By the second half of the 19th century, the British Empire had become a huge colonial state, which owned land in almost every corner of the globe. The "pearl" of the British crown, as you know, was the Indian subcontinent. The Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist states located on it, despite the multimillion population, were conquered by the British. At the same time, uprisings regularly broke out on the territory of British India, and on the borders, especially in the northwestern one, where the colony coexisted with the warlike Pashtun tribes, sluggish border conflicts smoldered endlessly.
In these conditions, the colonial authorities made a strategically correct decision - to use in their own interests the armed units manned by representatives of the indigenous population. This is how numerous Sipay, Gurkha, Sikh regiments appeared, which distinguished themselves not only in the colonial wars on the territory of India proper and other Asian and African possessions of the British Empire, but also in both world wars.
The British preferred to recruit colonial troops by recruiting representatives of the most warlike tribes and peoples. Most often, colonial formations were created precisely from those ethnic groups that offered the greatest resistance to the British during colonization. It turned out that in the course of the wars with the colonialists, they were, as it were, tested for combat effectiveness. The regiments of the British army appeared, recruited from the Sikhs (after the Anglo-Sikh wars), Gurkhas (after the Anglo-Nepalese wars). In the northwest of British India, in the desert regions that are now part of Pakistan, it was decided to form the colonial troops, including from the Baluchis.
Inhabitants of the seaside desert
The Balochis are a multi-million Iranian-speaking people inhabiting lands from the coast of the Arabian Sea and inland, from the eastern provinces of Iran in the west to the border of India and Pakistan in the east. The exact number of Balochis is unknown, according to researchers - it ranges from 9 to 18 million people. Such a significant difference in the assessment of their numbers is due to the fact that the states in which the Balochis live (especially Iran and Pakistan) tend to diminish their numbers in order to reduce separatist and autonomist sentiments, as well as to support the separatists by the world community.
The largest number of Baluchis live in Iran and Pakistan, their number is also significant in Afghanistan and Oman. It should be noted here that the entire population of Baluchistan identifies itself as Baluchis, including those peoples who do not speak the Baloch language. So, the Braguis adjoin the Baluchs, who are very close to them in cultural and everyday terms, but by origin belonging to the Dravidian peoples, most of whom live in South India (Tamils, Telugu, etc.). Apparently, the Braguis are the autochthons of Baluchistan, who lived here before the migration of the Baloch tribes from the north - from the territory of modern Northern Iran.
By their religion, the Balochis are Sunni Muslims. This distinguishes them from most of the Shiite population of neighboring Iran, and on the other hand, it is one of the reasons for the inclusion of the Kelate Khanate, after the declaration of independence and the division of British India into two states, into Pakistan (although, of course, the real reason for this was not the desire of the British allow the emergence of an independent Baloch state, which could weaken London's position in South Asia, all the more so given the long-standing attraction of the Baloch people to Russia and the desire of the Soviet Union in the middle of the twentieth century to strengthen ties with India and other former colonial countries).
Like many other peoples of Southwest Asia, the Baluchis, despite their relative numbers, currently do not have their own statehood. This is largely a consequence of the colonial policy of the British Empire, which considered Baluchistan, first of all, in the context of the implementation of its geopolitical plans in Asia. After all, the deserts of Baluchistan, despite their low suitability for the development of the economy, are very favorably located - they adjoin Iran and India, allow you to control the coast of the Arabian Sea.
The growth of Russian influence in Central Asia since the 19th century worried the British, who saw in it a threat to their colonial rule in India. Since the Baloch tribal formations traditionally gravitated towards the Russian state and sought to maintain political and economic relations with it, seeing in the Russian Empire a counterweight to the British colonialists and powerful neighbors - Iranians and Afghans, the British authorities did everything possible to prevent further development of Russian-Baloch relations. First of all, it provided for the actual deprivation of the Baloch principalities and khanates of real political independence.
