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BALOCH INSURGENCIES 1948-1977

                         BALOCH INSURGENCIES 1948-1977

Wahe Watan O Hushkien Dar The fatherland even barren is worth anything
Balochi saying ????

People with a warlike spirit, wearing exalted plumes, like the cocks comb, on their turbans. 

Firdausi in Shahnama?????

The present day insurgency in Balochistan is a continuum of the intermittent guerrilla struggle against the Pakistani state that has characterized Balochistan since 1948. The insurgency in 2004-05 is only different from the ones in 1948-52, 1958-60, 1962-69 and 1973-77 in the scale of the violence and the geographical spread of the insurgency. The causes, the issues, the demands and the goal continue to be the same.
??
On August 15, 1947, a day after Pakistan came into existence, the Khan of Kalat had declared independence. Kalats independent status had been affirmed several times by the Muslim League and by the Kalat National Assembly. Despite this, on 1 April 1948, the Pakistan Army marched into Kalat and arrested the Khan who capitulated. His brother, Prince Abdul Karim (with the Khans tacit approval) however, declared a revolt proclaiming the independence of Kalat and issued a manifesto in the name of the Baloch National Liberation Committee rejecting the accession agreement signed by the Khan. Karim hoped to obtain Afghan support since Afghanistan had objected to the inclusion of the Baloch and Pashtun areas in Pakistan and had even opposed the admission of Pakistan to the United Nations. While the Pakistani version is that Karim received substantial Afghan support, the Baloch nationalist version is that Afghanistan denied support since it favoured the inclusion of Balochistan in Afghanistan rather than an independent Balochistan.

First Guerrilla Revolt ???

Prince Abdul Karim launched guerrilla operations against the Pakistan Army in Jhalawan district in late May, 1950, but the Khan, threatened with reprisals by Pakistani Army authorities, persuaded his brother to surrender with assurances of safe conduct and amnesty from the Pakistan Army. Pakistani officers reportedly signed a safe conduct agreement with Abdul Karims representatives and swore an oath on the Koran to uphold it. However, Pakistani forces dishonoured the agreements by ambushing and arresting the Prince and 102 of his accomplices on their way to Kalat in 1950. Karims revolt is important in Baloch history for two reasons. First, it established that the Baloch did not accept the accession of Kalat with Pakistan. Second, it led to the wide-spread Baloch belief that Pakistan had betrayed the safe conduct agreement. The Baloch regard this as a first series of broken treaties that have created distrust between them and Islamabad. Karim and his followers were all sentenced to long prison terms and became rallying symbols for the Baloch liberation movement.

The Second Revolt ???/

The next violent outbreak of Baloch sentiments came in 1958. This was the direct result of the centralising policies pursued by the Pakistani leaders. Fears of Bengali domination in the 1950s had propelled the Punjabi leaders, who controlled the levers of power, to consolidate the Western Wing of Pakistan into a unified province to counter Bengali numerical strength. This One Unit plan was resisted by the Baloch, both by Abdul Karim who had completed his prison term in 1955 and the Khan who mobilised wide spread demonstrations through tribal chieftains. Balochi nationalists within the Khanate took serious exception to the One Unit scheme and in a meeting with Pakistani president Iskander Mirza in October 1957 they urged Iskander Mirza to exempt Kalat from the One Unit scheme, and to allot more government spending on developmental activities in Kalat. But Ayub Khans ambitions changed the political matrix in Pakistan and when some Baloch sardars started non-cooperating with the Pakistani commissioner, under a flimsy pretext that the Khan had raised a parallel army to attack Pakistani military, Ayub ordered Pakistani army to march into Kalat on 6 October 1958, a day before he imposed martial rule in Pakistan. The army arrested the Khan and his followers and accused them of secretly negotiating with Afghanistan for a full-scale Baloch rebellion.
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The arrest touched off a chain reaction of violence and counter-violence with the government bombing villages suspected of harbouring guerrillas. Pakistan military's campaigns in Danshera and Wad were resisted by the Jhalawan Sardars loyal to the Khan. The octogenarian Chief of the Zehri tribe in Jhalawan, Nauroz Khan put up a stiff resistance in the Mir Ghat mountains, but the Pakistani military swore an oath by the Quran and urged Nauroz to give up arms and prepare for negotiations.

