Baloch people in Punjab
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~ 6 million (1997 estimations) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Punjab, Pakistan | |
| Languages | |
| Balochi • Saraiki • Punjabi • Urdu | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Baloch • Baloch diaspora • Sindhi Baloch • Baloch of India |
The Baloch people in Punjab[a] are the residents of partial or full Baloch ancestry in Punjab, Pakistan, most of whom have assimilated in Punjab and speak Saraiki, Standard Punjabi, Urdu and various other languages. The majority lives in the southwest of Punjab, including Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur and Taunsa, which adjoin the Balochistan.[1][2][3]
History
The first Baloch migrations into Punjab occurred in the 15th-century on the invitation of Shah Hussain I of Langah Sultanate. The Dodai tribe under Ghazi Khan was settled by Shah Hussain in the Derajat region between Indus River and Sulaiman Range. In the next century, another Baloch chief Mir Chakar migrated with a large number of followers to Satghara near Okara where he was granted jagir by the Mughals. Baloch nomads continued to move to the Punjab plains in the following centuries, settling as far as the Thal Desert in the Sind Sagar Doab.[4][5][6]
According to Dr. Akhtar Baloch, Professor at University of Karachi, the Baloch migrated from Balochistan during the Little Ice Age and settled in Sindh and Punjab. According to Professor Baloch, the climate of Balochistan was very cold during this epoch and the region was inhabitable during the winter so the Baloch people migrated in waves to the fertile Indus valley.[7]
Demographics
In his book Searchlights on Baloches and Balochistan (1997), Justice Mir Khuda Bakhsh Marri estimated the Baloch population in Punjab to be around 6 million, most of them not speaking Balochi anymore, but Punjabi and Saraiki; Marri concentrated on the statistics given by the British colonialists in British Punjab during their research, such as the Punjab Census Report of 1931, extrapolating the numbers by looking at the natural growth of Pakistan's overall population.[8]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Schiffman, Harold (9 December 2011). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors: The Changing Politics of Language Choice. BRILL. p. 332. ISBN 9789004201453.
The Baloch in Sindh and South Punjab can speak four languages: Balochi, Sindhi, Panjabi and Saraiki.
- ^ Anatol Lieven (28 April 2011). Pakistan: A Hard Country. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 340–. ISBN 978-0-14-196929-9.
- ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2004-09-28). A History of Pakistan and Its Origins. Anthem Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-84331-149-2.
Numerous Baluchi communities no longer speak their native language; they speak Punjabi or Sindi dialect. They were superimposed on the Jat community, and seem to have absorbed some elements of their culture.
- ^ Rathore, Azad Singh (2021). Balochistan The Heights of Oppression. Partridge Publishing India. ISBN 9781543706642.
- ^ Rathore, Rizwan Zeb (2019). Ethno-political Conflict in Pakistan The Baloch Movement. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000729924.
- ^ Malik, Fida Hussain (2020). Balochistan A Conflict of Narratives. Saiyid Books. p. 3. ISBN 9789692200028.
- ^ From Zardaris to Makranis: How the Baloch came to Sindh
- ^ Marri, Mir Khuda Bakhsh (1997). Searchlights on Baloches and Balochistan (1st ed.). Lahore: Ferozsons. p. 41. ISBN 978-969-0-01373-6.