Back in 1839, the British leadership forced the Kelate Khanate, the largest Baloch state entity, to guarantee the safety of British forces in Baluchistan. In 1876, an unequal treaty was concluded between the Kelate Khanate and Great Britain, which effectively turned the Baloch state formation into a protectorate of the British crown. By the end of the 19th century, the territory inhabited by the Baloch tribes was divided between Iran and Great Britain. The eastern Baluchis entered the sphere of influence of British India (now their territory has become a province of Pakistan called Baluchistan), and the western ones became part of Iran.
However, this division of Baluchistan remained largely arbitrary. Wandering in the desert and semi-desert lands of Iran, Afghanistan and future Pakistan, the Baluchis retained significant autonomy, primarily in internal affairs, in which the Iranian and British authorities preferred not to interfere. Formally, the lands of Baluchistan were not part of British India and the Kelati Khanate remained semi-independent. By the way, it was this fact that subsequently caused the emergence of the movement for the liberation of Baluchistan - the Baloch aristocrats who ruled in the Kelate Khanate could not understand on what basis the British, after the proclamation of independence of the former British India, annexed the lands of the formally independent khanate to Pakistan.
Until now, the Balochi retain their tribal structure, although it is largely based not so much on kinship relations as on economic and political ties. The basis of the traditional Balochi economy has always been nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding. At the same time, from the colonial era, the popularization of military and police service among the representatives of the Baloch tribes began. Since the Balochi have always been considered warlike and freedom-loving tribes, the British colonialists had a certain respect for them, as for the Nepalese Gurkhas or Sikhs. In any case, the Baloch were included in the number of ethnic groups regarded as a recruiting base for the colonial army.
servicemen of the 26th Baloch Regiment. 1897 year
Baloch regiments of the British Colonial Army
The history of the combat path of the Baloch units in the British army began at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries. In 1798, the oldest Baloch battalion appeared. After the annexation of the province of Sindh to British India, he was transferred to Karachi. In 1820, a second Baloch battalion was created, belonging to the 12th Bombay Native Infantry Regiment. In 1838, the second Baloch battalion took part in the assault on the port of Aden. In 1861, they increased in number and received the names, respectively, of the 27th and 29th Bombay Native Infantry Regiments. It should be noted that initially the regiments had a one-battalion composition.
Around the same period, the 30th Bombay Native Infantry Regiment appeared. It should be noted here that the status of regiments was assigned to the Baloch battalions after they proved their loyalty by taking an active part in suppressing the Sepoy uprising in 1857-1858. Despite the fact that the sepoys were themselves native soldiers of the British colonial army, they found the strength to oppose the colonialists. Moreover, the formal reason for the uprising was quite in the spirit of a later and much more familiar event from Russian history - the uprising on the battleship Potemkin. Only if the "Potemkin" had "meat with worms", then in India - new cartridges soaked in cow and pork fat (the shell of the cartridge had to be ripped off with your teeth, and touching cow or pork fat offended religious feelings in the first case of the Hindus, and in the second - Muslims). The unfolding sepoy uprising greatly frightened the British colonial authorities, who moved to suppress the rebellious soldiers of their fellow countrymen - Gurkha, Sikh and Baloch units. The latter, by the way, proved to be excellent in the siege of Delhi, captured by the sepoys.
After being tested in battles with the sepoys, the authorities of British India, having convinced themselves of the combat effectiveness and loyalty of the Baluch regiments, began to use them outside Hindustan. Thus, the 29th Infantry Regiment took part in suppressing the Taiping uprising in China in 1862, and the guard of the British diplomatic mission in Japan was formed from among the Baluchis. Also in the second half of the 19th century, Baloch units are actively used in the colonial wars in Afghanistan, Burma, on the African continent. In particular, the 27th Baloch regiment showed itself perfectly during the Abyssinian war of 1868, for which it was renamed light infantry (light infantry was considered the elite, like modern paratroopers). In 1897-1898. the regiment participated in the suppression of anti-colonial uprisings in British East Africa, in the territory of modern Uganda.
soldiers of the 127th Baloch Light Infantry Regiment
In 1891, the 24th and 26th infantry regiments were also formed, the location of which was chosen in the province of Baluchistan itself. In addition to the Baluchis, these battalions included people from Afghanistan - Hazaras and Pashtuns. After the reform carried out by Lord Kitchener in 1903, the number "100" was added to each regimental number of Baloch units, that is, the 24th and 26th regiments became 124th and 126th, respectively, and so on. Operationally, all Baloch formations were part of the Bombay army, which controlled the entire western region of Hindustan, as well as the British colony of Aden on the Yemeni coast, the Pakistani province of Sindh.
