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Brahuistan
Region in Balochistan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Brahuistan, also spelt Brahvistan and Brohistan, and sometimes referred to as the Brahui belt, (Brahui: براھوئستان; lit. 'Land of the Brahuis') is a region in central Balochistan in what are now Pakistan and Afghanistan primarily inhabited by the Brahuis, an ethnic group which natively speaks the Brahui language. In the twenty-first century, Brahui nationalism has been developed around the idea of a separate Brahuistan, consisting of Kalat in Pakistan and Registan in Afghanistan.[1][2]
Historically Brahuis were pastoralists primarily confined to the Central Brahui Range; in the 17th century various Brahui tribes were unified by the Brahui Ahmedzai dynasty which led to the creation of Khanate of Kalat, also known as the "Brahui Confederacy".[3] At its greatest extent in the 18th century, the Brahui Confederacy controlled the wider Balochistan region. However, the traditional Brahui homeland or Brahuistan is a narrow corridor stretching from Nushki in the north to Khuzdar in the south,[3] separating the Pashtun-majority regions in the northern Balochistan from the Baloch-majority Makran. During the British colonial period, several British ethnographers suggested the Kalat state to be renamed as Brahuistan, but the suggestion was ultimately not implemented due to the ongoing Great Game.[4] Fred Scholz suggests that the British Raj, perhaps precisely because they were taking over the Brahui kingdom, chose not to call the region Brahuistan.[5]

Brahuistan is further divided into two major parts, Sarawan in the north and Jhalawan in the south, inhabited by the Sarawani and Jhalawani Brahui tribes, respectively.[3] Today most of Brahuistan, with the exception of Nushki, is part of Kalat Division. According to the 2023 Census of Pakistan, the districts of Khuzdar, Nushki, Kalat, Mastung and Surab have a Brahui majority. Kalat Division, which consists of most of the former state of Kalat, is the only Brahui-majority division of Balochistan.[6]
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