Spirits, may they be angels, demons, fairies, beasts, monsters, or shapeless; are an indispensable part of folklore. However, there are many who remain unobserved and unnamed.
Tales in Balochi and Brahui are particularly rich when it comes to spirits. It is no surprise, considering that they originate from the province that constitutes over 40% of Pakistan’s landmass, but is home to under 6% of its people. Now, as a rule of thumb, spirits are believed to live and wander in the wilderness, places of solitude and abandonment, barren wasteland, vast deserts, and harsh terrains. Balochistan happens to have more than plenty of the aforementioned, and the manifestation of the belief in these spirits is often observable in local ceremonies and rituals.
Angels: Farishtah
Essentially an Islamic concept, angels are a common feature of lore. With an overwhelming percentage of the population being Muslim, natives have a staunch belief in angels and their powers.
Every individual is believed to have two guardian angels, one on each shoulder. The one on the right records the good deeds, whilst the one on the left records one’s sins. It is these two angels, who are also believed to protect one from disaster, such as drowning or falling off the edge of a cliff.
White roosters are never to be slaughtered: they are believed to be a manifestation of the angels.
The belief in guardianship, grounded in religion, runs strong in Balochistan. Prophets, Imams, Pirs, and Saints are believed to protect people. Prophets Hazrat Khwaja Khizar (A), and Hazrat Ilyas (A), are believed to be present in the sea, as angels perhaps, in the desert and the sea respectively, appearing in human form, whenever travelers lose their way, to guide them home.
Devs
Also spelled as Div, owning to the variance in accent, Devs are described in folklore as tall, broad, with thick hair and lips, snub noses, long nails, and on occasion, with wings, or horns. They are believed to have infested the world in large numbers and tormented human beings. It is after the arrival of Hazrat Suleman (A), that they were subdued, although they did not lose, or give up, their powers entirely. Although they are much less dreaded than the jinns, they are thought to find pleasure in frightening people.
Confined to isolated regions, thus specifically considered a terror in desert regions, although one is as likely to find a dev hiding in a deep well, encounters are ill-advised, for the Devs are said to be vengeful. For what reason, one may wonder, but who knows; for lore only describes it as their attribute.
A Dev carries its soul with it in a flagon; which if broken, spells death for the spirit.
Ghouls
A concept Persian in origin, a ghoul is the most dreaded kind of ghost. They are said to be shapeshifters, who devour humans as a pass time. They may take up the form of a relative, or a friend, or even their voice alone, leading people astray, separating them from company or caravans, to meet their fate at the hands of the ghoul.
In the valley of Helmand, in Afghanistan, people believe that a ghoul will only meet its death if you kill it with one shot. The second arrow will bring the ghoul back to life.
At their strongest, in power and numbers, in the Valley of Izrael. Hazrat Izrael (A), Malik-al-Mawt, is the Angel of Death in Islamic scripture.
A similar valley is also mentioned in the tale of King Mahorab, whose son, Prince Zumarad, finds himself alone, and trapped in The Valley of Ghouls, in the epic 1001 Nights. Zumarad is a name Persian in origin, and it is likely that from various tales in the Arabic epic picked up from Persia and India, this one may be referring to the same Valley of Izrael mentioned in Balochi lore.
My apologies for not being able to give you the precise location of the valley, I poured over several sources, but to no avail. Documentation isn’t really a strong point of either of the three countries where Balochi and Brahui are spoken, I found nothing with the exact name. However, my guess is that the reference is to the Desert of Death, Dasht-e Margo, a desert overlapping the border regions of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan.
Jinns
The Brahui’s believe in good jinns and bad jinns, who can change one’s fortune, or cost one their life. Mischievous and malicious, the jinns usually wander after dusk.
Setting things alight, may it be the mulberry trees they dwell on, or houses, during wedding celebrations, is how they roll. They may even steal some mithayi from a vendor, or tie knots in a horse’s mane. They eat with people when someone forgets to recite “Bismillah” before they eat. Strange diseases and unconventional deaths are also often attributed to jinns.
When night falls, ruins, abandoned houses, graveyards, altars of sacrifice, and isolated spots that may be unclean are a red line. The Baloch and the Brauhi people do not expose newborns to the outside world before the child’s Aqiqah, the first shaving of the head. Should a child fall ill before this time, it is believed to be the work of jinns. Wise old women are summoned to perform a ritual of exorcism, using charcoal and hot water, chanting “Turosi! Turosi!”, which means “fear” in Brahui, for three consecutive nights. For adults, a lamb, calf, or he-goat is sacrificed, and Mullahs recite prayers, as an offering to the jinn, asking him to be gone.
