In 2010, almost all pro independent political parties agreed
to commemorate the 13th November as the remembrance day of all Baloch Martyrs
who sacrificed their lives for defending the motherland from foreign invasions.
Since then Baloch nation mourns and commemorates this dark day of their
national history every year across the world except in occupied Balochistan forced
to live under the draconian colonial rules of both Pakistan and Iran.
Like many other
nations in the neighborhood, The Baloch too couldn’t defend their homeland from
advancing expeditionary forces of British, called Army of Indus, towards
Central Asia. The 13th November is the day when Baloch lost their sovereignty
to British’s military aggression against the sovereign independent state of
Balochistan in 1839. First martyrs were those who laid their lives while
defending Meri Fort in capital Kalat of Balochistan federation. In that war our
legitimate ruler Khan Mehrab Khan embraced martyrdom along with his Hindu cabinet
minister, Dewan Bucha Mull Baloch.
In order to fulfill their colonial ambitions, Russia and
England played the “The Great Game” in Central Asia in eighteenth century, and
this game cost the weak nations like Baloch and Pashtun their sovereignty in
the wake of their advancement to control the geostrategic countries like
Balochistan and Afghanistan. The Russians wanted to have access to warm waters
of Balochistan. According Baloch historian Dr Naseer Dashti, “The Russians,
after having occupied the Central Asian steppes, had started sending diplomatic
missions to Iran, Afghanistan, Sindh, and Punjab. This caused much alarm among
the strategist of the British colonial administrators in India. The British
perceived the Russian advances in Central Asia as a threat to their Indian
possession—the backbone of the British financial prosperity and the base of
their colonial power in Asia”.
So, in order to ward off Russian Advancement towards warm
waters of Baloch Gulf, the British raj of East India Company devised its
“Forward Policy” to move towards Afghanistan and raised a large military force
called The Army of Indus, the route was Balochistan. They extracted a treaty
with Khan of Kalat of Balochistan which allowed them a passage to Afghanistan.
Reluctantly, Mir Mehrab Khan, the legitimate ruler of
Balochistan, entered into a treaty agreement with Britain on 28th March 1839 which
allowed safe passage and supply line to the British expedition forces of Army
of Indus through Balochistan on way to Kandahar through the strategic passages
of Shekarpur, Jacobabad, Dhadar, Bolan, Quetta and Khojack pass. They conquered
Afghanistan but couldn’t sustain their colonial rule over Kabul and Kandhar
because of the tough resistance they faced from Afghan tribes of dethroned Amir
Dost Mohammed Khan.
The frustrated British forces under the command of Gen
Wilshire in Kandahar, seeing that their forward policy towards Central Asia to
ward off the expected Russian move towards warm waters of Balochistan’s coast,
turned into a debacle, decided to return and conquer Balochistan and turn it
into a buffer zone under an afterthought policy - if we cannot move forwards,
but we can stop them here - as result of their utter failure at the hands of
Afghanistan.
The angry Gen Wilshare of British Army, while returning from
Kandhar after being defeated at the hands of Afghan tribes, unexpectedly
attacked the capital of Balochistan, Kalat, on a clumsy allegation that his
armed forces and its supply lines were being attacked by Baloch tribes while
passing through Bolan Pass. While the Khan of Kalat, Mir Mehrab Khan, scrambled
to defend his country from foreign invasion was caught unarmed and embraced
martyrdom alone with members of Shahi Jirga on 13th November 1839. The Baloch
ruler was thinking that British would not attack his national sovereignty as he
had treaty agreement with Britain.
According to historians the alleged attacks on British
forces and supply lines were instigated by Akhund Mohammed Hassan, the son of
an ousted minister of Shahi Court in Kalat. In order to avenge his father’s
removal from Shahi Court, he secretly joined British’s forces in order to create
mistrust. Later it was emerged that Akhund Mohammad Hasan was, in fact, a
protégé of the British Raj.
According to Dr Dashti’s accounts, “Before reaching Kalat,
the British demanded the surrender of the Khan in a humiliating letter, which
was rejected by the Khan immediately (Dehwar, 2007; Naseer, 1979). The Khan
tried to mobilize, but as the tribal chiefs were already antagonized, he could
not assemble sufficient troops to defend the city. Instead, some of the tribal
chiefs in Sarawan welcomed the invading army and supplied the British forces
with provisions. Some of the tribes from Jhalawan and Kharan indeed mobilized
in support of the Khan, but it was too late. On November 5, 1839, the British
Army assaulted the Miri Fort in capital Kalat after intensive bombardment. Mir
Mehrab Khan II and his limited force offered stubborn resistance against the
invaders. The Khan embraced death with typical “Balochi Way” by walking in full
view toward the enemy firing lines. Every member of his besieged force perished
under heavy shelling and hand-to-hand fight with the British forces (Masson,
1974) defending his country and sacrificing his life in a heroic way and not
surrendering to the enemy when death was inevitable, Mir Mehrab Khan II became
one of the revered personalities in the Baloch history. The Baloch forgot all
his mistakes and rallied around his son to revenge his death. However, with the
martyrdom of Mir Mehrab Khan II and occupation of Kalat by the British, drastic
changes occurred not only in the Baloch politics but the long colonial rule
changed the fabrics of a tribal society beyond recognition”.
Ref. The Baloch and Balochistan by Dr Naseer Dashti
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