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

by Martin Axmann

Back to the Future investigates the genesis of Baloch nationalism during the first half of the twentieth century, analyzes the emergence of a Baloch national movement, and sets it in relation to the rise of an Indian and Muslim Indian (Pakistan) national movement in British India during that
time. The study portrays the decline and disintegration of the Baloch khanate of Kalat during the last decades of British rule, analyzes Kalat's lack of integration but increasing attachment to British Indian affairs, and summarizes the colonial legacy of Balochistan in respect of political,
administrative, and constitutional development. It investigates the emergence of a royalist movement around the figure of the khan of Kalat, and discusses his attempt to turn back time and revert to Balochistan's pre-colonial status. The book also probes into the coincident rise of a Baloch
nationalist movement, and analyzes 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. Back to the Future 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.

Genres: Pakistan

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Mansoor Azam · Rating 3 out of 5]

For any one who has read on the subject and is looking for more, sadly there isn't much.
having said that the genesis of nationalism is a delicate subject and is dealt with logically albeit briefly.
there is a clear bias visible in the book sometimes which I think comes naturally when a historian with set lenses attempts anything about a different culture. but could've been shunned away had a little more research been there or room for more opinions.
quite a few details are dicto copy of the Imerial gazetteer which sometimes feels boring as one wonders if this stuff was to be reproduced dicto then why the effort.
In conclusion the author tries something altogether different. rather than concluding on the topic he lashes on the concept of a country on the basis of religion. a phenomenon, which evidently he s strongly biased against.
for first time readers definitely a go. though the author does try to mould the views on certain aspects at certain points rather than the ideal way of putting the facts and unbiased research infront of the reader and let him decide .
concluding, any book on Baluchistan is a great book to me considering the paucity of material on this great land its even greater people

[Zahid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it three years ago but adding it now. A good account of history, chauvenism aside

[Mudassir Ajmal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to read written by apolitical and unbiased author.
Ilustrates khanate of Kalat's emergence in Balochistan.
Demise of states and Dawn of nationalism and nationalist movements at the time of partition of India 1947 and afterwards;
and accounts of accession of state of Kalat, makran, lasbela and kharan to Pakistan Dominion.
A rebellion by Nowroz Khan - so called first martyr of Baluch Nationalism
Describes intriguing, enigmatic, skeptical and hypocritical character of Khan of Kalat Ahmed Yar Khan.
Also tells grevances of Baluch Leaders on actions taken by Pakistan to merge khanate of Kalat and other Baloch states with Pakistan.

[Syed M. Abdullah · Rating 4 out of 5]

With par-excellence objective analysis and contextual insights, I highly recommend this book to the ones having interest in understanding the 'Balochistan issue' in depth. The book starts with a strong academic context of what constitutes a nation, how nationalism emerges and evolves and what factors eventually transform ethnie into a nation. Secondly, it probes into the geo-political dynamics of the State of Kalat and its stringent relations with British India from the very beginning. Furthermore, its territorial importance strategically and how it was kept oblivious to the political flare-up across the subcontinent during and after the WW-I. Finally, it deals with the conditions created by the abrupt exodus of the British from the subcontinent and the mess it created became a 'lifelong' hurdle for the nascent state and Kalat's merger into the latter. In the end, it comes back to the question of how nations are created in retrospection and by the people foreign to it; Baloch identity, the book adds, might have also been materialised retrospectively and inadvertently by the British (which seems not to have been considered an aberration of a natural social process by the author).

In short, if one is inquisitive about how such politicised issues can be expressed objectively and academically , 'Back to the Future' is a good starting point.

[Eugene Novikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of narrow interest, obviously, but very thorough, lucid, and quite readable given the academic bent. The first "must-read" I've come across re: Balochistan and the nationalist movement.