Strategy and Structures
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STRATEGY AND STRUCTURES BEITISH BALUCHISTAN A CASE STUDY IN IMPERIAL POL IC V AND TEIBAL SOCIET Y, A 1S76- i 905 SIMANTI DUTTA Ph« D .Thesis in History. Sc hool of 0r ienta 1 and Af r ican St.udies. Un i versi t y o-f L...o n don. ProQuest Number: 11010605 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010605 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 I 1 A B S T R A C T This thesis intends to explore the relation of tribe and empire in Baluchistan, as an interaction of distinct political entities., and also as an experimental confrontation between the opposed social and cultural norms associated with imperialism and tribalism. The discussion will start with a preliminary definition of tribal society in chapter one. This introductory section will also trace the evolution of local political structures in the historical context of tribal strategies to secure resources and capture local power, and the early influence of imperial forces in particular those of Persia, Afghanistan and British India^in re aligning tribal politics within the matrix of external empires, cu1mi nat ing in the creat ion of the Br itish Baluchistan Agency of 1876, which set the larger historical f ramework for subsequent po 1 .i t ica 1 pa11erns and trends. The second chapter will explore the imperat i ves of t he British i mper i a 1 .i nvo 1 vement i n B a 1 u c h i s t a n, a n d t h e i n t e r 1 o c k i n g a f t hi e politics o f t h e Great Game in Asia dur ing the ni neteenth century with local t r i b a 1 f a c t o r s, w h i c h 1 e d t o s i g n i f :i. c a n t territorial restructuring of tribal homelands, at the expense of tribal ethnicity, and old established p a 11 e r n s o f p o 1 i t i c a 1 1 i n k a g e s. I n t e r n a 11 y f o r Baluchistan, the process of imperial penetration entailed the political and administrative encapsulation of a tribal society by an external and higher po 1 i t ica 1 p o w e r C o n s e q u e n t 1 y Ba 1 uchistan became t.he political meeting ground for cultural norms fostered in contrasting social milieux. The tribal aspect of this equation is discussed in the third chapter in terms of group identity, social exchange, and material assets, which sponsored a culture of conflict intrinsic to Baluchistan society. In imperial ideology, tribal turbulence was incompatible with political control and stable government. Thus the fourth chapter sets out to explore official British strategies designed to remould t r i ba1 society in the colonial image of order and stability, and assesses the reaction of tribes to this exter na 1 man i pu 1 at. i on of their social or der , The f .i. f t h chapter concentrates on the economic aspect of imperial p e n et rat i on, b y s t u d y i n g t h e imp a o t of B r .i t i s h r e v e n u e policy on tribal land structures, levels of rural income, and their adequacy for material survival. This will be followed by a concluding section, dissecting the b a lance sheet o f emp i r e i n Ba1uchist a n, to see i f t he i ntrusi on was mereIy an exercise i n t he strateq ic r est r uc: t ur i ng of a m i 1 i t ar y fr ont i er, or1 a cat a 1 yst as we11 for new role definitions in tribal society, and a 11ered soc i a 1 percept i ons. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............... ....................... p . 1 Table of Contents p „3 Acknowledgements....................................p .4 Introductory Note. ......p .5 Chapter I. Imperial Linkages and Tribal Society in Eighteenth and Nineteenth century Baluchistan... p. :L5 Chapter II. Blueprints and Boundaries: Baluchistan Restructured:1876-1905 p. 86 Chapter III. Custom and Conflict in Tribal Soc iety ...................... p. 157 Chapter IV. Coercion or Persuasions The Sandeman System and Tribal S o c i e t y p .213 Chapter V. Tribal Land Structures and British Revenue Pol icy . p. 276 Cone 1us ion .........................................p .337 Footnotes. p. 350 Bibliography .........p .381 Append i x 1 ...... .................................. p . 399 Append i x 2 ....... p . 400 Appendi x 3 ........................... p . 402 Appendix 4 .........................................p .403 Appendi x 5 ...... ............................p.404 Map No„ 1 ...... .p .405 Nap No .2 .......................................... p . 