balochracehistor00damerich

52 THE BALOCH RACE
It is, however, generally admitted that the Baloches hold a
position of great importance there, though not considered
aboriginal. Ferrier, however, thought that the Baloches
were the aborigines of Slstan, and classed them as follows
Nervuis (Nahricis),
Kinds,
Meksis (i.e., Maghassis),
and he also includes the Sarbandis as Baloches ; but this
seems doubtful. The Sanjaram or Tokl are, all agree, an
important Baloch tribe, but it is left doubtful whether the
Mamassanis are Baloch or Brahul. The Shahrkis and
Sarbandis are said to have been brought into Slstan by
Nadir Shah, but that is no reason for holding them non-
Baloch ; and the name of the Shahrkl chief, Mir Chakar,
certainly points to a Baloch origin.
It cannot evidently be asserted that any of the Baloch
tribes now in Slstan have maintained their position ever
since the first settlement there. It is more probable
that they are later immigrants from Mekran or Persian
Balochistan.
It is not my object at present to go at length into the
later history of the Baloches. I hope that I have suc-
ceeded in giving some idea of their origin and wanderings,
and in showing how they came to occupy the positions
they now hold. Briefly, the conclusions I have come to
are as follows
1. That the Baloches are an Iranian race, judging by
their physical and mental characteristics, and that they
should be classed with the Tajiks and other original races
of the Iranian tableland.
2. That historically they may be traced first to the north
of Persia, in the neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea, in the
time of the later Sassanians.
3. That their settlement in Kerman probably did not
take place till after the Muhammadan Conquest, and that
in Slstan not before the beginning of the tenth century. .
' 4. That the movement into Slstan and Western Mekran