History |
culture |
Historical evidence suggests that Baloch people were the ancient inhabitants of the Maka satrapy in the Achaemenid empire and Baloch were part of the army of Cyrus the Great and Darius I. Baloch in Persian means cock's comb or crest and since the Baloch troops who fought for Astyages of Kai Khusrau in 585-550 BC were wearing helmets with a cock's crest, this is how they got the nickname of the Baloch.
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Balochi customs and traditions are based on codes imposed by tribal laws. These strong traditions and cultural values are important to Baloch people and have enabled them to keep their distinctive ancient cultural identity and way of life with little change to this day. The culture and traditions of the Baloch have historically been passed down from mother to daughter, and from father to son.
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Tribes |
struggles |
The Baloch are an Iranian people and mainly speak Balochi language which is a branch of the north western Iranian languages. The Baloch population worldwide is estimated to be in the range of 10 to 15 million. They make nearly 4% of the Pakistani population and live in the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab. Nearly 1.5 million live in Iran. Many Baloch live in other parts of the world, with the bulk living in Arab states of the Persian Gulf .
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Baloch nationalism is a movement by the Baloch people in response to the worsening human rights violations, abduction and murder of Baloch youth and the mindless exploitation of its natural resources by the state of Pakistan. The Baloch nationalist movement's demands have ranged from greater cultural, economic and political rights, to political autonomy, to outright secession and the creation of an independent state of Balochistan.
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