Nauroz surrendered in anticipation of safe conduct and amnesty but the army put Nauroz and his sons behind the bars as soon as they laid down their arms. Naurozs sons were hanged soon afterwards, in Hyderabad and Sukur, in July 1960. A shocked and surprised Nauroz died soon afterwards in Kohlu prison in 1962. Ayubs message to the Balochis of Kalat who were the first to challenge the might of the Pakistani state, was clear. He reportedly threatened the total extinction of Balochis if they did not mend their ways.

The 1958 revolt was followed by the Pakistan Army setting up new garrisons at key points in the interior of Balochistan. This in turn provoked the Baloch to plan for more armed guerrilla movements capable of defending Balochi interests. The movement was led by Sher Mohammed Marri who was far-sighted enough to realise that thedisorganised random struggle adopted so far would have to be transformed into a classic guerrilla warfare. For this purpose, he set up a network of base camps spread from the Mengal tribal areas of Jhalawan in the South to the Marri and Bugti areas in the North. The Pararis, as the guerrillas were called, ambushed convoys, bombed trains and so on. In retaliation, the army staged savage reprisals. For example, the Army bulldozed 13,000 acres of almond tress owned by Sher Mohammed and his relatives in the Marri area. The fighting continued sporadically until 1969 when the Yahya Khan withdrew the One Unit plan and got the Baloch to agree to a ceasefire. Despite the ceasefire, the Pararis assumed that the renewal of the hostilities with Islamabad would be unavoidable sooner or later. As such, the organisational infrastructure was kept intact and cadres continued to be trained.

Third Balochi Resistance: The 1970s ????/

The nationalist Balochis took to rudimentary politics during Ayubs practice of Basic Democracy in Pakistan. They struck a chord of unity with the Pakhtuns in NWFP and formed a National Awami Party (NAP) upon the dissolution of the One Unit scheme in 1970. In the elections of 1971, while Bhuttos PPP swept the polls in West Pakistan, the NAP won in Balochistan and NWFP. The attacks on Punjabi settlers in Quetta and Mastung in early 1973, the perceived defiance of the Ataullah Mengal-led government in Balochistan and the discovery of a large consignment of weapons in the Iraqi embassy were woven together to be served as conclusive evidence of the Balochis militant intentions and General Tikka Khan was sent to Balochistan to lead the second military attack on Baloch nationalists. Pakistan, smarting under the shock of vivisection in 1971, certainly over-reacted to the Balochi nationalist assertion. The immediate provocation for the Baloch resistance was Bhuttos dismissal of the Baloch provincial government in February 1973 in which Ghaus Bux Bizenjo was Governor and Attaullah Mengal Chief Minister. Bhutto alleged that the government had repeatedly exceeded its constitutional authority and alleged that this had been done in collusion with Iraq and the Soviet Union as part of a plot to dismember both Pakistan and Iran. The dismissal was timed with the disclosure of a cache of 300 Soviet sub-machine guns and 48,000 rounds of ammunition allegedly consigned to Baloch leaders that were found in the house of the Iraqi Defence Attaché in Islamabad. It was, however, subsequently revealed that the arms had actually been found in Karachi and were meant for Iranian Baloch in retaliation against Irans support to Iraqi Kurds and that the Iraqi Defence Attaché had collaborated with Iranian and Pakistani intelligence agents in staging the arms exposure to put pressure on the Iranians.

Following the dismissal of their government, Baloch guerrillas began to ambush army convoys from April 1973. Bhutto retaliated by sending in the army to Balochistan and by putting three veteran nationalist leaders of Balochistan Ghous Bux Bizenjo, Ataullah Khan Mengal and Khair Bux Marri, behind the bars. The armed struggle continued over the next four years with varying degrees of severity. At the height of the war there were over 80,000 Pakistani troops in the province. The fighting was more wide-spread than it had been in 1950s and 1960s. The guerrillas succeeded by July 1974 to cut off most of the main roads linking Balochistan with surrounding provinces and to periodically disrupt the Sibi-Harnai rail link thereby blocking coal shipments from the Baloch areas to the Punjab. Additionally, attacks on drilling and survey operations stymied oil exploration activities.

