The Baluchi place of origin is a point of contention, although many Baluchis hold that that their lineage can be traced back 2,000 years to Aleppo, Syria – one of the world’s oldest inhabited cities.[1]  As a nomadic people, Baluchis have resided in modern-day Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan for the last 1,000 years in remote and underdeveloped areas along the Oman Sea.[2]  The culture and language of the Baluchi have been endangered by tensions with state authorities, who often have limited exposure to the traditions of the group.[3]  The Baluchi have been forced to struggle for their livelihoods throughout centuries of discrimination. 

Traditionally, Baluchis are nomadic, and many today still practice subsistence agriculture along with semi-nomadic pastorialism.[4]  The Baluchi live in a tribal society, which is highly segmented and centrally organized under chieftains, or sardars.[5] 

While some Baluchis have moved to cities, many continue to practice subsistence agriculture in rural areas, where women play the lead role in the household.[6]  Baluchis are predominately Sunni Muslim and practice a tribal form of the religion, in which tribal allegiances and familial authority carry much weight.  The Baluchi speak an Indo-Iranian language that is related to Farsi and Pashtu.[7]

Demography

Accurate demographic data is difficult to obtain due to a lack of continuity in census reporting and the effects of discrimination.  Many Baluchis face discrimination and therefore do not necessarily formally label themselves as Baluchi.  Current data, though suggests that the Baluchi in Pakistan today number an estimated 4.9 million.  Large populations can also be found in Iran (around 1.3 million) and in Afghanistan (around 637,798).[8]

Geographic Distribution

The Baluchi occupy an area known as Baluchistan, a large region covering western Pakistan, southwestern Afghanistan and southeastern Iran.

What is today Baluchistan is home to one of the earliest human settlements in the world.  It was inhabited by cave-dwellers and fishermen around 15,000 years ago.[9] 

Archaeologists have also uncovered a new site in Pakistan known Mehergarh, believed to be one of the earliest civilizations in the world, predating ancient communities in Egypt and Mesopotamia.  Mehergarh was occupied from 7,000 to 2,000 B.C.E. and is the earliest Neolithic site containing evidence of animal domestication and wheat and barley processing.[10]

Historic Hardship

Due to the remoteness of residing in a mountainous region, the Baluchi people have lived autonomously for most of their history.  Even today, their isolation limits the extent of government control in their region.

Baluchi tensions heightened with the creation of Pakistan in the late 1940s.  In the 1970s Baluchi nationalists clashed with the Punjabi-dominated central government in Islamabad.  The Baluchi have since been involved in four unsuccessful revolts against the Pakistani state.[11]

Historically, Tehran and Islamabad have collaborated in suppressing Baluchi nationalism through brutal military crackdowns.  Both countries see such a movement as a serious threat to regional stability and the territorial integrity of their respective countries.[12]  Iranian Baluchis see themselves as heirs to an ancient and proud tradition separate from the ethnic Persian heritage.  Due to tribal and family lineages that cross all three countries, Iranian Baluchis identify with the larger Baluchi communities that reside in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  The Baluchi historical narrative has and continues to be shaped by a collective sense of oppression and victimization by regional and colonial powers, leading to vulnerability and internal divisions.

Ongoing Hardship

Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, began his rule in 2000 by increasing gas exploration in Baluchistan, exacerbating tensions with the group.  Simultaneously, Baluchis were gradually excluded from provincial government by the majority Punjabis and Pashtuns.  Pakistan does not recognize any property rights in Baluchistan, a policy that allows Pakistani authorities to confiscate land in order to build army facilities.  Pakistani authorities have also destroyed Baluch homes in order to develop commercial hubs and, have over the years, exploited the region’s natural resources for the benefit of the majority populations.  Evidence also exists suggesting that Pakistan has used force to prevent the group from explicitly promoting its culture and language.  Imposing Pakistani values on unwilling Baluchis, in coordination with crackdowns on traditions, threatens the preservation of Baluch culture.[13]

Ongoing negotiations over the construction of a proposed pipeline through Iranian and Pakistani Baluchistan to deliver Iranian natural gas to Pakistan and India is another point of convergence that has brought both countries together on the threat posed by emerging Baluchi nationalism and armed groups such as Jundallah and the Baluchi Liberation Army.[14]  With the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, the availability of arms through Pakistan has also contributed to instability in the region. 

Baluchistan is both Pakistan’s and Iran’s most neglected and underdeveloped province.  The provincial per capita income, literacy rate, and life expectancy are national lows in both countries.  Huge swaths of the region still lack electricity and consistent access to running water. 

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