Balochi language

Apart from Balochi the principal language of Balochistan there are several minor
languages which are spoken at the ethnic borders of united or Greater Balochistan. The speakers of minor languages (Brahui, Saraiki, Sindhi, and Dehwari-Persian) are bilingual. Persian and English were used
as official language in western
Balochistan (Iran-Afghanistan), the
Khanate of Balochistan, and British
Balochistan. In 1947 the independent
Khanate of Balochistan announced Balochi as an official and national
language, a policy which was continued until march, 1948.

In 1948, with the incorporation of
Balochistan into Pakistan, Balochi was
replaced as the official language and urdu as the national language. The official language in the areas of Gwadar (occupied by Sultanate of Oman until 1958) was Arabic.

Balochi has several dialects. Linguists
agree on the following two major
dialects.
(1) Eastern Balochi
(2) Western Balochi

The eastern Balochi dialect is spoken
from Karachi north words upto Dera
Ismail Khan and to the Suleman
Mountains, including the Marri Bugti
areas. And amongst the Baloch of Sindh, Derajat and Punjab, and the north west frontier province of Pakistan. This dialect has borrowed several Sindhi (including Saraiki) and Pashto words and has also contributed to the vocabulary of the said languages.

The western Balochi dialect is spoken
between Karachi (Pakistan) and Kirman (Iran), among the Baloch of U.S.S.R and Turkmenistan, the Sultanate of Oman, the Khorasan province of Iran and Seistan (Iran-Afghanistan). The dialects has borrowed several words from neighboring languages such as Turkmen, Persia, Pustho and Arabic.

Balochi has a different historical
background and has no affinity with any Indian language. The memorandum of independent Khanate of Balochistan submitted by M.A. Jinnnah to the cabinet mission in 1946 declares: On the point of view of language, there is very little affinity between India and Kalat. The Balochi language belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family.The Brahui language was said in the same memorandum, to be a Dravidian language having no affinity with any Indian language except the Gond dialects in central India. Discussing the relation of the Balochi language with Persian or Pashto (the national language of Iran and Afghanistan), Harrison writes, Balochi is a distinct language and is closely related only to one of the members of Iranian language, Kurdish, but it retains striking peculiarities of its own.
Origin:
The Balochi language originated, in a lost language, was related to the Parthian or Medan civilization. It is classified as a branch of the Iranian group of Indo-European language family like Kurdish,Persian, Pashto, and Osseetic. Historically, Balochi was believed to have originated
between 200 B.C and 700 A.D. J.
Elfenbein, a scholar of Balochi, compared Balochi with Parthian and Persian of middle stage and concluded that: ? ancestor of Balochi was neither Parthian nor middle Persian but a lost language, which, sharing a number of characteristic feature with either, and some with both, had pronounced (characteristics) of its own.
Referring to the affinity of Balochi language with Kurdish, having an ancient Medean background, this author has stressed that Balochi has its own unique features. The same view presented by L.Dames in his book Baloch Race, in which author reported that Balochi resembles the Zand or old Bactrian rather than old Persian.This special position of the Balochi language, having no real affinity
with the Indian subcontinent and being a distinctive language along the Iranian group of Indo-European language family, has strengthened the consciousness of the Baloch people in their demand for the right of self-determination.

BALOCHI LANGUAGE

also spelled BALUCHI, or BELUCHI, modern
Iranian language of the Indo-Iranian
group of the Indo-European language
family. Balochi speakers live mainly in an
area now composed of parts of
southeastern Iran and southwestern Pakistan that was once the historic
region of Balochistan. They also live in
Central Asia (near Merv, Turkmenistan)
and southwestern Afghanistan, and there are colonies in Oman, southern Arabia, and along the east coast of Africa as far south as Kenya.

