Prehistoric Gül motifs in offset colouration. The sombre background colours are characteristic of Baluch weavings. This likely was a commission for a tribal Khan or chieftain for ceremonial use. Balochistan is among the earliest human settlements in the world, These villages expanded in size during the subsequent Chalcolithic when interaction was amplified. This involved the movement of finished goods and raw materials, including
chank shell,
lapis lazuli,
turquoise, and ceramics. By 2500 BCE (the Bronze Age), the region now known as
Pakistani Balochistan had become part of the
Indus Valley civilisation cultural orbit, providing key resources to the expansive settlements of the Indus river basin to the east.
Classical period From the 1st century to the 3rd century CE, the region was ruled by the
Pāratarājas (), a Hindu dynasty of
Indo-Scythian kings. The dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the
Pāradas of the
Mahabharata, the
Puranas and other Vedic and Iranian sources. The Parata kings are primarily known through their coins, which typically exhibit the bust of the ruler (with long hair in a headband) on the obverse, and a
swastika within a circular legend on the reverse, written in
Brahmi (usually silver coins) or
Kharoshthi (copper coins). These coins are mainly found in
Loralai in today's western Pakistan. During the wars between
Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE) and Emperor
Darius III (380–330 BCE, ruled 336–330 BCE), the Baloch were allied with the last
Achaemenid emperor. According to Shustheri (1925), Darius III, after much hesitation, assembled an army at Arbela to counter the army of invading Greeks. His cousin Besius was the commander, leading the horsemen from Balkh. Berzanthis was the commander of the Baloch forces, Okeshthra was the commander of the forces from
Khuzestan, Maseus was the commander of the
Syrian and
Egyptian contingent, Ozbed was the commander of the
Medes, and Phirthaphirna was leading the Sakas and forces from
Tabaristan, Gurgan, and Khurasan. Obviously, as part of a losing side, the Baloch certainly got their share of punishment from the victorious Macedonian forces.
Herodotus in 450 BCE described the
Paraitakenoi as a tribe ruled by
Deiokes, a Persian king, in northwestern Persia (History I.101).
Arrian describes how
Alexander the Great encountered the
Pareitakai in
Bactria and
Sogdiana, and had them conquered by
Craterus (Anabasis Alexandrou IV). The
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) describes the territory of the
Paradon beyond the Ommanitic region, on the coast of modern Balochistan.
Medieval period During the reign of Arab dynasties, medieval Iran suffered the onslaught of
Ghaznavids,
Mongols,
Timurids, and the incursions of
Oguhz Turks. The relationship between the Baloch and nearly all these powers were hostile, and the Baloch suffered enormously during this long period. The Baloch encounters with these powers and the subsequent Baloch miseries forced the Baloch tribes to move from the areas of conflicts and to settle in the far-flung and inaccessible regions. The bloody conflicts with
Buyids and
Seljuqs were instrumental in waves of migration by the Baloch tribes from
Kerman to further east. The
Hindu Sewa Dynasty ruled parts of Balochistan, chiefly
Kalat. The
Sibi Division, which was carved out of
Quetta Division and
Kalat Division in 1974, derives its name from Rani Sewi, the queen of the Sewa dynasty. in 1730. The region was fully Islamised by the 9th century and became part of the territory of the
Saffarids of
Zaranj, followed by the
Ghaznavids, then the
Ghorids. The relation between the Ghaznavids and the Baloch had never been peaceful. Turan and Makuran came under the Ghaznavids founder
Sebuktegin's suzerainty as early as 976–977 CE (Bosworth, 1963). The Baloch tribes fought against Sebuktegin when he attacked Khuzdar in 994. The Baloch were in the army of Saffarids
Amir Khalaf and fought against Mahmud when the Ghaznavids forces invaded Sistan in 1013 (Muir, 1924). Many other occasions were mentioned by the historians of the Ghaznavids era in which the Baloch came into confrontation with the Ghaznavids forces (Nizam al-Mulk, 1960). There are only passing references of Baloch encounters with the
Mongols hordes. In one of the classical Balochi ballads, there is mention of a Baloch chieftain, Shah Baloch and the Baloch community of
Herat's Kahdestan, who, according to Saif Heravi, was the governor or ruler of Kahdestan and heroically resisted the advance of the
Mongols to
Herat and
Sistan with his
Baloch army. During the long period of en masse migrations, the Baloch were travelling through settled territories, and it could not have been possible to survive simply as wandering nomads. Perpetual migrations, hostile attitudes of other tribes and rulers, and adverse climactic conditions ruined much of their cattle breeding. Settled agriculture became a necessity for the survival of herds and an increased population. They began to combine settled agriculture with animal husbandry. The Baloch tribes now consisted of sedentary and nomadic population, a composition that remained an established feature of the Baloch tribes until recently.
Early Modern era The Khanate of Kalat was the first unified polity to emerge in the
history of Balochistan. which under
Mir Ahmad Khan I declared independence from the Mughal suzeraignty and slowly absorbed the Baloch principalities in the region.
Ahmad Shah Durrani made it vassal of the
Afghan Durrani Empire in 1749. In 1758 the Khan of Kalat,
Nasir Khan I Ahmadzai, revolted against
Ahmed Shah Durrani, defeated him, and made his Khanate independent from the Durrani Empire.
Tribalism and nomadism Baloch tribalism in medieval times was synonymous with pastoral nomadism. Nomadic people, as observed by Heape (1931), regard themselves as the superior of sedentary or agriculturist. It is, perhaps, because the occupation of nomads made them strong, active, and inured to hardship and the dangers which beset a mobile life. The areas of Balochistan where the Baloch tribes moved in had a sedentary population, and the Baloch tribes were compelled to deal with their sedentary neighbours. Being in a weaker position, the Baloch tribes were in need of constant vigils for their survival in new lands. To deal with this problem, they began to make alliances and organised themselves into a more structured way. The structural solution to this problem was to create tribal confederacies or unions. Thus, in conditions of insecurity and disorder or when threatened by a predatory regional authority or a hostile central government, several tribal communities would form a cluster around a chief who had demonstrated his ability to offer protection and security. In the 1870s,
Baluchistan came under control of the
British Indian Empire in
colonial India. The fundamental objective of the British to enter into a treaty agreement with the Khanate of Kalat was to provide a passage and supplies to the "Army of Indus" on its way to Kandahar through Shikarpur, Jacobabad (Khangadh), Dhadar, Bolan Pass, Quetta, and Khojak Pass. It is interesting to note that the British imperialist interests in Balochistan were not primarily economic as was the case with other regions of India. Rather, it was of a military and geopolitical nature. Their basic objective in their advent in Balochistan was to station garrisons so as to defend the frontiers of British India from any threat coming from Iran and Afghanistan.
Post-colonial history In 2021, there was an earthquake that killed dozens of people. This came to be known as the
2021 Balochistan earthquake. There were other major earthquakes in 2013 (
2013 Balochistan earthquake and
2013 Saravan earthquake). == Culture ==