In 1908, the Baloch units of the British Colonial Army received the following names: 124th Duchess of Connaught Baloch Infantry Regiment of their own, 126th Baloch Infantry Regiment, 127th Queen Mary's own Baloch Light Infantry Regiment, 129th Duke of Connaught's own Baloch Infantry, 130 King George's own Baloch Infantry Regiment ("Jacob's Rifles").
In addition, the Baloch formations included cavalry units represented by the 37th Uhlan regiment. The cavalry units of the Balochi were called Uhlan units. The history of the 37th Lancer Regiment, staffed by Baluchis, began in 1885. The regiment was originally called the 7th Bombay Cavalry. It consisted entirely of military personnel - Muslims, who showed themselves excellently in 1919 during the third Anglo-Afghan war.
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the improvement of the colonial army in British India, including the Baloch units, has continued. So, it was on the territory of Baluchistan, in the city of Quetta (today it is the center of the Baluchistan province within Pakistan) that the Command and Staff College was opened, which became the most prestigious military educational institution of the colonial army in India (now the Pakistani army). Somewhat later, the Indians were able to receive military education on the territory of Great Britain, which allowed them to occupy command positions and receive officer ranks even in military units staffed by the British, Irish and Scots. The Baloch units developed their own easily recognizable form. A Balochi soldier could be recognized by red trousers (the main distinguishing mark), tunic-like uniforms and turbans on their heads. Red pants were worn by soldiers of all the Baloch regiments of the British army.
Like many other formations of the British colonial army recruited in the Indian subcontinent, Baloch infantry regiments took part in the First World War. So, the 129th regiment was transferred to the territory of France and Belgium, where it became the first among Indian units to attack German troops. On the territory of Iran, two battalions (1st and 3rd) of the 124th infantry regiment fought, the 2nd battalion of the same regiment fought in the Arab provinces of Iraq and Palestine.
By the way, speaking of the military valor of the Baluchis shown in the battles of the First World War, one cannot but mention Hudadad Khan. This soldier of the Baloch regiment was the first among Indian soldiers to receive the Victoria Cross - the highest military award of the British Empire, the presentation of which to the fighters of Indian units was allowed only in 1911. Remaining the only living fighter of the machine-gun crew, Khudadad Khan continued to fire at the enemy, delaying the latter for a long time and waiting for the arrival of reinforcements. The valor of the Baloch soldier did not go unnoticed. He not only received the Victoria Cross, but also rose in rank, retiring as a subedar (an analogue of a lieutenant in the native parts of British India).
The colonial forces of British India met with a major reorganization between the two world wars. Firstly, a significant part of the units created during the First World War were disbanded, and their servicemen were demobilized or transferred to other units. Secondly, the existing colonial units were transformed. So, from the Baloch regiments, which until 1921 had a one-battalion composition, one 10th Baloch Infantry Regiment was formed, which included all the previously existing Baloch regiments as battalions.
After the end of the First World War and the reform of the colonial troops in British India, the number of Indian cavalry regiments was also reduced - now instead of 39, only 21 cavalry regiments remained. It was decided to unite a number of regiments. In 1922, the 15th Baloch Uhlan regiment was created, which was formed as a result of the merger of the 17th Cavalry and 37th Baloch Uhlan regiments. In 1940, the regiment was merged with the 12th cavalry regiment into a training center, which was disbanded a year later.
The Second World War forced the British authorities to again pay attention to the serious potential of the colonial units. Battalions manned by Baloch fought in India, Burma, the Malay Archipelago, Italian East Africa (Somalia and Eritrea), North Africa, Mesopotamia, the island of Cyprus, Italy and Greece. The fifth battalion, created on the basis of the 130th regiment, showed particular courage in the battles with Japanese troops in Burma, having lost 575 people in killed. The 10th Baloch Infantry Regiment conquered two Victoria Crosses, putting more than 6,000 of its soldiers killed and wounded on the fronts of World War II.
