Zarrani

Zarrani tribe is one of the native Baluchi tribes living for centuries in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan.

They are known as Zarrani after the name of their progenitor Zarra Han. They once lived in the town of Koruk in the Iranian tribal ministate of Bahu Kalat. The relics of the fort of Mir Gul Muhammad Khan Zarrani at Koruk still bear witness to this fact. But endless tribal conflicts and drought coerced this tribe to move out in search of victuals. Some of them headed to Sultanate of Oman while others moved to Pakistani Baluchistan and Sindh. Even today, a lot of these tribesmen live in Oman while a few dwell in Bahu Kalat, Gwadar, Winder (District Lasbela, Pakistani Balochistan) and Malir Karachi. All of these tribesmen speak Baluchi as their mother tongue, no matter wherever they domicile. It has been recently learnt that there are some Zarranis in the Sultanate of Oman who are not able to speak Baluchi and have Arabic as their first language. This apparently is due to the loss of social contact with the Baloch people in Oman and elsewhere.

The most famous personalities of this tribe are as follows:

# Haji Dad Rahim s/o Chakar (died on June 7th 1994) who was a prominent landlord of Malir.

# Mullah Dad Mohammad, who resided in Gwadar and was a learned man of his times. He died in the 70s.

# Lashkaran, the most prominent of Zarranis in Muscat, Oman who was a top official in the Customs Intelligence at Muscat’s seaport. He died around 1990.

The living prominent Zarranis are:

Bashir Ahmed Baloch (born on March 2, 1955) is a landlord in Malir. His pursuits include compering Baluchi gatherings and is a well-known social activist.

Mir Shaukat Ali Baloch (born January 18, 1969) is also a landlord and is the serving managing director of Messrs Ghulam Ali Associates. His pastimes include playing and watching soccer.

Dr. Abdul Khaliq Baloch (born March 2, 1971) is a general practitioner and is specializing in diabetes mellitus. His pursuits include reading books of various sorts and watching documentaries on television.