From frontier resistance to political nationalism: Changing strategies of resistance in Balochistan

Abstract

Political resistance is a recurring theme in Balochistan's relations with outside and regional centres of power, and the nature, purposes and political significance of this resistance has transformed over time. This article explores how the resistance in Balochistan has evolved from early localized struggles to external authority to organized political and cultural struggle during the British colonial rule. The study uses historic sources, colonial developments, political writings and recent scholarship to view resistance as a continually evolving strategy, not as a nationalist struggle that was continuous or uniform. In previous times, external domination was restricted by difficult geography, local governance, evasion, refusal of tribute, migration and armed resistance. Negotiation, alliance-building and political consolidation grew more significant means of maintaining autonomy during the Khanate of Kalat. In the nineteenth century, the British came to expand, changing the nature of power as well as resistance as they had to rely on a system of frontier administration, indirect rule, and tribal intermediaries. Armed resistance was complemented by political organizations, journalism, poetry, historical memory and nationalist discourse by the beginning of the twentieth century. The article draws on theories of James C. Scott and Charles Tilly to suggest that resistance in Balochistan began as a result of the shifting patterns of political opportunities, state presence and collective action.