Meet the Balochs

The Balochs – I don’t believe I have ever met one, not that I know of.

Every once in a while, though, a topic will blip onto mainstream media before submerging again under the ceaseless stream of never-ending news. So it was when The New York Times ran a long story last spring about Balochistan in Pakistan.[1] It caught my attention because I know the Balochs[2] from Sayyida Salme’s Memoirs, where they were part of the nineteenth-century Omani-Zanzibari Sultanate.

Indeed, Balochs have a long history with Oman. Oman could not have become a great and prosperous Indian Ocean power without them. In a word, they were the guards - loyal, competent, trusted guards – the Sultan’s essential security, enforcement, and military power. As paid fighters from right across the Sea of Oman, at a time when Gwadar and its vital port even belonged to Sayyid Said, Sayyida Salme’s Sultan father,[3] they were fiercely dedicated personal bodyguards in his immediate entourage, soldiers in the coastal fortifications up the eastern coast of Africa, and protectors of his transit hubs along interior slave and ivory routes.[4] 

Sayyida Salme mentions them primarily in connection with the failed coup attempt by her half-brother Barghash against her Sultan half-brother Madjid (not long after Sayyid Said’s death). Her narrative makes clear how uncompromising and unwilling to be compromised – how upstanding – the Baloch guards were:  

Madjid’s forbearance lasted a long time. Only when whole throngs of figures completely covered in their barnus converged at Barghash’s door did the government consider it advisable to monitor our three houses. But this step offered only limited success, since the guards were all Baluchi soldiers recruited from Baluchistan, who in their touching devotion to our dynasty would rather have put themselves at risk than allow any of us family members to be compromised. My skilled and savvy siblings soon figured this out and used it to their advantage. The more dangerous operations were always carried out by us [the women] directly, heedless of our customs. No one dared bother us, even as others were trailed and investigated every step of the way. (Memoirs, p. 177)

Soon, however, we received shocking news. Around seven o’clock, we found out that our opponents knew exactly what had transpired the night before. As we had walked directly past the guards the previous evening, a Baluchi had recognized Barghash, despite his coverings. The guard chose not to sound an immediate alarm out of devotion to our late father, whom he had long and loyally served, thinking Barghash would use his freedom only to flee the country. And the guard could not bear the thought of openly compromising us women. When the early shift of market vendors described seeing many Arabs hurrying to the area around Marseille, suspicions arose that this had to do with the conspiracy; but only this Baluchi knew what had really transpired. At this point, he realized his duty lay in sharing his discovery with the regime, rather than keeping it to himself. At the hearing, he excused himself solely by saying he would rather have given his life than put us women in a compromised position. I never found out what became of this noble man, whom we had thrown into such a deep conflict of conscience with our escapade. (Memoirs, p. 183)

When you consider the Balochs throughout history, you come to see a resilient and steadfast people. Their harsh and barren landscape gave them a rugged, nomadic life. They developed a common culture (including the Balochmayar Honor Code of hospitality and sanctuary), language (Balochi), and religion (Sunni, not Shia). They were admired for their physical fitness and martial arts through centuries of living at the crossroads of neighboring powers in unforgiving terrain. Life back home was hard, and wages and conditions under the Sultan were good. As of the 1820s, a robust recruiting pipeline drew Baloch men to Zanzibar and East Africa.

Nowadays, this traditional Baloch homeland straddles Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan,[5] which positions the Baloch people as yet another distinct civilization caught in a cross-border vise and nationless state[6] (excuse the pun). Think Kurds, Palestinians, and many more. Think borders arising from colonialism and imperial line-drawing. Although sparsely populated on challenging land, the Baloch region spreads across a vast area that covers almost half of Pakistan and is larger in size than all of Afghanistan – in fact, the size of our supersized Texas.

Although the Baloch people share a distinct cultural identity, they are divided as marginal minorities across Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Each government exploits this fragmentation, often turning a blind eye to cross-border Baloch insurgency that destabilizes its neighbors, while at the same time suppressing, neglecting, and forcibly assimilating its own Baloch citizenry. When these disadvantaged Baloch communities protest this government neglect, they face crackdowns that spur a cycle of deeper resistance and escalating state repression. This instability is compounded by a precarious, illegal economy. While Iran and Pakistan tacitly tolerate illicit smuggling of Iranian fuel and electricity to evade sanctions and sustain local cross-border economies, the Taliban have aggressively seized control of smuggling routes, thereby displacing local Baloch networks and leaving vulnerable border communities on the brink of survival.

The news blip last spring was prompted by a coordinated insurgency attack by more than 500 Baloch Liberation Army militants on at least eighteen sites across Pakistan on January 31, 2026. The event made the cut for American news because it put at risk one of President Trump’s pet projects: gold and copper mining at Reko Diq in Pakistan’s Balochistan, with $1.3 billion from EXIM already approved. Extractives are again the flavor of the season, and where history rhymes, the local folk are not getting the benefit. Balochistan is Pakistan’s poorest province, with 70% of the population living below the poverty line, more than half without basic toilets, more than a third without clean drinking water. As quoted by the NYT: “’Balochistan is full of minerals, but the people of Balochistan don’t know where those minerals are going,’ said Akhtar Kakar, the vice president of the province’s chamber of commerce.”

