Malak Baran Khan Kudezai was a politician and Chief of the Marmakhel Tribe which consists of sub-tribes in Loralai i.e. Kudezai, Khadarzai, Malazai, Adhorhzai, Walizai, Alizai etc. He was also an active member of

Loya jirga A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...

(Afghanistan Grand Council/Assembly).

Early age

Baran's father, Malik Sulaiman, was a Malak (an honorary title given by Tribal Elders) of the Marmakhel tribes living in

Loralai District Loralai District ( ur, ) is a district in the northeast of Balochistan province of Pakistan. Loralai town is the district headquarters. Demographics At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 244,446, of which 130,484 were ma ...

. Sulaiman had a dominant role in his Bori, resolving disputes among his tribes as well as participating in various tribal gatherings and representing the Marmakhel tribes in the District Councils. Sulaiman taught his son the traditions and principles of attending tribal meetings. Baran started his education in local

madrassa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

at the age of six. He shifted to an urban school established under the

British raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

in the cantonment area of Loralai.

Political activity

Baran started his political journey as a district executive member of the All India National Congress. He visited

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

and

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

to attend meetings and seminars of congressmen. As a member of

, he also visited

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Zabul Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Zabu ...

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

for the annual meeting of the Masharaan (Elders). He represented the Southern Regions of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

regions of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

state in the council. Following the defeat of the Kakar Tribesmen in 1881–1882, British forces entered Loralai without resistance and occupied areas of Bori, Duki, Sanjavi and Mekhtar. In 1884, a platoon of 4800 men were stationed at Loralai Bori. Around the same time, many people like Zarak Khan Churmai, Malak Wasal Kudezai, Amanullah Khan, Sherjan Khan, Thor Sawan had started guerrilla war against British invasion. However, there was no concept of political and democratic struggle in the tribal areas of Loralai, Zhob, Barkan. In 1936, Baran became involved in

Anjuman-i-Watan The Anjuman-i-Watan, Baluchistan ( bal, ), commonly called Anjuman-i-Watan, was a political party in British India based in the province of Baluchistan. It was led by Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai. It was a member of the All India Azad Muslim Confe ...

, the democratic movement against British rule in India, which was founded by

Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai (7 July 1907 – 2 December 1973) ( ps, عبدالصمد خان اڅکزی), commonly known as Khan Shaheed () (This title or name was given by the great Baba-e-Afghan Abdul Rahim Khan Mandokhail) was a Pashtun nati ...

's. This was the first organized democratic movement in the history of Loralai. By 1937, the movement had attracted a large following, demanding a separate homeland for Pashtuns. In 1938, Anjuman-i-Watan held a huge meeting in Loralai, along with Khan Abdul Ghaffar, one of the founders of the Pashtun resistance movement

Khudai Khidmatgar Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...

. For his political activism, Baran was arrested and imprisoned at the Central Jail in Quetta, where he spent 18 months. A corner meeting of Anjuman-i-Watan in Loralai City 1936

A corner meeting of Anjuman-i-Watan in Loralai City 1936

Death

Baran Khan died from cancer in 1945. His death was memorialized by many people in Loralai in the form of poems.

Content

Magazine Olas 1969 V Balochistan District Gazetter Loralai Chapter, 1936, 1937, 1940,1942 Daily Jang News Paper Quetta January 2003 The Monthly Sahar Quetta

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kudezai, Baran Khan Afghan politicians Afghan tribal leaders 1875 births 1945 deaths Pashtun people People from Loralai District Deaths from cancer in Pakistan