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Language
The
Baluchi language, or Baloci, represents the most remarkable
manifestation of a cohesive base for the Baluchi national and cultural
identity. Linguists classify Baluchi, on the bases of its phonological
and etymological characteristics, as an Indo-European language belonging
to the branch of Iranian languages that include Persian, Kurdish,
Pushttu, and Baluchi; it is specifically related to the west Iranian
languages of northwest Iran, thus having a strong affinity with the
Kurdish language as well as the Gilaki dialect of .Gilan on the
southwestern Caspian Sea. The language is divided into two major
dialects known as the eastern Baluchi and western Baluchi prevailing in
the northeast and southwest, respectively. The former has absorbed a
greater influence from the Sindhi, > the latter from Persian. In western
Baluchistan a specific distinction is also made between the dialects
spoken in the south known as Makurani Baluchi. The dialects spoken in
Seistan have such a strong affinity with the Baluchi that they could be
viewed as Baluchi dialects as well. However, all these dialects are
mutually intelligible by all the Baluch. (57)
As
one of the oldest languages, Baluchi traces its origin to the ancient
Parthian or Median civilization or a lost language linked to them.(58)
It survived and preserved its peculiarities in oral or spoken form until
the nineteenth century when British colonial officers and scholars began
for the firs time to write its grammar, compile dictionaries, and
collect its oral literature and folklore. The works of E. Mockler,
Longworth Dames, Maj. G_W. Gilberston. E. Pierce, R. Leech, and others
constitute the first systematic study of the Baluchi language and
literature. Prior to that, only some of the elite kept books known as
daptarin which they recorded their favorite ballads in Persian
script.
With rising nationalist activities and the spread of
nationalist organizations in recent decades, there is also a
corresponding upsurge .in works dealing with the Baluchi language
published i1) English, Urdu, Baluchi, and Farsi, Particularly in eastern
or Pakistani Baluchistan. This time, however, a Baluchi intellectual
themselves are the moving force behind the literary revival of their
language. They, have adopted an adjusted form of the Arabic script
Nastalig to render the Baluchi in written form. In this regard,
there exist several magazines and, newspapers in. Baluchi, including the
weekly Noken Daur (The New Era) and the government sponsored
monthly Ulus (People) both of which are published in Quetta, the)
provincial capital of Pakistani Baluchistan. The Baluchi Academy in,
Quetta a major canter for Baluchi intelligentsia, is also responsible
for publishing several hundred volumes in Baluchi, Urdu, and English
about the Baluchi language, literature, culture, and history. There is
no col11parable intellectual tradition in Iranian Baluchistan due to the
strict prohibition imposed upon the usage of written Baluchi or other
non-Farsi languages spoken in Iran.
Yet
the quest for the revival of Baluchi is best manifested in the universal
demand made by almost all the nationalists to reinstate the language as
the official provincial language in both Iranian and Pakistani
Baluchistan. It was the centrality of this issue that prompted the first
elected provincial government in Pakistani Baluchistan in 1972 to
appoint Gul Khan Naseer, one of the most prominent Balochi historians
and poets,' as the Minister of Education in the provincial cabinet in
1973. The vehement opposition of the Iranian and Pakistani governments
to the official usage of the language in their respective provinces is
based on their fear that it might further instigate the Baluch national
sentiments, thus hindering the ongoing process on state building in
their respective countries.
In
spite of this issue, the central governments of Iran, Pakistan, and
Afghanistan have permitted daily broadcasts for several hours of radio
and television programs in Baluchi, Pakistan transmits radio broadcasts
from Quetta and Karachi; Iran from transmitters in Zahidan, Khash,
Iranshahr; and Afghanistan from Kabul. Only broadcasts from Quetta and
Kabul include occasional programs dealing directly with the subject of
Baluchi language and literature; while Iranian broadcasts hardly are
allowed to touch on the matter. These programs are, however, primarily
concerned with the explanation of official policies to the illiterate
masses, rather than promoting the cause of literary interest in Baluchi.
Moreover,
there is also a totally different kind of problem facing nationalists in
their effort to arouse literary interest among the literate Baluchi in
their own language. This difficulty results from the fact that since the
latter are educated in the official languages of Farsi and Urdu in Iran,
and Pakistan, respectively, they have to undergo a process of
self-education in their own language, particularly in the absence of
Baluchi educational institutions, It is due to this facts that some of
the major nationalist publications such as the monthly Baluchi Dunya
(The Baluch World), the monthly Neda-Se-Ba1uchist8n
(The Voice of Baluchistan), and the weekly Azad Baluchistan (Free
Baluchistan) are published bilingually using both Urdu and Baluchi. but
mostly the former in order to attract 11l0re readers.
For
the illiterate, which constitute approximately more than 70 percent, the
situation is very different. The significance of language as a cohesive
base is most evident among them even though they have been less exposed
to modern nationalistic thoughts than, the educated segment of their
society. For them, Baluchi is not only the sole 11ledium of
communication; it is also the center of their history, culture, and
literary tradition as reflected in an 'immense body pf classical epics,
ballads and romantic poetry which has been preserved an4 transferred
from generation to generation until reaching them This literary
tradition is the focus of cultural life.
However,
there is a growing volume of publications in Baluchi, particularly in
the fields of literature and poetry, in the last three decoder, Of
these, the works of Gul Khan Nasir, Sardar Khan, M.K.B. Marri, M. Angha,-
and A.Jaml-ul-Din are a few examples. This trend is expected to serve as
the main instrument of spreading a standardized and uniform literary
script and style which is easily intelligible by the educated classes of
the Baluchi-speaking population within and outside Baluchistan. The
revival of Baluchi remains an important criterion by which to measure
the strength or weakness of Baluchi nationalism in the course of its
evolution. As the level of 'illiteracy drops among the Baluch, the
pressure for recognizing the language as the official provincial
language in both Iranian and Pakistani Baluchistan is n10st likely to
increase; with that, the nationalists will be able to broaden" the
popular support for their other demands as well.
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(57) J. H. Elfenbein, the baluchi Language (London. Royal Asiatic
Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 1966). pp. 1-9.27.
(58) Encydopedia of Islam, 1960, S.v. "Baluch," by J.H. Elfenbein. |
