Baloch of Punjab

History

According to Dr. Akhtar Baloch, Professor at University of Karachi, the Balochis migrated from Balochistan during the Little Ice Age and settled in Sindh and Punjab. The Little Ice Age is conventionally defined as a period extending from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, or alternatively, from about 1300 to about 1850. According to Professor Baloch, the climate of Balochistan was very cold duting this epoch and the region was inhabitable during the winter so the Baloch people migrated in waves and settled in Sindh and Punjab. The Baloch of the Punjab plains are now altogether separated from the Baloch tribes of Balochistan and the Derajat, although the same tribal names are still found among them; some tribes and families still are in contact with the tribes in Balochistan. Due to the extenstive residence in Punjab and the inter-marriage with the local Jat and Rajput Muslims has deprived them of many of their characteristics due to assimilation, and they have now forgotten the Baloch language and have abandoned the Baloch dress. Yet Baloch traditions can be seen in some parts (where Baloch families and tribes reside) of south-Punjab mainly in Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur. In Bhakkar, they speak Saraiki as Zarrani Baloch, Niwani, Shahani, Lashari etc. but those tribes who migrated to Punjab recently as some tribes like Marri, Bozdar etc speak both Saraiki and Balochi languages. The Hooth and Sandi tribes living in Bhakkar mainly speak Seraiki and thay are main tribes in the region. They mostly speak Seraiki or Sulemani Balochi in the south of Punjab, while those in the districts of Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Jhang, Sargodha, Bhakkar and Khushab speak Punjabi.Long before Mir Chakar's time, Mir Jalal Khan was one of the Baloch historical rulers, and from his four sons— Rind, Lashar, Hooth and Korai Baloch— spring the five main Baloch tribes. The Jatoi are the children of Jatoi, Jalal Khan's daughter. These main sections are now divided into innumerable septs. Throughout the Punjab the term Baloch denotes any Muslim camel-man. The word has come to be associated with the care of camels, because the Baloch settlers of the Western plains have taken to the grazing and breeding of camels rather than to husbandry, and every Baloch is supposed to be a camelman and every camel-man to be a Baloch. The Baloch (Baloch: بلوچ) are a tribal society settled in Balochistan in southwestern Asia. The Balochistan region is divided among Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Tribes settled in Punjab

The famous tribes settled in Punjab are Leghari, Lashari , Jatoi, Rind , korai, Gopang, Dreshak, Buzdar, Khosa, Qaisrani, Gorchani, Tangwani, Sandani, Zarrani, Nutkani and many more.