Back to the Future: The Khanate of Kalat and the Genesis of Baloch Nationalism, 1915-1955

The study investigates the genesis of Baloch nationalism during the first half of the twentieth century, analyses the emergence of a Baloch national movement, and sets it in relation to the rise of an Indian national movement in British India. The study portrays the decline and disintegration of the Baloch Khanate of Kalat during the last decades of British rule, analyses Kalat’s lack of integration but increasing attachment to British Indian affairs, and summarizes Balochistan’s colonial legacy in light of its political, administrative, and constitutional development.

It futher investigates the emergence of a royalist movement around the figure of the Khan of Kalat, and discusses his attempt to revert to Balochistan’s pre-colonial status. It probes and analyses the political and cultural framework of an emerging Baloch national identity. It traces the political demands of Baloch nationalist pioneers, and looks for interrelations with the Muslim nationalist and the Baloch royalist movements. It ascertains the emergence of a Baloch national movement as the outcome of the historical and political circumstances during the British withdrawal from India, and portrays the evolution of Baloch national identity as a reaction to the territorial, political, and cultural inclusion on the side of the All-India Muslim League and the Pakistan Movement.