhi) and he was from Sind (Sindh). As you see in this case the word “Sindi” is used both as the noun for naming people from Sind and the language.

As for Plural version of the word “Baloch”, there is no universal accepted form. Some people use “Balochs”, other use “Baloches”. Increasing number of people use “Baloch” as both singular and plural. In my view, using “Baloch” as both singular and plural is somehow a better way to use it. A parallel in English language is the word “Dutch” (people and language of Holland). When referring to people from Holland, they are called ”Dutch”, whether one or many people. I have never seen expressions such as “Dutchs” or “Dutches”. I think it looks nicer in a sentence to use “Baloch” as both singular and plural form. One can understand from the sentence, whether we talk about one person or many. It is a personal preference, but words “Balochs” or “Baloches” do not appeal to me. I rather use “Baloch” only. (Some people may write it as “Baluch”, “Balouch” etc. Again “Baluchs/Baluches” or “Balouchs/Balouches” do not sound “attractive”.

Balochi: Anything related to the Baloch (people from Balochistan) can be described as Balochi. It can have genitive form or simply used as an adjective.

Languge of the Baloch is called Balochi. Not only, we the Baloch, call it “Balochi”, but every other non-Baloch person also called it “Balochi”. At least, there is unanimous acceptance about this issue. There are still variations in spelling “Balochi” such as “Baluchi” and “Balouchi”. But it is not a big deal.

“Balochi” is mainly used as an adjective e.g. “Balochi dress”, “Balochi book”, “Balochi dance”, etc. “Baloch” cannot be used in the same context. It is, however, to be noticed when one refers directly to people, i.e. the Baloch, it is rather use “Baloch” not “Balochi” in any compound nouns. e.g.

Baloch Students’ Federation (not Balochi Students’ Federation) as it refers to Baloch people (in this case, students). Also “Baloch women” but NOT Balochi women (again Baloch refers to people, women) etc.

In the meantime, there is a need for a flexible approach towards this issue, as there is no standard/universal rule especially with regards to “Baloch”, “Balochi” etc. The same applies to Balochi orthography (both in Persian/Urdu and Latin/English alphabets). At this stage, there is no excuse for exclusion of any approach, style and preferences. As for various dialects of Balochi language, there is an even greater need for flexibility.