The Baluch Role in the Popular Culture of the Gulf during the 19th and the 20th Centuries

Baluchistan, ‘the land of the Baluch’, lies in a central position, at the crossroad of two axes of three macro-regions: Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. Baluchistan is an extremely inhospitable land, arid and mountainous, with a predominantly nomadic population divided between Pakistan and Iran. Those Baluchis who settled in the northern regions of Baluchistan were characterised by a strong segmentary tribal structure, while those living in the oases with irrigated agriculture, developed a socially stratified ‘feudal’ model. Anyhow, among the Baluchis, the tribal structure is much looser than other tribes of northern Central Asia. Although the Baluchis represent the largest group, there is a Brahoi minority in the Kalat area, the Jats, and other Indian elements on the eastern coast, such as the Gichkis, and descendants from African slavery in the Makran coastal region (Makrani, blacks), where the religious sect of the Zikris is concentrated. Most of Baluchistan lies outside the monsoon system of weather; therefore, the climate is extremely dry. The annual rainfall is about 15 centimeters, and even less along the coastal region of Makran. In terms of physical geography, Baluchistan has more in common with western Asia than with the Indian subcontinent. Its wild and mysterious vistas of arid wastelands, great deserts, and formidable mountain ranges of amazing rock formations, contoured and twisted by earth’s violent geological movements, make it a dramatic area. Its climate combined with the natural geographical features make one of the most daunting environments for successful human habitation. Therefore, it has always been sparsely populated