The cohesive bases of the Baloch Nationalism

The subject has been taken from book of Taj Mohammad Breseeg “Baloch Nationalism, its origin and development”.

THE EXPANSION OF BALOCH ETHNO-LINGUISTIC COMMUNITY

As indicated above, since the fall of the Rind-Lashair confederacy in 16th century, various empires and political syntheses were in fact contending for the Baloch country; the Shiite Safavids to the west and the Mughal to the east, both intent upon consolidating their frontiers, so as to fend off forays and incursions by nomadic tribes from Afghanistan and Central Asia. Thus, rising Baloch confederacy was entangled in continual straggle with the Mughal and Persian empires. To encounter the growing pressure of the Shiite Safavids, the founder of the Ahmadzai dynasty, Mir Ahmad I pursued a policy of friendship with the powerful emperor of India, Aurangzeb.  However, in the reign of Mir Samandar, the Iranian army under general Tahmasp invaded Balochistan aiming to occupy western Balochistan but it is defeated and Tahmasp was kicked. The Mughal emperor not only admired this deed but also agreed to pay him Rs 200,000 annually as military aid to meet the challenge of Iranian aggression.

The Khanate of Kalat consolidated most of the Baloch country into a feudal state during the 18th century, Abdullah Khan, the fourth Khan (1714-1734) expanded his realm,,,,,,,,, from Kandahar in what is now southeastern Afghanistan, across the Makran area all the way to Bander abbas in what is now a southern Iranian port and extended his dominion to embrace dear Ghazi Khan District on the edge of Punjab,,,,,,,,,,,. By the middle of the eighteenth century, Nasir Khan I (the sixth Khan), the most popular, powerful and dynamic ruler of the Khanate (1749-1795) claimed sovereignty over, all land where Baloches lived,  He brought Karachi and most of western (Iranian) Balochistan under his administration.

Speaking of Nasir Khan , Masson, narration of various journeys in BALOCHISTAN, said,,,,,,,, ,At an  early period he  consolidated his authority over an immense kingdom, the ensure the obedience of his feudal chiefs, and discretion enough to .. Refrain from interfering in their internal affairs, with the confederate force bound to him by this feudal tie, Nasir Khan consolidate his dominoes. The Marris and the Bugtis, Las Bela, Makkoran , Kharan, and Quetta formed his kingdom. Moreover, according to Harrison, at the height his power, Nasir Khan renewed Kalat’s claims of sovereignty over the Iranian Baloch areas and sent occasional expeditionary forces to his western borderlands.

Nasir Kahn I Reined from the seaboard stretching from Karachi for about 400 miles west to the present Iranian frontier, the cairn of the Malik’s (Maliki Chedag) on the “Minab River”, and to Quetta and east from Quetta to the Derajat border- a country considerably greater then Great Britain and Ireland put together. Administratively, Nasir Khan came closer to establishing a centralized bureaucratic apparatus covering all of Balochistan than any other ruler before or since. Organization the civil and military affairs of the Baloch Khanate on semi-modern lines, Nasir Khan came established a “proto-parliament based on a workable constitution and congenial Baloch tradition”. He administration and foreign affairs  matters. And a Mustoufi, lands. The Khanate under Nasir Khan had its own flag and currency. Like Mir Jalal Han and Mir Ckakar Rind, Nasir Khan continues to be among the most popular heroes in the Baloch folklore and political literature.

 In 1816, describing Nasir Khan’s personality, the British traveller, Henry Pottinger who visited the country soon after the death of Nasir Khan, wrote, if we contemplate the charter of Nusseer (Nasir) Khan, whether as a soldier, a statesman, or a prince, and call to mind the people among whom he was placed, we shall find in him most extraordinary combination of all the virtues attached to those sations and duties. Possibly the most interesting aspect of the long region of Nasir Khan was his skillful internal policy, directed towards strengthening the powers and figure of the “ Khan”, trough without destroying traditional political mechanisms of a society that was still eminently tribal and pastoral in nature. The Khanate under Nasir Khan, as observed by Janmahamd, was an improved version of the Rind- Lashari tribal set-up. The tribal alliance was board-based with tremendous power allowed to the tribal area of responsibility was fixed and allowed to continuous. A council of advisors representing the major tribes and allied people assisted the Khan, with a Wazir (Prime Minister) usually selected from the Tajik or Hindu immigrants of Kalat. Like the Afghan King, Ahmed Shah Abadali, in important affairs, Nasir consulted the Ulama.

To be continued…..