The then Shah of Iran, apprehending trouble in Iranian Balochistan, supported the Pakistan forces in decimating the Baloch resistance. The Shah sent in 30 US Cobra Helicopters manned by Iranian pilots who pounded the Baloch pockets of resistance. The turning point came during the 6-day battle at Chamalang in the Marri area in September 1974. In line with the Pakistan armys scorched earth policy, an army ground and air offensive in the winter of 1974 on the Baloch tribes, largely Marris, along with their families, who had gathered in an annual pilgrimage to the Chamalang plains to graze their flocks, inflicted heavy human and livestock casualties. While casualties on both sides were heavy, the Baloch were unable to regain the military initiative in the ensuing years.

Most of the Balochi leaders left Pakistan and went into exile in Afghanistan, the UK and other places outside Pakistan. Several Baloch groups migrated to Afghanistan where they were permitted to set up camps by Mohd Daud. Even if Bhutto claimed to have wiped out Baloch resistance, he played a big role in the transformation of dispersed Pararis into the Balochistan Peoples Liberation Front (BPLF) in 1976, led by Mir Hazar Khan Marri, who broke away from Baloch Students Organisation (BSO) led by Sher Muhammad Marri.

The anti-Bhutto sentiments of the Baloch nationalists were well manipulated by Zia ul Haq after he seized power in 1977 and his show of clemency was received well by many Baloch leaders including the Baloch triumvirate: Ghaus Bux Bizenzo, Ataullah Mengal and Akbar Khan Bugti. However, a rebel faction of the Marris continued defying the Pakistani administration. And, as a proof of the irreconcilability of Balochi nationalism with the Pakistani state-nationalism, the most aggressive and fiercely independent of all Baloch factions, the Baloch Students Union (BSO), reorganised and reasserted itself in the early 1990s.

Reference Book:

Selig S. Harrison in his book cited below analyses the insurgenciesbetween 197 and 1977 ina splendid manner. His book is:

In Afghanistans Shadow Baluchistan: Baluch Nationalism and Soviet

Temptations, 1981, New York / Washington: Carnegie Endowment

for International Peace.???????/

Jirga for including Rajanpur, DG Khan in Balochistan

Jirga for including Rajanpur, DG Khan in Balochistan

DERA GHAZI KHAN: A Jirga comprising intellectuals and social and political figures has demanded that the Baloch-dominated Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan should either be included in Balochistan or be made an independent province, Koh-e-Suleman, to end backwardness in the area.??

An organisation, the Baloch Sangat Qaumi Tehreek, was established to motivate the Baloch population for the inclusion of the two districts in Balochistan. The Jirga was held at the residence of Mir Abdul Rehman Khan Buzdar on Thursday night and was attended by representatives of Baloch tribes, including Buzdar, Qaisrani, Leghari, Mazari, Chakrani, Dostlani, Hadiyani, Ghulamani, Hamlani and other leading tribes.?

The Jirga unanimously adopted a resolution against the Seraiki province. It also established a six-member committee comprising Mir Abdul Rehman Buzdar, Jamal Khan Leghari, Dr Abdul Rehman Leghari, Dr Iqbal Habibullah Buzdar and Ghulam Qasim Mujahid Baloch to suggest a name for the party. The Jirga announced that the Baloch tribes would continue their struggle against the tribal chiefs and feudal lords, who were demanding the Seraiki province and ignored the southern Punjab in terms of development.

The Balochistan National Party district president, Kaka Buzdar, said that majority of schools in the tribal areas were dysfunctional and students were unable to study while feudal lords were totally ignoring the issue.

Ghulam Qasim Mujahid Baloch said that the rulers were exploiting the rights of common people and tribesmen. Allah Bakhash Buzdar, Rab Nawaz Leghari, Safdar Buzdar, Iqbal Khan Leghari, Nazeer Khan and other tribal dignitaries attended the Jirga.?

Allah Bakhash Buzdar, advocate, an eminent historian and intellectual, said that Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur had been the part of Balochistan historically, culturally and socially as over 90 per cent population in both semi-tribal districts belonged to various Baloch tribes, being on the tail-end of the Punjab, felt a sense of deprivation.??

He said that thousands of people belonging to the ignored districts were serving in various departments of Balochistan after job opportunities were not provided to them in the Punjab. He alleged that tribal heads were only protecting their personal interests and had no concern with the masses. He declared the government-sponsored feudal system the root cause of the backwardness and said that the forum would properly serve the purpose against the powerful feudal and tribal chiefs. It was also decided that meetings of the Baloch Sangat would be held in both districts regularly.??????????????

