Cultural Facts

Bolan Fri Jul 08, 2011 9:47 am

Cultural facts about Balochistan Language:
Balochi is the major language of Balochistan. It is spoken over extensive areas of the province. It is also rich in poetic and romantic literature. Besides, other languages which are spoken in Balochistan are Brahui and Makrani. Brahui is spoken in Qalat areas while Makrani is spoken in Makrani, the coastal region of Balochistan.

Food:
Their dry fruits are also very popular all over the world. Their special item, Sajji is very famous in Balochistan and also all over the Pakistan. They also eat roasted lamb sand mutton.

Dress:
They wear shalwar qamees and turban. Women wear embroider frocks and shalwar. They also wear jewelery made of metals. This jewellery is also very famous among the women of Pakistan. Women also wear long dress with long sleeves.

Festival:
Wrestling, horse-racing, religious feasts are the recreational and the seasonal functions. In the Makran region, the seasonal harvest of the date palms is an occasion for the rejoicing and reunion of friends and relatives who return home for the harvest.

Crafts:
Balochistan has a strong individual character. Its varied landscape includes deserts plains, and mountain. In fact northern Balochistan is a perfect maze of mountain. The country experiences great fluctuation of temperature caused by extraordinary differences in the elevation of land. Balochistan is mostly barren, with scanty rainfall and great water deficiency.

It has few large towns. The population is thinly scattered over a large area. Their crafts to have a strong individual character. Balochistan processes skins and hides and manufactures goods in leather, wool and goat's hair. Two raw material's, typical to Balochistan are crude clay; and the dwarf palm. The first is used to make coarse, green glazed earthenware, such as hookas, bowls, and platters. The latter are commonly available in the Kandhari Bazar in Quetta, and largely used by the local population. Secondly the dwarf palm, which grows wild on the Sibi frontier, is used for making prayer mats, matting for stone shelters, sandals, shoes and now also ladies hand-bags. Women also participate actively in the practice of crafts. Women do all embroidery work and most of the work in wool and goat's hair.

Leather works:
Most of Baluchi leatherwork is embroidered upon. Lehri refers to the application of chain stitch in colored silk, to leather. The motifs and designs in leatherwork and specially embroideries, are different. Products of Balochistan, the distinctive Balochi stamp on them. Leather is produced almost everywhere in Balochistan. However it may be localized in the Kachhi district where the raw material for manufacture is largely available. The work consist chiefly of saddles, horse gear, embroidered shoes and sword belts, all of which are made in Muhammadpur in the Nasirabad tehsil and Lahri, further north.

The sword belts made in Lahri have considerable local repute and are extensively used by Balochi and Brahui tribesmen. The leather used is of dark red color, ornamented with green and embroidered in minute circles placed between parallel lines. The work is in yellow golden yellow silk, minutely embroidered in chain stitch, similar to Lahri. This stitch, originally used on bedspreads and the top of the Peshawari sandals, is now employed for leather book covers, wallets, belts, ladies hand-bags and cushions.

Goat hair works:
Goat hair is woven chiefly in the border hills in Darajat and in Marri and in Bugti country. The coarser forms of this pastoral craft is rough goat's hair ropes, the crude cloth on which grain is winnowed and cleaned, corn sacks and camel bags. The more refined forms are saddlebags, nosebags, and astringes or multicolored rugs. The saddlebags have a fine woven pattern, round the neck. In addition they are ornamented with tassels and risottos, with little shells sewn to the borders.