It is a well-known fact that dominant nations have always endeavored hard to bring the weaker
nations under their control in order to have access to their resources. If we turn over the
pages of history, we will conclude that vulnerable nations have always been fighting for their
survival and the stronger have been spreading their reach in every nook and cranny of the
world by using various tactics. However, in this race European countries have been at the forefront.
There might not be a region where they had not utilized their clout. Whether that was Asia or
Africa, Australia or America wherever they could reach, they turned those territories into their
colonies.
In this race, Balochistan was also one of their early targets. It is said that the sea (Arabian
ocean) of Balochistan provided a pivotal route for trade through which most of trade took place
with Gulf countries and the Middle East. It was the period of the 16th century when Portuguese’s
pirates started looting the trade ships that used the Makuran coast. In the meantime, some
Portuguese pirates looted Mir Hammal’s trade ships and killed the sailors. Due to this, Mir
Hammal decided that he would take revenge and make the pirates run away from the coastal
area of Balochistan. Mir Hammal was the only ruler of the huge Makuran coastline at that time,
and he also had a small trained sea Army for the defense of his oceans from pirates and outsiders.
Being born in a Baloch family, he was trained at an early age and knew all tricks of battle.
His father’s name was Jeehand and was the native of a small village, Kalmat, situated in
Makuran. Mir Hammal attacked numerous times on these pirates and damaged their several
boats; in the retaliation of attack, Portuguese pirates came with full strength in the intention to
occupy Balochistan, They burnt the houses of the people who were living in Makuran coasts,
such as Pasini, Gwadar, and Jewani, but Mir Hammal was not ready to leave the ground. He
stood up strongly and stormed on Portuguese quite a few times, snatched their boats and arms
and made them run away from the area. Moreover, he formed a small force that was based
on a number of boats and this force tangled with the Portuguese pirates whenever they dared
to come near the coast. Because of his high-octane defense, the Portuguese were compelled to sign
up a peace treaty with Baloch in which it was made sure from the Portuguese side that they would
not enter Balochistan and also Mir Hammal assured Portuguese that they could freely make use
of this route for trade. After the peace treaty, the situation turned normal. The people who had run
away from the villages started settling once again and the trade between the countries started
from this route. During peacetime, the Portuguese broke the treaty and arrested Mir Hammal. It is said that Mir
Hammal used to visit the coastal areas on his boats. Once he was on a usual trade mission to Gulf
region, the Portuguese armed ships attacked halfway on his boat near Oman. Unfortunately,
he did not have any kind of sea force at that time and he was only with the sailors and workers
in the boat who cowardly ran away, but Mir Hammal did not surrender himself. He single-handedly
continued his resistance, but after some hours of combating, he was arrested and
taken to Masqat, which was under the control of Portuguese at that time. He was offered a
gigantic amount of money to become their puppet and help them in occupying Balochistan, but
he denied and was not ready to make his nation slave at any rate. Because of his reluctance, he
was sentenced to death. Mir Hammal’s name is written with bold letters in Baloch history since
he defeated the Portuguese forces, which were dominant on scores of the nation at that time. It is
due to Mir Hammal’s bravery and love for the motherland, European could not conquer
Balochistan for the coming three centuries.
Gulab Baloch
MS Mass Communication
Baloch Students Action Committee is a Student political organization that aims to work for the betterment of Education in Balochistan and politicizing the youth