Nawab Akbar Bugti History In Urdu

Nawab Akbar Bugti History In Urdu

Nawab Akbar Bugti ne Pakistan mein ibtaadai taleem hasil karne ke baad Oxford University se high education taleem hasil ki. Wo 1946 mein apne qabile ke 19th (leader) bane.1949 mein Nawab Akbar Bugti hukomat ki khososi permission se Pakistan Soul Service Academy se P.A.S ka exam diye bina education hasil ki. Baad mai wo Sindh aur Balochistan ke shahi gharja ke rakan naamzaad howe.1951 meini Balochistan ke Governer General ke mashir mukarar howe.Wo 1958 mai Wazeer e Mumlikat ke tor per wafaqi kabina mai shamil howe.1960 mai wo National Awami Party mein shamil huye. Ayub khan ke daur mein Akbar Bugti kuch arsa jail mein bhi rahe.?

Jab Ataullah Mengal, Balochistan ke wazeer e ala bane to nawab sahib ke neep ki qayadat se Iktalafaat hogae. 1973 mai jab zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ne neep ki hukomat ko barkhuwast kiya to Akbar sahib ko province ka Governer muqarer kiya. Wo 10 year Governer rahe lekin baad mai Bhutto Sahib se ikhalafaat ki bina per mustafi hogae. 1977 mai unhone Air marshal Asghar Ali khan ki sirbarahi mai qaim tahareek istaklaal mai shamoliyat ikhtiyar ki.??

1988 mein Akbar Bugti Balochistan ki sobai assembly ke rakun muntakhib hoye. February 1989 se August 1990 tak wo Balochistan ke muntakhib wazeer e aala rahe(Chief Minister of Balochistan). Benazeir Bhutto ne Balochistan ke assembly ko tahaleel kar diya.1993 ke intakhabaat mai wo Dirah Bhagti se apni new jamat jamhori watan party ke rakan qamI assembly muntakhib howe. Nawab Akbar Bugti ne qaumi assembly (national assembly) mein urdu language ka bycotte kiya. Akbar Bugti ne 1997 our 2002 ke intakhabaat mein hissa nahi liya.?

Nawab Akbar Bugti ke Kohlo ke Mari qabila se rishtedari thi. Saal 2003 se 2006 tak Akbar Bugti Mari Sardaro ke sath mil kar hukomat ke khilaf province ke haqooq ke liya qoom parastoon ki qayadat karta rahe. kohlo ke pahardoon mein kai months se rohposh rahe. 26th August ke roz apni jan sa hath dhoh bethe.

Agarcha zindagi mein Nawab Akbar Bugti ki personality boht mutanaza rahi lekin jin halaat mai in ki death hoi, is se in ke bare mai awm ke souchne ka andaaz badle gaya. In ki death ke baad awam ki souch mai kia tabdeeli ai is ka andaza app in ke personality per boht jama tabseerah bhi hai. “mujha yaqeen hai ke inki death per Pakistan aur khas tor pa Balochistan meini logoon ko dukh tu hoga lekin heart nai hoi hogi.

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“ye 1970 ka zamana nai ke hum inhyn paharhoon ke peecha peecha dhundte rahe.Unhyn pata bhi nai parega ke wo kis cheez se hate howe hai. Akber Bhugti ke sath do or leader mughaleef baloch sardaroon ke liya Pakistan ke foogi leader General Pervaiz Musharaf ne kaha tha and Murharaf sahib ne baloch ke sath woi salook kiya jo sadam hussain ne kardon ke sath kiya tha.

“Humara maqsad jitna hoskha general perriz musharaf ki zidagi ageeran bana nab a in se in ke beairko mai wapis jane tak karhto rehna hai is in kebeairko mai wapis jane tak larhta larte rehna hain”is 79 saala bemar baloch sardar ne ab baloch goreelon ki qayadat rarte how keg air mulki reporter se rehna tha mujha bachpan mai bhagtiyoon ke is sardar ki ek jalse mai ki hoi speed yaad ha jo unho ne apne bhai mir ahmed nawaz ki intekhabi muhim chalane ke doraan rahi thi “ghanook (gair boaloch ke liye word) ke sir ki cost kia hai ghanook ka blood baha black donkey ki back per rakhi hoi jo ki bus ek boori hai”.
Yeh wo zamana tha jub area mai bhgtiyoon ra ek or baloch qabile jakharaniyoon ke sathn qabaili tasadam tha jo ek sadi se ek farq ke khetoon mai dosre ke animal ke chale ane se start howa tha our “Anis sawaci”ki dahai mai safai per khatem howa.?????????

