Baloch of Turkmenistan

{{infobox ethnic group|

| group = Baloch of Turkmenistan

| image = File:Baloch in Turkmenistan.jpg

| population = 87,503 (2022 census)https://www.stat.gov.tm/en/population-census

| popplace = mainly Merv, but also Ashgabat, Baýramaly, Sarahs{{Cite web |last1=Kokaislová |first1=Pavla |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280233271 |title=Ethnic Identity of the Baloch People |last2=Kokaisl |first2=Petr |date=2012 |language=en}}

| langs = Balochi, Turkmen

| religions = Islam

| related = other Iranian peoples, Baloch diaspora

}}

The Baloch of Turkmenistan ({{langx|bal|ترکمنستانءِ بلۏچ}} (Perso-Arabic) / {{lang|bal-Cyrl|Туркманиста̄нӣ Бало̄ч}} (Cyrillic)) are a small part of the greater Baloch people who live primarily in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. The 2022 census revealed the number of ethnic Baloch in Turkmenistan is 87,503. This figure corresponds to 1.24% of the population.{{Cite web |title=State Committee of Turkmenistan on Statistics |url=https://www.stat.gov.tm/en/population-census |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.stat.gov.tm}}

They immigrated into the Merv and the Murghab River inland delta from the areas west and north of Herat, Afghanistan, Chakhansur district in the province of Nimruz(Baloch of Afghanistan) and Iran in the mid 19th century.{{Cite journal |last=BARJASTEH DELFOROOZ |first=BEHROOZ |url=http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:345413 |title=Discourse Features in Balochi of Sistan |year=2010 |pages=17–18 |website=Uppsala University}}{{Cite book |last1= Axenov|first1=Serge|title=Balochi Language of Turkmenistan: A Corpus-based Grammatical Description (Studia Iranica Upsaliensia)|isbn=9155467660}} More followed in the early 20th century and before closure of the Russian/Soviet borders under Stalin in 1925.

Background

The Mervi Beluch are closely related to those Baloch in Afghanistan{{Cite web |last=Lutz |first=Rzehak |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283284929|title=Some thoughts and material on Balochi in Afghanistan |date=2003 |language=en}} and Iran who live near the modern borders of Turkmenistan. Kerim Khan is one of the prominent of the Baloch of Turkmenistan, who helped Turkmens arrested by the Soviet government from prison.{{cite journal |last1=Kokaislová & Kokaisl|first1=Pavla & Petr |title=The Ethnic Identity of Turkmenistan's Baloch|journal=Asian Ethnology |date=2019|volume=78 |issue=1 |pages=181–196 |jstor=26704760 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26704760}}

Under Soviet Turkmenistan, textbooks in the Balochi language based on the Latin script and newspapers in Balochi were published in Ashgabat and Mary, but since the independence of Turkmenistan, the Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov had closed almost all non-Turkmen schools.{{cite web|title=Жизнь курдской общины в Туркменистане [The life of the Kurdish community in Turkmenistan]|url=http://www.gundogar.org/?0221042238000000000000013000000|work=Gündogar|access-date=2 December 2012|language=ru}}

In 1926, the Baluch of Merv Oasis numbered 9,974. Their numbers fell to 7,842 in the official statistics by 1959; however, the population rose to 12,582 by 1970 and 18,997 by 1979.{{cite web|script-title=ru:Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/ussr_nac_26.php?reg=7|access-date=2 December 2012|language=ru}}{{cite web|script-title=ru:Всесоюзная перепись населения 1970 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_70.php?reg=14|publisher=Demoscope.ru|access-date=2 December 2012|language=ru}}

The Baloch of Turkmenistan are Sunni Hanafi Muslims.{{Cite book|title=Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union|last=Akiner|first=Shirin|publisher=Routledge|year=1986|isbn=0-7103-0188-X|location=London|pages=362}} The Baloch in Turkmenistan speak the Western Balochi dialect (Rakhshani dialect), and Turkmen is used as the literary language.{{cite book |last1=Minahan|first1= James |title=Miniature Empires |date=2013|page=267|publisher= Routledge |isbn= 978-1-135-94010-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwNeAgAAQBAJ}}{{cite book |last1=Jahani & Korn|first1=Carina & Agnes|title=The Baloch and Their Neighbours|date=2003|page=252 |publisher=Reichert |isbn=978-3-89500-366-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3IMAQAAMAAJ}}

Baloch of Turkmenistan

Background

See also

References

Further reading