Baloch infantry attack on Japanese positions in Moutama (Burma). english military poster
In 1946, the British military leadership planned to form an airborne battalion on the basis of the 3rd Battalion (formerly the 127th Queen Mary of the 127th Queen Mary) of the 10th Baloch Regiment, but plans to further reform the colonial forces were disrupted by the proclamation of the independence of British India and the subsequent processes of demarcation of the Muslim and Hindu states on the territory of the former colony.
Balochi in the Pakistani army
When in 1947, after gaining independence from Great Britain, two independent states - Pakistan and India - were formed on the territory of former British India, the question arose about the division of the colonial divisions. The latter was carried out primarily on a religious basis. Thus, the Nepalese Gurkhas - Buddhists and Hindus - were divided between Great Britain and India, like the Sikhs. But Muslims - Baluchis were transferred to the Pakistani army. The command post of the regiment moved to Quetta - the center of the province of Baluchistan. The servicemen of the regiment were given the honor to participate in the honor guard in honor of the proclamation of Pakistan's independence.
In May 1956, the 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur regiments were added to the 10th Baloch Infantry Regiment, after which the Baloch Regiment was formed. Its official history dates back to the creation of the Baloch infantry units in the British Colonial Army. The headquarters of the Baloch regiment was initially located in Multan, then transferred to Abbottabad.
The Balochi-manned regiment distinguished itself in all the Indo-Pakistani wars. So, in 1948, it was the Baloch soldiers who captured the Pandu heights in Kashmir, and they also prevented the Indian attack on Lahore in 1965. In 1971, a Baloch platoon defended for three weeks against the outnumbered Indian forces during the Bangladesh War of Independence.
At least two prominent Pakistani commanders emerged from the Baloch units. First, this is Major General Abrar Hussein, who commanded the 6th Armored Division and prevented an Indian advance in the Sialkot sector. Secondly, it is Major General Eftikhar Khan Janjua, who in 1971 commanded the capture of a strategically important point. For the entire time of the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1948, 1965 and 1971. The Baloch regiment lost over 1,500 soldiers and officers.
The symbol of the Pakistani Army's Baloch Regiment, adopted in 1959, is the depiction of intersecting crescent-shaped swords under the Islamic Star of Glory. The regiment soldiers wear a green beret. The soldiers serving in the military band wear the traditional military uniform of the Baloch regiments of the British army - a green turban and tunic and cherry pants.
In 1955, as part of the Pakistani Armed Forces, the 15th Baloch Uhlan Regiment was revived as a reconnaissance regiment of the Pakistani Tank Corps and equipped with light tanks. The regiment performed well in the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War. In 1969, the reconnaissance regiment was merged with the Baloch regiment.
memorial to Baloch soldiers in Abbotabad (Pakistan)
It was on the basis of the Baloch regiment and under the name of its 19th battalion that the first special forces detachment of the Pakistani army was formed, trained with the direct participation of American military instructors. In addition to Pakistan, Balochi military personnel are used by the monarchs of the Persian Gulf countries, primarily Oman, Qatar, Bahrain.
For many Balochis, military service is almost the only chance to escape the circle of poverty in which the vast majority of the population of Baluchistan lives. Three quarters of the Baluchis live below the poverty line, which is associated, among other things, with the socio-economic backwardness of Baluchistan, even against the background of other Pakistani provinces.
Struggle for the sovereignty and interests of world powers
However, despite the large percentage of Baloch people in the armed forces and police, many of the militant tribes of the Pakistani South prefer armed struggle for the self-determination of their people to the sovereign service. Baloch leaders speak of injustice against a multimillion people who have neither their own statehood, nor even full autonomy within Pakistan or Iran. Back in the 1970s - 1980s. Baloch rebels waged active hostilities against Pakistani troops. Since the summer of 2000, the Baluchistan Liberation Army, famous for several terrorist attacks against the Pakistani authorities, has been fighting.