Ye wo Bhugti tha jis ki Governer Balochistan ki haseeyat se radio per English language mai ane wali speech our Bhutto ki English language per dastaras per “Muqabale baazi” kerte the Shebaaz khan famous nawab akber bhagti bhagti, sardar mehrab khan ke son the jim ka naam opne grandfather shebaaz khan per rakha tha.

Jab February 1843 mai Sir Charles ne sindh fataah krne ki muhim ke doraan Jeikababaad aur Sibhi ki taraf peeshqadmi kit hi to Bhugti qabail ne issa zabardast mazhammat di thi.Jis ke baadin ke sardar Shebaaz Khan ko English ko raam krna parha.

Jab sindh mai haroon ne English Government ke khelaaf baagawaat ki to isse qochalne ke liye Punjabi or Pathanoon foogiyoon Angareezoon ne Bhagtiyoon ki bhi khidmaat hasil ki thin. Jis ke sille mai Shebaaz Khan ko sindh mai Sangaard Zaalae mai boht property di gai.Jo aaj bhi Nawab Bhugti ke naam se famous hain.
Shebaaz Khan ko Angareezoon ne count banaya tha,jab mojooda Queen Bartaneia ki taajposhi ki London mai rasam hoi to is mai Akber Bhagti bhi shamil the. Nawab Bhugti ki American mates thin.

In ke bachpan mai hi in ke father Nawab Merharb khan ki death hogai to in ki zaminen aur dosri imlaq ka intezam in ke baligh hone tk hukomat ke under vision Court of wardaz mai agaya or inki or inke bhai Ahmed Nawaz ki education keliya Sindh Madarsa School mai parh rahe hain.

Nawab Bhugti mai ek hi waqt mai hazaar saal purana qabaili ,latest educated brain sath raheta the. In ki library mai falsafa ,shaeri aur classical English language ki books hazaro ki tadat mai nazar ati thin. Gair mulki ladies reporters aur Anhar wapalo jiston se kei hours tak batein krne wale Akbar Bhugti khud apni ladies ke bare mai boht qadamat pasand waqai howe tha bulke in ke dosre qabail mai bhi siya kari ye carokari per ladies kill hoti aur wo inke faisle kiya krte tha.???????

1960 ki dahai mai Pakistani foog ke khilaf baloch hatiyar la ker paharon per is waqt chale gayn the. Jab siya kari ye carokari mai kill hone wali ek lady ki blood mai bhari shalwar ko intezamiyah ne case property ke tor per talab ki thi jis per baloch mushtaal hogae the.

Balochoon ka ehtajaaj baad mai shorish mai mushoor hogaya.Baloch sardar Noor rooz Khan or is ke sons ko Hyderabaad mai phansi dadi gai.Jab ke Akber Bhugti ko bhi Ayub khan ki hukomat ne phansi ki saaza di,jo in ke dost Zulfiqas Ali Bhutto ki koshisho se baad mai maafi mai tabdil hogai.

Issi doran government ne in ko sardari sa hata ke in ke qabile mai in mukhalif ko Bhagti qabail ka sardar banwaya lekin bhagti qabail ne 24 hours k andar new hukomat sardar ka sir qalam kardiya.Yahiyah Khan ke dino mai Pakistan mai hone wale 1st intekhabaat mai in ko na ehal qarar diya gaya tha lekin unhone apne bhai or National Awaami Party mai umeedwar Sir Ahmed Nawaz Bhagti ki himayat mai muhim chalai thi.

1970 ke intekhabaat mai Balochistan ke results heerat angeez ayn. In intekhabaat mai Nawab Khair Bhagsh qami asamli ki kolo wali nasht se tamam Pakistan main sub say zada woot hasal kia thy jub k nichlay motawasad tab k se ae howay nojawan dartor abdul he boloch

Bolochiyoon ne sabit kar diya tha ke wo Muslah Tahareek ke bajaen intakhabi ammal ko targi dite hain. Mager Mashreqi Pakistan mai hone intekhabaat ke results ko tasleem na karne par paida hona wale buhran ke dino mai bhugti sahib ne Pakistan, India or Afghanistan ke beach confederation ki tajvez paish kar di thi.