406 4 Ac k now i e dq erne nts I w o u 1 d 11 k e t o t h a n k m y s u p e r v i s o r I) r . Z „H» Zai d i. •f o r h i s c o n 1 1 n u o u s s u p p o r t a n d e nc a u r a, q e m e n t t h r a li q h o u t the writing of this thesis, and Professor A.C.Mayer for s u g q e s t i n q c e r t a i n i i n e s o f e n q u i r y. 1 a 1 so wi sh to thank t he i nd l a 0f f i ce L x !::)ra r y and Recor ds, t he Nationa1 Arc hives of Ind i a, New D e 1hi, t he S a u t h A s i a C e n t r e, C a m h r i. d q e, a n d H a t f i e 1 d H o u s e A r c h i v e s „ t- a r m a k i n q a v a i 1 a to 1 e t h e r e c o r d s a n d m a n u s c r .i p* t s o n w h .1 c h t h i s t h e s i s .i. s based „ S « D» L. o n d on 19 9 0 S n U n A n L . < n Introductory Note This thesis is a specific case study of imperialism and tribalism in a localised area, reconstructed on the basis of historical data, and social structural models derived from anthrapology. In general, the subject of British India’s tribal frontier, has been saturated with political analyses of the Afghan wars, tribal revolts, punitive expeditions, and British strategic manoeuvrings. Such approaches have brought tribal society into focus primarily through imperial lenses. Thus nineteenth century British writing on tribal Baluchistan mirrored the classic imperialist concern •for political mastery over ’savage’ tribes, the need to civilise and use them in the equation of imperial power politics. B .i og rap h i es like T . H ■ Thor nton ’ s Sir Robert SandemannHis Life and Work on our Indian Frontier.and J.J.M. Innes’s The Life and Times of General Sir James Browne were exercises in image? building, corresponding to the Victorian ideal of the strong paternalist minded administrator, anchoring the discipline and culture of empire in the turbulent depths of tribal society. Similarly R . I» Bruce’s The? Forward Policy addresses itself to the main debate on the extension of the Indian frontier in the late nineteenth century, and interprets the imperial advance not just in mi 1itary-defence terms but as the progress of civilisation rolling back the 6 boundaries of primitivism. Essentially such writings constituted an ideological licence for empire, while the emphasis on personality and character created the heroic icons of imperial culture. In later writings, Baluchistan was increasingly treated as a minor strand in the general history of the Indian frontier, perhaps because after the period of initial colonisation, the main political interest shifted to the North-West Frontier Province and Afghanistan which continued to provide violent spectacles of tribal militancy and conflict. C.C.Davies's The North-West Frontier depicts this marginal interest in Baluchistan, for after discussing very briefly the establishment of the Baluchistan Agency and the Sandeman system of government,1 he devotes the rest of his work to a study of the northern Pathan sector of the frontier, Afghanistan, and the impact of the Russian threat on British policy in general. D.K. G hose's England and Afghanistan also restricts itself to a similar cursory treatment of proposals and events leading to the occupation of Quetta.2 Lamforick's John Jacob of Jacobabad is essentially biographical, and attempts to credit the Sind officials for the type of tribal administrat ion undertaken later in E-taluchistan.3 Other writers, like J.A.Norris, have discussed Britain's controversial interference with the Kalat State during the course of the first Afghan War.4 Malcolm Yapp's 7 Strategies in British India also offers an analysis of the Government of India's early involvement with Baluchistan, in 1339, and makes the interesting point that from this period, Baluchistan claimed attention as a major strategic alternative in the scope it offered for direct control, to structure Brtish influence on the frontier, as insurance against the fragility of the Afghan buffer, and the misadventure of Britain’s Afghan war.55 While the above works highlighted the strategic significance of Baluchistan, and placed it within the general context of frontier history, there was still a need for specialised studies on the area in order to bring into focus the regional structure of politics and society.