A Glance at Balochi Oral Poetry: Problems and Prospects* by Sabir Badalkhan Balochistan, or the land of the Baloch, is generally understood to comprise an area of ca. 647,000 square kilometres1. It covers 347,190 square kilometres in Western Pakistan (Awan 1985:5), some 200,000 square kilometres in south-eastern Iran and some 100,000 square kilometres in western Afghanistan (Spooner 1983:93-94). Its exact boundaries are undetermined. Overall it occupies the southeastern part of the Iranian plateau from the Kirman desert east of Bam and the Bashagird mountains to the western borders of Sind and the Punjab (Frye 1960:1005). Geographically it is part of the Iranian plateau, and culturally and physically it is a compact entity. Politically, however, it is divided up today among Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The land of Balochistan is, for the most part, harsh, mostly uncultivable desert and mountainous terrain. It is a land of sharp contrast, of intense heat and cold, and of sudden and abnormal changes of temperature. It lies outside the monsoon area and its rainfall is irregular and scanty. Average annual rainfall does not exceed four inches per year and there is no perennial river to support cultivation or permanent settlement. Balochi, the language of the Baloch, is a member of the Western Iranian group of languages, and has affinities with both 3 representatives of Western Middle Iranian: Middle Persian and Parthian. It has, however, a marked individuality of its own, and differs from both of these languages in important respects (Elfenbein 1989:633). Among the modern Iranian languages it is closely related to Kurdish (ibid. 635). No ethnolinguistic data are available about the exact number of Balochi speakers2. There is a vast discrepancy between various estimates of the Baloch population, which stands at between 5 to 18 million worldwide3. No accurate figures are available for any of the regions inhabited by the Baloch. A comparison of various facts and figures points to a moderate number of Balochi speakers in the world, between 8 to 10 million: 7 million in Pakistan (4 million in Balochistan, 2 million in Sind, and one million in the Punjab); 1.5 million in Iran; 500,000 in Afghanistan; 500,000 in the Gulf States and East Africa4, and 38,000 to 40,000 in Turkmenistan. The literacy ratio among the Baloch is low even today. 10.32 per cent was recorded in 1981 against the 26.2 per cent for Pakistan (Akhtar 1990:9-10). The official data, released later on, show that the literacy ratio in Pakistan has increased from 26.2 per cent in 1981 to 30.1 per cent5 in 1988, while in Balochistan it has remained unchanged at 10.32 per cent (Akhtar 1990:377; see also the English daily The Nation, Karachi, January 1st, 1989). This figure most probably includes those who can read and write their names only (cf. Akhtar 1990:443). The result of my own inquiries and studies show that the literacy ratio among Baloch males in Balochistan is no greater than 3 per cent and among the female population is between 1 to 2 per thousand6 (for further details on the argument see Badalkhan 1992). The geographical position and climatic conditions of Balochistan on the one hand, and constant invasions and interventions by foreign powers7 on the other hand influenced the Baloch way of life to a great extent. The history of the Baloch remained a history of conflicts, wars and migrations. War became the affair of every day life and when not fighting with outsiders they fought bloody feuds with each other for decades, which mostly ended only with the dispersion or mass migration of one of the parties involved. The inter-tribal hostilities generally arose over disputes concerning herds of sheep, pasture lands, possession of springs, marriages, injury caused to one’s bahot 8, on the violation 4 of tribal borders and by raiding and counter-raiding, and in due course, quarrels among individuals would become the business of the entire tribe, and thus vendetta became one of the basic socio- political institutions in Baloch life (M. S. K. Baluch 1977:48). Everyday conflicts and migrations forced the people to adopt a turbulent but simple life. From a poem composed by Balach Gorgej, an 18th century hero and himself a far famed poet, we see the basic picture of the heroic age of Balochistan and its needs: kohənt bəločani kəlat, həmrahIš berahẽ gərənt, bUrzẽ həši-Iš gwatgIr ənt, apIš bəhokẽ čəmməg ənt, kodIš pišši kondəl ənt, nIštẽ jahIš kərkawəg ənt, bopIš dəgari təhtəg ənt, borIš sIpedẽ čəbbəw ənt, bəččIš gIčenẽ gondəl ənt, zamatIš šIllẽ hənjər ənt, bratIš təlarẽ Ispər ənt, arip məzən təppẽ lUd ənt "The mountains are the Baloch forts Their companions the trackless cliffs The lofty heights are (their) gwatgIr Their water are the flowing springs Their cups are made of dwarf-palm leaves9 their