Brahuis
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Brahuis
The.— A confederacy of tribes occupying the Sarawan and Jhalawan country of the Kalat State in Baluchistan, and headed by the Khan of Kalat. The Brahuis are divided into two main divisions, each under its own leader : the Sarawans living to the north of Kalat under the Raisani chief, and the Jhalawans to the south under the Zahri chief.
The Sarawan division includes among its principal tribes the Raisani, Shahwani, Muhammad Shahi, Bangulzai, Kurd, Lehri, and Sarparra. The Langav, though not occupying a position of equality with those just named, are also reckoned among the Sarawans. Among the Jhala- wans are the Zahri, Mengal, Mirwari^ Blzanjau, Muhammad Hasni or Mamasani, and several others. At the head of each tribe is a chief, who has below him subordinate leaders of clans, sections, &c. The whole tribe is united by common blood-feud rather than by kinship.
When occasion arises, intersectional combinations take place. The internal administration of each tribe is independent, cases being settled by the chief in consultation with his headmen. The crystallization of the tribal groups into the Brahui confederacy was completed by Nasir Khan I, each tribe being bound to furnish a number of armed men, and intertribal cases being referred to the ruler. That the Brahuis are essentially nomads and flockowners is well indicated by their proverb : ' God is God, but a sheep is a different thing.' The Muhammadan religion which they profess is largely overgrown with animistic super- stitions. Hospitality is common, but is not so profuse as among the Baloch.
The origin of the Brahuis is as much an enigma to the ethnologist as their language has been to the philologist. The theory that their name is derived from the old Persian words ba rohi, ' a hillman,' may be rejected. Their own, and the most plausible, explanation is that the word Brahui is derived from the eponym of one of their forefathers, Braho, which is a not uncommon modification of the name Brahim or Ihrdh'un at the present day. Early Baloch poems also describe them as the Brdho. In the light of anthropometrical measurements recently made, Mr. Risley classes the Brahuis as Turko-Iranians.
It seems not unlikely that they also contain remnants of those hordes of broad-headed nomadic people who came into India at the beginning of the Christian era and are known by the generic term of Scythians. We first find the Brahuis in authentic history divided into groups clustering round Kalat under a chief drawn from their senior branch, the Mirwaris, and called Mir Umar.
Driving out the Jat population of the Jhalawan country, they made themselves masters of the whole region between Mastung and Las Bela. Only Mir Umar's descendants are now regarded as true Brahuis. They include the Ahmadzais, the ruling family, with their collaterals the Iltazais ; the Sumalanis, Kalandaranis, Gurgnaris, Kam- baranis, Mirwaris, and Rodenis. As the power of the chiefs expanded, the name Brahui was extended to the various groups which were in- cluded in the confederacy from time to time, numbers of Jats, Afghans, and Baloch being thus absorbed.
The Brahui is of middle size, square-built and sinewy, with a sharp face, high cheek-bones, and long, narrow eyes. His nose is thin and pointed. His manner is frank and open. Though active, hardy, and roving, he is not comparable with the Baloch as a warrior, but he makes a good scout. The songs and ballads of the people celebrate no days on which hundreds were killed, as in the case of the latter. With few exceptions the Brahui is mean, parsimonious, and avaricious, and he is exceedingly idle. He is predatory but not a pilferer, vindictive but not treacherous, and generally free from religious bigotry.
His extreme ignorance is proverbial in the country-side : ' If you have never seen ignorant hobgobhns and mountain imps, come and look at the Brahui.' The Brahui wears a short smock descending to the knees and fastening on the right shoulder, wide trousers often dyed black or brown, and a felt cap or a turban. His foot-covering consists of sandals or embroi- dered heavy shoes. He is fond of having a waistcoat over his smock, and he also wears a black overcoat {shdl). A woman's dress consists of a long shift profusely embroidered in front. If married, she wears a kind of corset, lacing behind. Her hair is done in two plaits joined at the back and covered by a long cotton scarf.
The Brahui language has long been an interesting puzzle to the philo- logist. Like the Basque of Europe it stands alone among alien tongues, a mute witness to ethnical movements occurring before the rise of authentic history. It has no literature of its own, and our limited knowledge of it is due to European scholars.
Some have connected Brahui with the Aryan group, others with the Kol language of Central India; while others, among whom is Dr. Trumpp, place it with the Dravidian tongues of Southern India. Dr. Caldwell refused Brahui a place in his list of Dravidian tongues, though he admitted that it con- tained a Dravidian element. The latest inquiries, however, confirm its connexion with Dravidian. Among its most striking points of likeness to the South-Indian group are some of its pronouns and numerals, the use of post-positions instead of prepositions, the absence of a compari- son of adjectives by suffixes, the lack of the relative pronoun except as borrowed, and the negative conjugation of the verb.
