Scholz, Fred (trans. Hugh van Skyhawk). Nomadism and colonialism: a hundred years of Baluchistan, 1872-1972

xviii, 328 pp., maps, figs., tables, bibliogr. Oxford: Univ. Press, 2002. 17.99 [pounds sterling] (cloth)

Fred Scholz's study of nomadism in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, originally published in German in 1973, is a work of rigorous scholarship. It offers a contribution both to theoretical debate and regional studies. Compared to North West Frontier Province and Punjab, this area has received little attention front social scientists or governments, and anthropologists who have conducted fieldwork in Baluchistan may be counted on one hand. The British colonial government considered Baluchistan a buffer-province against hostile neighbours, Pakistani governments have made greater efforts to bolster Baluchistan's infrastructure (notably transportation networks), but have been largely unsuccessfull in achieving even distribution of investment or development. Consequently, Baluchistan has less than other provinces in the way of infrastructural development or economic opportunities.

Scholz's basic thesis is straightforward. Changes in patterns of spatial utilization of the tribes of Baluchistan, he argues, must he seen as a consequence of changes in tribal structure. He relies on archival data covering roughly two centuries. This is supplemented with field research carried...