1973 mein Zulfiqar Ali bhutto ne Balochistan mein neap ki government khatam karne per inhe Bolochistan ka governor moqarar kar diya.neap ki government khatam karne par Bolochistan ne Bhutto ke khilaf baghawat ke liya mountains per chale gae.????

Bolochistan mai ek story famous hai ke bolochistan mai 1973 ke foogi operation ke doran boloch qom parastoon ne inhe “Gadare boloch” qara dadiya isi operation ke doran Bhutto ne bolochistan mai “Shsh” our sarkari ka khatima ka elaan kardiya. 1993 mein Akbar Bugti Qaumi Assembly ke rakan muntakhaib huye aur balochistan libaas mein nazar qaeyn or national assembhy mai bhi halaf apne mothertorque language bolochi mai utaya jis per inke khilaf both “Shoor Sharaba” hova .

1988 mein markaz e mukhalef per ke intekhabaat jeet kar ane aur in ki hukomat banane ki saalahitin aur mari jaise tall baloch qom parash rehnomao ke mulk se bahar hone aur mulk ki politics se buth mayosi mein Akbar sahib hi ek aise tall baloch the jis se foog aur is ki agencies ko danger tha. 1980 ki dahai mai oil or gas ke zakhair inki zameeno per se nikalne ke bawajood bhugti qabail aaj bhi zaida tar qabail purane door duzar rahe hain jo sach and jhoot ki dawahi foot per doat ka blood laga kar data hai, or angharoon wali aag per chalte hain