Balochi is a Western Iranian language
that is closely related to Kurdish. Despite the vast area over which it is spoken, its six dialects (Rakhshani, Sarawani, Kechi, Lotuni, the Eastern Hill dialects, and the coastal dialects) are all believed to be mutually intelligible. There are an estimated 4,800,000 worldwide speakers of Balochi Mostly in (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran)

The great city quetta

The name Quetta originates from the Pashto word Kwatta which means a fort. In the beginning, the town was situated within the walls of fort "A Miri" which is now used as an arsenal. The district is bounded on the north by district Pishin; on the east by Ziarat; on the south by Mastung and on the west by district Killa Abdullah. Till the middle of the eighteenth century, the history of Quetta district is identical with the history of Kandahar. In the eleventh century it was part of the Graeco-Bactrian empire. After that it remained under the Kingdom of the Amir Sabuktagain and Mahmood Ghaznavi till the thirteenth century. In 1470, the Kandahar Kingdom was succeeded by Timur's. Between 1530 and 1545, the Province of Kandahar was in the possession of Mirza Kamran (The brother of a Mughal ruler). In1622 the Kingdom was brought under the sway of the Safavid dynasty and remained there until 1709. Later Ghilzai came into power and ruled the area. Thereafter, Quetta was transferred to Nadir. Later on history relates that Ahmed Shah Durrani finally conferred Quetta to the Khan of Kalat as a shall (present). The British Government occupied Quetta during the first Afghan war in 1839. Just after three years, in 1842, it came back into the hands of Khan
of Kalat. Due to its strategic importance, it was reoccupied by Sir Robert Sandeman in 1876.

On 26 May, 1876, a treaty was signed by Amir Yaqoob Khan of Afghanistan with the British Government at Gandamak. Thus the conflict which emerged as a result of the first and second Afghan war came to an end. In 1883, Quetta was formed into a separate single administrative unit (Quetta - Pishin district). Due to its geo-strategic importance, the British built Quetta as a garrison town. They extended the roads and railway network to Afghanistan and Iran. This situation remained unchanged till the partition of the Sub-continent in 1947. Under the one-unit system from 1955 to 1970, Quetta and Kalat were the administrative units in West Pakistan. After abolishing the unitary system, Quetta was declared as Capital of Balochistan. Till 1975, Quetta and Pishin were a single administrative unit. In that year Pishin was declared a separate district. Very little is known about the human settlement in the district. However, it is certain that the Afghans and Brahuis are recent immigrants. The Pashtoons appear to have entered the district from the north east, emigrating from their home round the Takht-i- Sulaman. Kasis (A branch of Afghan) are said to have migrated from their home around the Takht-i-Sulaman about eight centuries ago. They made their first settlement at Samli, a village near Quetta city. The Brahuis are an offshoot from the Kalat territory and their presence in the district dates back to the eighteenth century. With the passage of time, Quetta began to expand and soon it turned into a beautiful small town. The British paid special attention to its cleanliness. However, 31 May, 1935 was a black day in the history of Quetta. An earthquake destroyed Quetta city completely. The Cantonment area survived to a great extent.

The reconstruction started soon after. Till 1947 Quetta was a small town. People used to call it small London. But rapid population growth in terms of rural - urban migration, and influx of Indian refugees increased the population at Quetta. Influx of Afghan refugees during the 1980s helped the slums to grow. New settlement in the form of housing schemes emerged at Satellite Town, Jinnah Town, Samungli Town, Model Town and Shahbaz Town. In Kachi Abadies, slums also begun to develop. The process of settlement continues. Now Quetta has turned into an over-populated city . There are some mounds and karezes of ancient time in the district. The most important archaeological site is a Quetta Miri (a mass of indurated clay). The base of Miri is 183 meter long by 122 meter wide and rises 24.4 meter above the plain. The Miri is now used as an Arsenal. Among other noticeable mounds are one between Katir
and Kuchlak, known as the Kasiano Dozakh, Tor Ghund near Baleli and Tor Wasi between Panjpai and Muhammad Khel. Besides, some karezes of archaeological interest are found at Kirani, Sariab and Kachi Baig at www.pirate-baloch.blogspot.com