Music of Makran: Traditional Fusion from Coastal Balochistan (review)

This elegantly styled, musically rich, informative CD, prepared by Anderson Bakewell in collaboration with Dr. Sabir Badalkhan Baloch,¹ was produced by the International Music Collection of the British Library National Sound Archive. It features music of Makran, the dry region of southern Balochistan situated between modern Iran and Pakistan. Inland from the Arabian sea, coastal plains quickly give way to rugged mountains, and most of the population lives in port cities such as Jiwani, Pishukan, Gwadar, and Pasni. The region's inaccessibility (military treks from Cyrus to Alexander suffered considerable losses here) has precluded much ethnomusicological research, while helping to fuse a unique blend of musical influences.

Indeed, Makran exhibits stunning cultural diversity, the product of a variegated history. Migrating from northwestern Iran about a thousand years ago, the Baloch layered pervasive cultural, social, and religious influence upon indigenous Indus Valley culture (the region contains one of the only Dravidian languages outside South India). Other influences filtered in from Arabia and Africa, creating a rich admixture. For nearly two hundred years—until 1958—the area was under partial control of the Sultan of Oman (who also ruled portions of east Africa), and a considerable population of Siddis of African descent maintain unique cultural practices. The prevailing religion is an unusual form of Islam known as zigri (zikri), which emphasizes the performance of zikr (remembrance of God).

The result is a rich traditional musical culture reflecting diverse influences, including Balochi praise songs (sipatt and nazenk), love songs (dastanag), elegies (motk), lullabies (lilo), wedding and circumcision songs (halo and lado), songs of separation (zahirok, liko, and dehi), and epics (sher)—as well as non-Balochi genres, such as fishermen's songs (amba and lewa); healing songs (gwati, sheki, sheparja, and malid); zigri ritual songs (chogan); and sot,² songs of love and praise. Sot are sung primarily by lower-caste professional women singers called sotis. Siddis continue to perform in an African style, singing in a language of possible Swahili origin that is no longer understood. But mixing also occurs: Siddis perform Balochi songs, and African rhythms appear in other genres. Much musical exchange occurs in the context of healing ceremonies derived from Africa and Arabia, such as the gwati leb. Here, aesthetic principles are shaped by the need for musicians to support the development of trance states, and these inform Makrani music more generally as well. Bakewell eloquently relates the gradual manipulation of repetitive rhythm and melody, subtly shifting from one modality to another, inducing corresponding transformations in the listener.

Cultural diversity reappears in the instrumentarium, which can be loosely related to castes, classes, and gender. Professional hereditary musicians are primarily of the Luri caste. They perform sot and sher, and on the double reed/drum combination (surna/duhl); the subcaste Domb is thought to be related to the European Rom. The suroz, a bowed lute (often known elsewhere as sarinda), is typically accompanied by the damburag, a long-necked fretless lute, which may also accompany the donali, a double flute. Other instruments include the bansari (transverse flute), dukkur (cylindrical drum), chinchir (finger cymbals), and the benjo, a kind of zither apparently derived (remarkably enough) from the Japanese koto in the nineteenth century. Throughout Balochistan, suroz, damburag, and flutes are traditionally instruments of higher castes, though in Makran they are performed by hereditary musicians as well.

The CD includes an informative booklet, providing concise background on the region, musical structures, performance contexts, and instruments. Four high-definition black and white photos illustrate performers of donali, suroz, damburag, and benjo. Notes for each of the thirteen tracks provide personnel, instrumentation, and limited contextual and genre information. For the most part, the transliteration and translation of song texts provide a most commendable contribution towards cross-cultural communication.

The music was recorded in 1991, mainly in coastal Makrani cities, as well as the inland...