Gwadar is a city of Baluchistan province. The
Baloch are a stateless people who evade efforts to count their
numbers but who comprise roughly 10 million people spread over a
vast territory that falls principally within Pakistan and Iran,
but that
extends into Afghanistan and the Arab Emirates.
They occupied the center and the north of Iran until the 10th
century, when they began to migrate toward the southeast. In this
migration, which took them as far as the Indus, they encountered
other people such as the Brahui (a Dravidian group), Sindi, Lasi,
and Gujrati as well as nomad of whom certain groups were probably
the ancestors of the Gypsies. One of the characteristics of
Balochi ethic consciousness is the preeminence of language over
ethnicity, which made it possible for them to absorb groups
originating from other ethnicities.
Cultural facts about Balochistan
Language:
Balochi is the major language of Balochistan. It is spoken over
extensive areas of the province. It is also rich in poetic and
romantic literature. Besides, other languages which are spoken in
Balochistan are Brahui and Makrani. Brahui is spoken in Qalat
areas while Makrani is spoken in Makrani, the coastal region of
Balochistan.
Food:
Their dry fruits are also very popular all over the world. Their
special item, Sajji is very famous in Balochistan and also all
over the Pakistan. They also eat roasted lamb sand mutton.
Dress:
They wear shalwar qamees and turban. Women wear embroider frocks
and shalwar. They also wear jewelery made of metals. This
jewellery is also very famous among the women of Pakistan. Women
also wear long dress with long sleeves.
Festival:
Wrestling,
horse-racing, religious feasts are the recreational and the
seasonal functions. In the Makran region, the seasonal harvest of
the date palms is an occasion for the rejoicing and reunion of
friends and relatives who return home for the harvest.
Crafts:
Balochistan has a strong individual character. Its varied
landscape includes deserts plains, and mountain. In fact northern
Balochistan is a perfect maze of mountain. The country experiences
great fluctuation of temperature caused by extraordinary
differences in the elevation of land. Balochistan is mostly
barren, with scanty rainfall and great water deficiency.
It has few large towns. The population is thinly scattered over a
large area. Their crafts to have a strong individual character.
Balochistan processes skins and hides and manufactures goods in
leather, wool and goat's hair. Two raw material's, typical to
Balochistan are crude clay; and the dwarf palm. The first is used
to make coarse, green glazed earthenware, such as hookas, bowls,
and platters. The latter are commonly available in the Kandhari
Bazar in Quetta, and largely used by the local population.
Secondly the dwarf palm, which grows wild on the Sibi frontier, is
used for making prayer mats, matting for stone shelters, sandals,
shoes and now also ladies hand-bags. Women also participate
actively in the practice of crafts. Women do all embroidery work
and most of the work in wool and goat's hair.
Leather works:
Most of Baluchi leatherwork is embroidered upon. Lehri refers
to the application of chain stitch in colored silk, to leather.
The motifs and designs in leatherwork and specially embroideries,
are different. Products of Balochistan, the distinctive Balochi
stamp on them. Leather is produced almost everywhere in
Balochistan. However it may be localized in the Kachhi district
where the raw material for manufacture is largely available. The
work consist chiefly of saddles, horse gear, embroidered shoes and
sword belts, all of which are made in Muhammadpur in the Nasirabad
tehsil and Lahri, further north.
The sword belts made in Lahri have considerable local repute and
are extensively used by Balochi and Brahui tribesmen. The leather
used is of dark red color, ornamented with green and embroidered
in minute circles placed between parallel lines. The work is in
yellow golden yellow silk, minutely embroidered in chain stitch,
similar to Lahri. This stitch, originally used on bedspreads and
the top of the Peshawari sandals, is now employed for leather book
covers, wallets, belts, ladies hand-bags and cushions.
Goat hair works:
Goat hair is woven chiefly in the border hills in Darajat and
in Marri and in Bugti country. The coarser forms of this pastoral
craft is rough goat's hair ropes, the crude cloth on which grain
is winnowed and cleaned, corn sacks and camel bags. The more
refined forms are saddlebags, nosebags, and astringes or
multicolored rugs. The saddlebags have a fine woven pattern, round
the neck. In addition they are ornamented with tassels and
risottos, with little shells sewn to the borders.
