ETHNIC IDENTITY OF THE BALOCH PEOPLE
Abstract
The national self-awareness of the Balochis, who live in several countries and have no statehood, is very specific in many ways. The problem of their identity can be better understood in the context of certain parallels between them and European peoples (ethnic groups), since their ethnogenesis displays certain common features. We should bear in mind, however, that the formation and development of the Balochis differed in many respects from those of the European peoples.
The Balochis of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan are not absolutely identical; in this respect, they differ greatly from the Europeans. We treat the Balochis as one people with local distinctions and specifics, including, among other things, their linguistic diversity. In Europe, they would have composed a single linguistic group consisting of several subgroups using several more or less different dialects, which at a later stage would have become ethnic groups.
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See: E.G. Gafferberg, *Beludzhi Turkmenskoy SSR*, ed. by S.M. Abramzon, Nauka Publishers, Leningrad, 1969, p. 4, footnote 5 (I.I. Zarubin, K izucheniu beludzhskogo yazyka i folklora. *Zapiski kollegii vostokovedov*, Vol. 5, Leningrad, 1930).
See: E.G. Gafferberg, *op. cit.*, p. 16.
In Turkmenistan, the Brahui are divided into smaller groups—Aydozi, Raatzi, Iagesi, Chaynal, Keran, Mirkhanzi, Sorabzi, Sasoli, and Zerkali.
See: E.G. Gafferberg, *op. cit.*, p. 9.
See: “Izdan pervy perevod Evangelia ot Luki na beludzhskiy yazyk,” Russkaia Pravoslavnaia Tserkov. Otdel vnesh-nikh tserkovnykh svyazey, 22 August, 2005, available at [http://www.mospat.ru/archive/10105.html].
See: L. Rzehak, W.A. Pristschepowa, *Nomadenalltag vor den Toren von Merw. Belutschen, Hazara, Dschamschedi*, Dresden, 1994, p. 5, footnote 23 (Muhammad Sardar Khan Baluch, *History of Baluch Race and Baluchistan*, Karachi, 1958, pp. 1, 191).
See: V.A. Frolova, *Beluzhskiy yazyk*, Nauka, Eastern Literature Publishers, Moscow, 1960, p. 7.
Quoted from: E.G. Gafferberg, *op. cit.*
See: E.G. Gafferberg, *op. cit.*, p. 4.
See: F. Scholz, *Belutschistan (Pakistan)*, Verlag Erich Goltze, Göttingen, 1974, S. 33 (M.K.B.M. Baloch, *The Balochis through Centuries*, Quetta, 1964).
See: M.S. Asimov, C.E. Bosworth, *History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting*, Motilal Banarsidass Publ, Delhi, 1999, pp. 304-305.
See: F. Scholz, *op. cit.*, S. 33 (Muhammad Sardar Khan Baluch, *History of Baluch Race and Baluchistan*, Karachi, 1958).
The borders established by the Anglo-Persian Boundary Commission in 1870-1872 were finally confirmed in 1895-1896.
See: M.Th. Houtsma, A.J.E.J. Wensinck, *Brill’s First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936* (reprint Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1993).
See: K. Zurutuza, *Den v poušti s balúèskými povstalci* (A Day in the Desert with Balochi Insurgents), Pøeklad, Albert Friess, *Vice Magazine*, 21.2.2012, available at [http://www.viceland.com/blogs/cs/2010/02/26/den-v-pousti-s-baluc-skymi-povstalci/].
See: V.A. Frolova, *op. cit.*, p. 9.
The closest neighbors, mainly the Brahuis, adopt the Balochi language and traditions.
See: E.G. Gafferberg, *op. cit.*
A member of the anti-Soviet movement in Central Asia.
See: E.G. Gafferberg, *op. cit.*, p. 23.
See: “Die Balutschi-Akademie in Zarandsch — Ein Kurzportrait,” 10 February, 2011 // *Tethys. Central Asia Everyday*, 8 March, 2012, available at [http://www.tethys.caoss.org/index.php/2011/02/10/die-balutschi-akademie-in-zarandsch-ein-kurzportrait/].
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