In 2006, seventy-nine-year-old Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was killed by the Pakistani military. This man was considered the most influential and popular Baloch politician, who managed not only to become a senator and chief minister of Balochistan province, but also to enter into a radical confrontation with the Pakistani military regime. The elderly Baloch leader, who dreamed of dying in battle, was forced into an illegal position and was killed by Pakistani soldiers who discovered him in a cave that served as his hideout.
The fate of the Baloch people has much in common with other ethnic groups that were actively used by the British Empire to replenish its colonial troops in South Asia. Thus, the Baloch, like the Sikhs, do not have their own statehood, although they have a clear national identity and are fighting for the creation of their own state or, at least, broad autonomy. At the same time, the Balochis are traditionally plentiful in the Pakistani military and police, as are the Sikhs in the Indian military and police.
Despite the active struggle for independence, the chances of the emergence of a sovereign Baluch state in the foreseeable future are very illusory, unless, of course, major world powers see their interests in its creation. First, neither Iran nor Pakistan, the two states with the largest Baloch population, will allow this. On the other hand, the territory of Pakistani and Iranian Baluchistan is of great strategic importance, since it has access to the Arabian Sea and allows you to control large ports. One of them is the Gwadar port, recently built directly by China, which is designed to play a crucial role in the transportation of energy resources from Iran and Pakistan to the PRC. But to an even greater extent, the importance of Baluchistan is due to the fact that a main oil and gas pipeline is supposed to be laid through its territory, through which oil and gas will be transported from Iran to Pakistan and India.
On the other hand, the United States is extremely not interested in the development of energy supplies from Iran to Pakistan, is concerned about the growing influence of China in the region, and in this regard, can provide support to the Baloch rebels fighting for the independence of Baluchistan. More precisely, the Americans may not need an independent Baluchistan, but the destabilization of the situation in the south of Pakistan and Iran fits perfectly into the concept of countering the energy policy of the states of the region. There is no other way to explain why the United States turns a blind eye to the activities of the Baluchistan Liberation Army, which is not only waging a sluggish war in the southern provinces of Pakistan, but also organizing terrorist acts. The direction of the terrorist attacks by the Baloch army clearly shows who can benefit from them. The militants organize attacks on the energy infrastructure facilities under construction, sabotage oil and gas pipelines, and take hostage specialists working on the construction of oil and gas pipelines, primarily Chinese.
At the same time, the support of the Saudi and American intelligence services for the Baloch radicals does not mean that the United States is ready to support separatist sentiments in Baluchistan at the official level. This explains the lack of coverage of the Baloch movement and, in general, the very fact of the existence of the “Baluchistan problem” in the world pro-American press, the lack of attention of the United Nations, humanitarian and human rights organizations. As long as the United States benefits from a united Pakistan, the Baluchis will be used only as an instrument of pressure, without any chance of creating their own statehood.
The development of an armed Baloch resistance in Iran is a separate issue. It is impossible to hide the interest of the United States here. Given that Iran has a sizable Sunni Muslim Baloch population, the United States is playing a sectarian divide card. With the help of Saudi Arabia, the financing of radical Islamist groups that carry out armed attacks on the territory of Iran is carried out.
For the Iranian authorities, the radicalization of the Baluchis is another headache, since, on the one hand, the Balochi-inhabited southern desert provinces are poorly controlled by the central government due to their geographic characteristics, and on the other hand, the socio-economic backwardness of Baluchistan is becoming fertile ground for the spread of religious extremist ideas. And although fanaticism has never been characteristic of the Baluchis, who, even during the years of Soviet expansion in Afghanistan, did not show much anti-Soviet activity, Saudi propaganda and American money are doing their job.
We can say that if during the years of the domination of the British Empire in Baluchistan, the Baluchis were used as soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the colonial forces in numerous wars that Britain waged around the world, today the Baluchis are using the United States to their advantage - again, to strengthen their positions in the East. Only if such a national liberation movement was formed, which would not be associated with American and Saudi interests in South Asia, there will be a hope that yesterday's colonial soldiers will turn into warriors defending their own interests.
