Subregión Sierra Maestra Características generales

British-Russian rivalry in Afghanistan generated a regional clash that was named ‘the Great Game of the 19th century’ by many writers. According to the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) report entitled Balochis of Pakistan: on the Margins of History, the expansionist policy of Russia had threatened the British Empire in India (FPC, 2006). The British concern was that Afghanistan would become a base for the Russian Empire. The fear of the Tsarist hegemonic design and its expansion had compelled the British to retain control of the indigenous people of India. Therefore, in 1838 the first Anglo-Afghan war began, threatening the entire region. According to Harrison (1981), Balochistan, as Afghanistan’s neighbour, became part of the 19th century ‘great game’ scheme. He holds that it was the ‘Forward Policy’ of the British Empire in India to push “the jurisdiction of the Raj to the Afghan frontier” (Harrison, 1981: 19).

Many other writers such as Bizenjo (2006) agree that Balochistan acquired a new strategic significance in the 19th century when Afghanistan became a buffer zone. The British fought many battles with the Baloch people over a span of more than forty years to establish direct control over the access routes to Afghanistan. In 1876 they finally succeeded in subduing Kalat and obtained the right to station their troops there through treaties (Zaidi, 1993). Since the British occupation, the British and Kalat rulers had signed

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treaties in 1841, 1854 and 1876. These treaties, according to many writers such as Brahui (2009), were the basis of British-Kalat relations, which are discussed below. Harrison (1981) mentions that the British did not try to extend their rule into the Baloch areas (with the exception of British Balochistan) but these treaties were indeed the main reasons for the division of Kalat State. Under these treaties the Kalat Balochistan was divided. According to Harrison (1981), the British Empire proceeded systematically to divide the Baloch area into seven parts. He argues that,

In the far west, the Goldsmid line gave roughly one-fourth to Persia in 1871; in the north, the Durand line assigned a small strip to Afghanistan in 1894; and in British India, the Baluch areas were divided into a centrally administered enclave (known as British Baluchistan) guarding a key mountain pass, a truncated remnant of the Kalat Confederacy, and three smaller puppet principalities (Harrison, 1981: 19).

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In 1871 the ‘Goldsmid Line’ was drawn, dividing Balochistan between the British and Persian Empires. The western part of Balochistan went to Persia, which is modern-day Iran. Breseeg (2004: 171) states that “with the help of the British, the Iranians succeeded in dividing Balochistan”. The connections between the British and the Iranians were not explained in the literature but it is argued that the British policy of ‘divide and rule’ and the Iranian expansionist policies were similar. Balochistan, due to its arid desert area and tribal structure, created administrative problems for the British. There is a debate in the literature on whether the British were interested in ruling over Balochistan or not. A few scholars argue that the British ambition was not to rule Balochistan. However, they were interested in creating a buffer zone to control it because of the perceived threat from the Tsarist

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Empire (Bizenjo, 2006). Bizenjo argues that the British were well aware of the Russian Tsarist ambition to control the warm waters of the Arabian Sea.

In the 1870s, under the ‘Gandamak Treaty’, the British detached the Afghan territories of Zhob and Loralai (Breseeg, 2004: 161). In 1883, an agreement was made between the British and Kalat. Under this agreement the British leased Quetta, Bolan Pass, Nasirabad, Chagai and the Marri-Bugti areas of Eastern Balochistan and combined those leased Baloch areas with the Afghan (Pashtun) areas, making up ‘British Baluchistan’ (Marri, 1985: 18-20). All these areas were declared to be British territory. As a result of these divisions the Kalat state had shrunk in size and population. Thus, the east became British Balochistan. Matheson (1997) argues that during this seventy-year period British Balochistan’s territories were subject to more or less direct British rule.

In 1894 the ruler of Afghanistan (better known as the Afghan Amir) and the British had established the northern ‘Durand Line’. They had signed an agreement and transferred a large area of the northern region of British Balochistan (Helmand and Nemroz) to Afghanistan (Brahui, 2009). With this division the northern region of British Balochistan became part of Afghanistan. The line drawn in 1894 is still the political boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan, although Afghanistan has not yet recognised its legitimacy. According to Bugti (1996), this division resulted in a large segment of the Pashtun area being given to British India, while the northern part of Balochistan was given to the Afghan ruler.

Thus, after this division (except for Kalat State) the Baloch remained under the control of three states: British India, Afghanistan and Iran. The final outcome of the boundary settlement was as follows: Sistan and Baluchestan including western Makran became part of Iran; outer Sistan including Helmand and Nimrouz came under the control of

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Afghanistan; Jacobabad, Derajat, Sibi including Marri-Bugti tribal areas became British Balochistan; and, finally, the shrunken state of Kalat was recognised as an independent state with the status of protectorate (see FPC, 2006; Harrison, 1981). Under the political settlement and the treaty of 1876, Kalat was given independence in its internal jurisdiction and non-interference surety by the British despite losing its territories and past glory.