       Article. The history of balochistan       

Aslamolekum..Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan with an area of 347056 sq. Kms, over 40% of the country's land mass. It traces its history from times immemorial. Before the birth of Christ, it had commerce and trade with ancient civilization of Babylon through Iran and into the valleys of Tigris and Euphrates. Alexander the Great also had an encounter with the Serbia tribe of Balochistan. Muhammad Bin Qasim and Mehmood Ghaznavi also invaded Balochistan resulting in the development of Muslim character. Even today most tribal people of this province resemble Arabs and the inhabitants can be quite a fascinating subject of study by anthropologists. Balochistan is a land of contrast. It has places with lofty and rugged mountains under Chiltan, Takatu, Suleiman, Sultan etc. and plains stretching to hundreds of miles. It has fertile land like that of Nasirabad, as well as, tracks' which are thirsty for centuries, and where even a bush could hardly be sighted like that of Pat section of Sibi District and Dasht-e-Makran in Makran Division. It has hottest places in the country like Sibi and Dhadar, where temperature shoots up to over 120 °F, as well as coldest towns like Quetta, Kalat, Ziarat, Kan Mehtarzai where mercury falls down much below freezing point."The mountains are the Balochi's forts; the peaks are better than any army; the lofty heights are our comrades; the pathless gorges our friends. Our drink is from the flowing springs; our bed the thorny bush; the ground we make our pillow". These lines are from a Balochi war song. The land which nurtures such independent and brave people is indeed daunting. Barren, rugged mountains that burn in the summer and freeze in the winter In between the cheerless mountains are dry and wide deserts and, of course, beautifully fertile valleys - wherever water is available. These give this rugged land great scenic beauty. Balochistan Province covers a huge area in the southwest of Pakistan. It is a sparsely populated land bordering Afghanistan and Iran. Much of it is a high barren plateau 1,000 to 1,250 meters (3.000 to 4.000 feet) above sea level, enclosed by the Toba Kakar mountain range along the Afghan border and by the Suleman range which borders the Indus river. To the south lies one of the most inhospitable deserts in the world, the Makran. which nearly defeated Alexander the Great when he marched through it on his way home.Balochi is a generalized term, for the people include the Dravidian-speaking Brahui possibly the last descendants of the Indus Civilization, and the Jat or Zutt, an Indo Aryan speaking people of Indian origin. In the northwest of Balochistan, Pathans make up the majority of the population, and there is a sizeable minority of them elsewhere in the province. Most people speak Brabui, Baiochi and Pushto. Almost half the population of Balochistan lives within 80 Kms (50 miles) of the provincial capital, Quetta. Development of underground and surface water resources laying down of road over its vast stretches and taking industry to Balochistan have been the first priorities of the Government. Talking of fruit, the date industry occupies a special position - mainly in the Makran district ,which with an area of 23,460 sq. miles is the largest district in the country. More than a 100 commercial varieties of dates are produced here. Other date-producing areas are Thalwan, sub-division of Kalat and Mashkhel tehsil of Kharan district. Incidentally the Balochi language has one ~ hundred words for dates as also for camels. The Balochistan coastline extends over 750 Km from near Karachi at Hub River to the Gwadar Bay on Pak-lran border. The whole area is rich in fish. The north of the Province presents picturesque fruit farms on the slopes of snow-clad hills and blissful juniper forests. In the south there are extensive date farms and rows upon rows of branchless coconut palms in Makran District. There is scanty rainfall throughout. From 3 to 5 inches in the plains: maximum 12 inches in the hills. Variations in temperature are aThe land and people of balochistan In spite of the intrinsic hostility of its landscape and climate, archaeological discoveries have confirmed that Baluchistan was already inhabited in the Stone Age, and the important neolithic site at Mehrgarh is the earliest (7000-3000 B.C.) on the subcontinent. Until its overthrow by Alexander the Great, Baluchistan was part of the Persian Empire, whose records refer to it as "Maka". In 325 B.C. Alexander led part of his army back from his Indus campaign to Babylon across the Makran Desert at the cost of terrible suffering and high casualties. Thereafter Baluchistan lay for centuries on the shadowy borderlands of the Zoroastrian rulers of Iran and the local Buddhist and Hindu dynasties of northwestern subcontinent. Islam was brought to Baluchistan in 711 when Muhammad bin Qasim led the army which was to conquer Sind across the Makran route, but the area was always too remote for firm control to be exerted by any of the later local dynasties. It accordingly receives only very passing mention in the court histories of the time. The connections of the inland areas were variously with Iran, Afghanistan and India, those of coastal Makran rather across the Arabian Sea with Oman and the Gulf. The name "Baluchistan" only came into existence later with the arrival from Iran of the tribes called Baluch (usually pronounced "Baloch" in Pakistan). Just how and when they arrived remains a matter of hot debate, since the traditional legends of their Middle Eastern origins, supposed to have been in the Aleppo region of Syria have been further confused by cranky theories either that like the Pathans they may descend from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, or that they originated from Babylon, since "Baluch" is phonetically similar to the names of the god Baal or the Babylonian ruler Belos. Better evidence is suggested by the Baluchi language which beIongs to the same Iranian group of Indo-European as Persian and Kurdish. This suggests that the Baluch originated from the area of the Caspian Sea, making their way gradually across Iran to reach their present homeland in around A.D. 1000, when they are mentioned with the equally warlike Kuch tribes in Firdausi's great Persian epic, the Book of Kings: Heroic Baluches and Kuches we saw, Like battling rams all determined on war. Warlike the history of the Baluch has certainly always been. As the last to arrive of the major ethnic groups of Pakistan they were faced with the need to displace the peoples already settled in Baluchistan. Some they more or less successfully subjugated or assimilated, like the Meds of Makran and other now subordinate groups. From others they faced a greater challenge, notably from the Brahui tribes occupying the hills around Kalat. The origins of the Brahuis are even more puzzling than those of the Baluch, for their language is not Indo-European at all, but belongs to the same Dravidian family as Tamil and the other languages of south India spoken over a thousand miles away. One theory has it that the Brahuis are the last northern survivors of a Dravidian-speaking population which perhaps created the Indus Valley civilisation, but it seems more likely that they too arrived as the result of a long tribal migration, at some earlier date from peninsular India. As they moved eastwards, the Baluch were initially successful in overcoming the Brahuis. Under Mir Chakar, who established his capital at Sibi in 1487, a great Baluch kingdom briefly came into existence before being destroyed by civil war between Mir Chakar's Rind tribe and the rival Lasharis, whose battles are still celebrated in heroic ballads""
. Although the Baluch moved forward into Panjab and Sind, the authority of the Moghuls
 stopped them establishing permanent kingdoms there, although the names of Dera Ghazi Khan in Panjab and Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP are still reminders of the Baluch chiefs who ??????
conquered the.??????????