Gurchani

Gurchani, also known as Gorchani or Gorshani, is a tribe found in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan, and associated with the Baloch people. One section of the tribe is settled at Harrand in Dera Ghazi Khan District in Punjab.

According to the 19th-century text Tārikh-ī-Murād, a branch of the Soomra (also rendered Sumra), who had ruled the Sindh region with Pattan as their capital until they were displaced by the Samma, subsequently joined the Baloch, forming the Gurchani tribe. The Tārikh-ī-Murād also recounts a legend to explain the Soomras' decline and dispersal. According to this account, the Sindh region under Soomra rule had fragmented into competing principalities. The chief of Phul Wadda, in the area corresponding to present-day Naushahro Feroze or Rahim Yar Khan, was one Lakha Phulani. Lakha gifted horses to a member of the Charan community named Swami. The horses were stolen at Pattan by Soomra youths while the Charan was halting there on his way home. Believing the theft to have occurred with the knowledge of the Soomra chief, the Charan composed a quatrain that circulated widely.^[1]

According to the text, the disgrace of the theft was such that the Soomra youths involved were either expelled or left Pattan of their own accord. The episode is presented as having brought discredit upon the Soomras as a community. The text also notes that prior to their decline, Soomra youth, having lost land due to changes in the course of the Indus River, had turned to robbery, in violation of the community's customary norms.^[1][2]

Historically, conflicts among Baloch tribes over land and water were common, with shifting alliances and frequent armed confrontations involving the Leghari, Khosa, Lund, Marri, Bugti, and other tribes.^[3]

Durante el reinado de Ahmad Shah Durrani , a los jefes Gorchani se les concedió el derecho de recaudar la parte de la producción agrícola ( masul ) que le correspondía al gobierno en especie de varias aldeas de las llanuras, y de cobrar un impuesto a los camellos que entraban en ellas, a cambio de mantener la seguridad a lo largo de la frontera de Hurrund y Dajil. ^{[ 3 ]}

En enero de 1867, las tribus Gorchanis y Tibbi Lund mataron a Ghulam Husain y a aproximadamente trescientos de sus hombres en Hurrund. La alianza entre los Bugti, los Gurchanis y los Lund había sido organizada por el oficial político británico Robert Sandeman en Jampur , en respuesta a un plan de incursión a gran escala de Ghulam Husain en el distrito de Rajanpur . ^{[ 3 ]}

La historia tribal y la memoria colectiva entre los grupos baluchis se conservan en baladas orales que relatan conflictos y disputas territoriales. Una de estas baladas describe a los gurchanis y los lunds luchando juntos: «Avanzando como una manada de ganado, . . . los héroes de los lunds y los gurchanis se reunieron [para la batalla] como el agua de un torrente choca contra un terraplén». ^{[ 3 ]}

Una composición destacada, la "Elegía por la muerte del Nawab Jamal Khan", se atribuyó a Panju Bangulani, miembro del clan Lashari de los Gorchanis. Según la tradición, cuando el Nawab Jamal Khan falleció al regresar del Hajj , los jefes reunidos ofrecieron un premio a la mejor elegía; este fue otorgado a Panju Bangulani. ^{[ 3 ]}

• Lista de tribus baluchis