In yet another twist, this area abuts the geo-center of the lastest U.S. forever war. With the Strait of Hormuz a no-go zone, that same port at Gwadar is taking on new significance as an alternate destination – and, it turns out, getting $1-2 billion from Chinese investments as part of the $60+ billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to connect Gwadar to western China. If local frictions were not bad enough, Baloch grievances now have to contend with the big global powers.

At least there is still a friend across the water. Balochs, not surprisingly, are still drawn to Oman. Today almost one third of Omanis are of Baloch descent, Baloch is commonly heard on Omani streets, many Balochs are in prominent positions across military, security, and corporate functions, and Oman still uses that Baloch military pipeline.

So what happened to the Balochs who went to Africa – the East African Baluchis? This, for me, is the punchline. When Oman lost the Zanzibari plot towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the British took over, most Balochs transitioned from roles in the Sultanate to other roles in the emerging economy, moving from military to commercial. These wabalushi assimilated into East African, Swahili society and still retained their Baloch sense of identity. Did it go well? Here I can refer to a research paper from 2023, as the title says: “A Successful Model of Acculturation: Historic Overview of Baloch Migration from West and South Asia to East Africa.”[7] It is a small population of about 25,000, but the answer is yes – the Baluchis "managed to successfully preserve their cultural heritage and simultaneously accept parts of the national culture of the destination communities .... The Baloch minorities in East Africa are among the wealthiest non-indigenous communities with the lowest crime rates in the region … Baloch communities are also known for their respect for moral norms and values in their interactions with other communities.” For more details, please see the paper;[8] there is no room for more here.

Today, Oman continues to have potential as a stabilizing player in the mess of its environs. But we have also seen how volatile even neutrality can be.[9] What strikes me most of all, though, is the juxtaposition of Balochs who left with those who stayed – first, seeing an improved and prosperous fate for those who left against worsened conditions for those who are still there, and second, finding out that Balochs in East Africa have such good relations with and respect from others, rather than being racked by the indignities and deprivation that confront those who are still trying to make it in their homeland. Must it be ever thus? Is there not more room to be had for minorities to preserve their identities and get their due in their own historical homes?

I only know Balochs from history and from afar. I am happy for those who could turn their military prowess into prosperity far from home. I wish those well who are still caught in violence of the times, while seeking prosperity on their ancestral lands.

Let history surprise you, let her story inspire you – let her authentic voice speak to you.

Andrea Emily Stumpf, September 6, 2026

Photo credit: Instagram zahedsultan, Rise of the Baloch, May 30, 2026

Disclosure: Some of the information in this post comes from AI responses to research questions.

[1] The Insurgency Threatening to Derail a U.S.-Pakistan Pact - The New York Times, May 3, 2026.

[2] "Baloch" and "Baluch" are largely interchangeable. “Baluch” reflects Persian vowel sounds and is the form most frequently used to describe the historic wave to East Africa (and also Iran’s Baluchestan). More recently, however, Baloch has come into greater usage to decolonize the name and reclaim indigenous identity – hence I use Baloch here, respectfully.

[3] Gwadar stayed in Omani possession from 1783 until 1958, when it was sold to Pakistan for about $3 million, paid by Aga Khan IV. Notably, Oman retained the right to recruit Pakistani Balochs for the Omani military.

[4] In the following century, Sultan Qaboos also relied on thousands of Baloch soldiers from Pakistan to put down the Dhofar Rebellion in the 1970s.

[5] The local Baloch population overall is estimated at eight to nine million, divided roughly as follows: about 50-70% in Pakistan, 20-40% in Iran, and 10% or less in Afghanistan.

[6] In 1666, the Khanate of Kalat linked Brahui and Baloch tribes in a largely autonomous feudal state. This lasted until the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Days before Pakistan became official, the sovereign Khanate of Kalat declared its independence. Less than a year later, however, an Instrument of Accession was signed under intense political and military pressure – an act that some today still consider an illegitimately coerced annexation.

[7] Amirbahram Arabahmadi, Maziar Mozaffari Falarti, and Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, 2023. “A Successful Model of Acculturation: Historic Overview of Baloch Migration from West and South Asia to East Africa,” KEMANUSIAAN the Asian Journal of Humanities 30(1): 75-96. I had originally planned to write a blog post just about this paper, until so much additional relevance emerged.

[8] Another shorter description is here: The Baluchis from East Africa | Balochi Linguist.

[9] Fox News did not release a clip of Trump’s latest threat, but here is one account: Trump says the US will bomb Oman if it 'gets in the way' of Iran deal.