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This paper will present a critical review of the Baloch and Balochistan showing that how the Baloch have evolved to become a nation, and Balochistan from being a hinterland in Iranian plateau to a province of Pakistani federation. The paper will discuss the origin of the Baloch and examine the various theories about the origin of the Baloch nation and argue that neither the primordialist nor the modernist theories of nationhood can explain the Baloch nation. In fact, it is the ethno-symbolists that offer the best understanding of the Baloch as a nation. The Baloch nation is heterogeneous in its composition, being an admixture of various ethnic, racial, and linguistic groups over a long period of time. Baloch nationalism, however, is best understandable via the modernist theories of nationalism. The paper will contend that the Baloch nation is neither ancient nor modern because it emerged as a nation before the era of enlightenment and the French revolution. The paper will elaborate the modern Baloch nation, the birth of 'Baloch Confederacy' in its historical perspective, from the arrival of the British in 1839 to the fall of the State of Kalat into the Pakistani federation in 1948. The paper will finally provide a brief but robust analysis on the emergence, evolution and dynamics of contemporary Baloch nationalism vis-à-vis the federation of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the history of the Baloch ethno-national conflict within the Pakistani federation and its evolving trends over the time. It further examines the strategies of the state in resolving the conflict within the federation of Pakistan. This paper also deliberates whether the ongoing conflict(2002 to date) is about power sharing, self-determination, complete independence, or the failure of the state to address the Baloch problem within the parameters of federation. The paper is qualitative in nature which investigated and analysed different facts and events that displayed flaws in the Pakistani federation which has been unsuccessful to bridge the political differences of the Baloch within the federal structure of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]