The Baloch or Baluch (Balochi: بلوچ) are native to the Balochistan region in the Iranian plateau. They are an Iranian people and mainly speak Balochi language which itself is a branch of the Iranian languages, and more specifically of the Northwestern Iranian languages. The Baloch-speaking population worldwide is estimated to be in the range of 10 to 15 million. They make up 2% of Iran's populatio
n (1.5 million), there are many Baloch living in other parts of the world, with the bulk living in the GCC countries of the Persian Gulf. However, the exact number of Baloch and GCC citizens of Balochi ancestry is difficult to determine. About 60% of the Baloch live in East Balochistan, a western province of Pakistan. Around 25% inhabit the eastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 35 to 40% Pakistani Sindhis claim Baloch ancestry[citation needed] and are settled in Sindh and also a significant number of Baloch people in South Punjab of Pakistan. Many of the rest live in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, India, United Arab Emirates and in some parts of Africa, namely Kenya, and Tanzania (Tabora has a large community). Small communities of Baluch people also live in Europe particularly Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England and in Perth, Australia, where they arrived in the 19th century. Maka is mentioned by Greek historian Herodotus as one of the early satraps of Cyrus the Great, who successfully united several ancient Iranian tribes to create an empire. In the Behistun Inscription, Darius the Great mentions Maka as one of his eastern territories. Darius is recorded to have personally led his elite forces, whose ranks were restricted to those with Persian, Mede or Elamite ancestry, to fight the invading Scythians of Asia and then led the conquests in South Asia, where he conquered Sindh in 519 BC, constituted it as his 20th Satrapy, and made use of the oceans there. Darius wanted to know more about Asia, according to Herodotus; he also wished to know where the "Indus (which is the only river save one that produces crocodiles) emptied itself into the sea". The present region of Makran, which is inhabited by Baluch people, derived its name from the word "Maka". The Babylonians made voyages using Maka to communicate with India. Maka communicated with Euphrates, Tigris and Indus valley; objects from the Harappan culture have been found in modern-day Oman, other archaeology suggest that Maka was exporting copper. Herodotus mentions the inhabitants of Maka as "Mykians" who were previously involved in several conquests with Cyrus the Great. After the conquest of Egypt with Cambyses, they went to Sindh in command of Darius I and took in army of Xerxes the great at the battle of Thermopylae, where they were equipped the same as Pactyans, Utians and Paricanians, the tribes adjacent to the Mykians. The word Maka later became Makran as it is common in closely related ancient Avestan and Old Persian languages to use "an" and "ran" at the end of plurals, which then translates as "the land of Mykians". They are mentioned as "the men from Maka" in daeva inscriptions. The "daeva inscription" is one of the most important of all Achaemenid inscriptions; in the Baluchi language, dêw translates as "giant devil or monster". Mykians were responsible for many inventions, such as qanats and underground drainage galleries that brought water from aquifers on the piedmont to gardens or palm groves on the plains. These inventions were important reasons behind the success of the Achaemenid Empire and survival of Mykians in their largely harsh natural environment. Other inscriptions record that gold, silver, lapis lazuli, turquise, cornalin, cedar wood, wood and the decoration for the relief at Susa were from Maka. The Mykians of the other side of ancient Maka, the present-day region of Baluchistan and Sindh, had later taken independence because they are not mentioned in the book written by Arrian of Nicomedia about campaigns of Alexander the Great. He only mentions the Oman side of Maka which he calls "Maketa". The reasons for this may have been the arguably unjust rule of Xerxes. They are not mentioned as one of the ancient Iranian tribes that Cyrus the Great and Darius I had fought with. Cyrus himself was of Persian and Median ancestry as his father was Cambyses I, who is believed to have married Mandane of Media, the daughter of Astyages, a Median king. Historical evidence suggests that Baluch people were the ancient inhabitants of the Maka satrapy in Achaemenid empire. Baluch inhabiting the coastal areas in the region of Makran Chabahar, Gwadar, Gulf Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain) and Arabian Sea Karachi and other parts of Sindh and tribes including the Jatoi, Mirani, Rind, Bizenjo, Brahui and Gabol are highly skilled in designing boats, fishing and other skills required to survive in their environment. Herodotus mentions that Darius had made use of the ocean in this region of Sindh. The Sulemani Baluch who inhabit the region of Balochistan including Makran—for example, tribes including the Marri, dasti or dashti Bugti, Buzdar, Lund, Ranjhani, Ahmedani, Mazari, Mengal, Nutkani, Jiskani, Laghari, Chandio, Muhammad Hassani, Nausherwani, MirJat, Rind, Bizenjo, Zehri, Dehwar, Changwani and others—carry different skills to survive in their mostly mountainous environment and have a history of aggressive behavior towards invasions. These tribes are not confined to one specific location as they also contain sub-tribes and can be found all over the region.