sitting places are thorny bushes Their mattresses are bedsteads on the ground. Their mounts are white leather sandals Their sons are chosen arrows their sons-in-law are pointed daggers Their brothers are solid-rock spears Their venerable (fathers) great-wounding scimitars" (Elfenbein 1990:345; see also M. S. K. Baluch 1977:404-410; Dames 1907:45). "In societies -- writes Lord -- where writing is unknown, or 5 where it is limited to a professional scribe whose duty is that of writing letters and keeping accounts, or where it is the possession of a small minority, such as clerics or a wealthy class (though often this latter group prefers to have its writing done by a servant), the art of narration flourishes, provided that the culture is in other respects of a sort to foster the singing of tales. If the way of life of a people furnishes subjects for story and affords occasion for the telling, this art will be fostered" (Lord 1960:20; see also Goody 1968:12-20). The isolation of their country and nature did not provide the Baloch with the possibilities of developing a written literary tradition, which needs both a peaceful life and a settled mind. Here only oral literature and its allied art of music could develop. "Perhaps the most remarkable cultural characteristic of the Baloch is their rich literary heritage and continuing strong literary traditions", writes Elfenbein. "In every village there can be found someone -- often several people -- who can recite classical folk ballads at great length. Stories and fables are also legion, and nearly everyone knows a few" (Elfenbein 1966:1-2). There are poems to mark any occasion of Baloch life: genealogical poems (dəptər šεr) to warm the gatherings of elders and keep the history of the ethnic group well-versed and preserve it intact; heroic songs (jəngi or rindi šεr) to celebrate a victory or raise the morale after a defeat or prepare the mind of the people for a future conflict; romantic poems (Iški šεr) to eulogise the beauty of a beloved one or venture of an earlier Baloch hero who had risked his life and that of his people/tribe to wrest a beloved one from a distant country; religious poems (pεgUmbəri šεr) to venerate the holy prophet and his companions; didactic poems (pənti šεr) to educate the young people according to the traditions of the community; satirical poems (šIgani šεr) to check or expose one's doings; etc. There are sIpət (praise songs in couplets) to celebrate the birth of a child; lɔli (lullaby) to swing a cradle and praise a child; nazenk, praise songs in couplets sung by a mother or a sister, a sincere prayer for the health, long life and prosperity of a child; lado and halo10, marriage songs, sung by women in chorus, to express the bravery, horsemanship, chivalry and swordsmanship of the bridegroom and the beauty and chastity of the bride; sɔt (short improvised poems having a content ranging from love matters to the praise of bride and bridegroom) mostly sung by professional singers 6 (sɔti) with or without the accompaniment of a chorus; zəhirok (songs of homesickness, separation from lovers, parents and family) to express the innermost feelings of nostalgia and deep sorrow; εhi and liko11 (camel drivers' songs identical to zəhirok); əmba (fishermen's songs) to labour collectively and minimise the burden of work; dastanəg (short love poems prevalent among the Mari- Bugti tribes) to sing the vicissitudes of love affairs; and finally, motk (dirge) to mourn for a departed soul12. Apart from these few genres mentioned above there are several other types of songs: work songs of shepherds; songs for grinding grain, collecting dates, milking animals, washing clothes at a spring/pond; songs and music (gwati, malId, šεpərja, šeki, dəmmal etc.) for casting off evil spirits; čowgan, sIpətt, bεt, zIgr to offer prayers, etc. which make part and parcel of everyday Baloch life. It would not be an exaggeration to claim that the Baloch are a nation with high esteem for poets, and poetry is certainly one of their principal cultural achievements. It occupies a large and important place in Baloch culture, interest in it is universal, and skill in it is something everyone covets and many possess. The Baloch poetic heritage is a living force intimately connected with the vicissitudes of everyday life. It is the chief vehicle of their self- expression and self-preservation (Rooman 1967:1). Poetry has always been part of the Baloch life. We see the Baloch nomads singing their way on long journeys, and weaving poems which celebrate their racial/tribal superiority, tribal feuds, record of racial and tribal genealogy, landscape of the country, longing for rains, thundering clouds and roaring torrents, greenery after rainfall, the image of the best beloved, the remnants of a forsaken camp or the struggles of some bloody feud, etc.