Faries: Pari’s
A pari is invariably a supernatural being idealistic in character. Beautiful, generous and kind, they obey their own monarch, stay away from humans.
Whilst marrying a pari is a common feature of folklore elsewhere, a pari in Balochi and Brahui lore is invariably an unwelcome visitor, yearning for a human man she has fallen in love with, haunting him and his family, or that of a concubine for a King or Prince.
Many households in Balochistan keep white roosters; for their call is believed to be good luck, and deter devs and paris from lingering about.
The Devil: Shaitaan
Another concept with its roots in Islamic tradition, the Shaitaan is believed to misguide the righteous. Reciting the Quran is believed to keep one safe from falling under its influence. Those who do not wake up for morning prayers, (and do not make Wuzu), are believed to be more likely to fall to temptation, for they start their day without washing themselves.
At night, beggars are ignored, for the Shaitaan may have taken up human form. It may also take up the form of those who aren’t buried properly, thus, funerals are taken seriously. It is also believed that the Quran is never to be left open unattended, for the Shaitaan may insult it by reading it. Nor is a gun to be pointed at someone, even if it is empty- the shaitaan may load it by magic.
Al
The name’s origins lie in Turkish. Fatal and feminine, Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Armenian lore refer to her as Al, or Al Ana.
In Baloch and Brahui lore, Al is the daughter of the devil, the shaitaan, known to attack women whilst they give birth.
A folktale speaks of a hunter, who came across a woman in the wilderness, holding a liver in her hand. It was Al. He fought her and forced her to return the liver to whoever she had stolen it from. The victim was a woman in labour. He kept Al prisoner, and in his service for seven years, during which women were safe during childbirth.
Balah
Another evil spirit, which also happens to be feminine, appears as a woman of age. She asks travelers to help her, and if they refuse, she makes a quick meal out of them.
Chukbar
It is a small, yellow bird, that is spotted in bushes along roadsides and pathways. Young boys often try to catch it, sometimes successfully, but should it flutter away, it is believed that no man has ever caught it.
It is said to be possessed by an evil spirit. After dusk, it leads children following it astray, whose corpses turn up in the bushes a few days later.
Jatu
A woman who practices evil becomes evil, and that is how a Jatu comes into being. Women who indulge (probably in black magic) are believed to turn into witches, in the disguise of a human.
Although the victims of the Jatu are children, like the Al, the Jatu too, are fond of eating the livers.
Gwat
Gwat, the shapeless evil spirit of the winds, is notorious for being the nemesis of young men and women, taking possession of their bodies. It is often dealt with rituals of fire and music.
My friend did a very interesting thread on it, that I shall attach here for you.
Mami/Pali
The Mami, also known as the Pali, which literally translates to “the licker of feet” is a creature of the desert, known to attack men during their sleep, drinking on their blood.
A tale speaks of two travelers from Pasni who tricked the Pali by sleeping with their feet beside one another, covered with mantles. The Mami encircled them for a while, but assuming the two men were one man, with two heads, and no feet, went away.
British travelers have written of bear-like creatures in Balochistan, that kidnap humans, and renders them immobile after licking their feet. English military records claim that some soldiers were kidnapped and killed by such monsters.
Dhat
The Dhat does not believe on preying or harming humans; it is content with striking terror in their hearts. It too can shapeshift. There is a tale of a horseman rescuing a lamb by the roadside, only to witness the lamb become massively oversized in a matter of minutes, upon which he threw the animal off his horse and fled the scene.
On occasion, it may possess women, for whom a Sheikh is called upon in the dead of the night for incantations, as are the finest players of the Siroz and the Dam to play music, and the ritual with music, dancing, and singing, in that order, followed by a blood sacrifice is carried out to communicate to the spirit of darkness that it needs to go.
Mai Rani
Mai Rani is another evil spirit. She is believed to cause measles. Rituals to please her include donning attire, wearing gold, and offering food.
Gowanko
This evil spirit is unique in its nature, for it only acts out of mischief when it finds the chest of someone deep in slumber to sit on!
That is all for today folks. If you were just hitting the bed or planning to go hiking tomorrow on your own, well, I may owe you an apology. See you next time with more spirits perhaps, or sorcery!
