Mengal

Mengal (Balochi: مینگل) are a Brahui speaking clan in Balochistan, Pakistan. Mengal was originally one of the four Jat (Jadgal) tribes inhabiting Balochistan; the other three being Zehri, Bizenjo and Sajdi.

Etymology
In the Balochi language, plurals of substantives and collective nouns are formed, generally, by adding the suffix "gal" to the noun itself, tribes like Jadgal, Kurdgal are formed in this manner, similarly the term Mengal (Meng-gal,) merely denotes the Meng (Ming, or Men, or Min) name of a tribe and the suffix "gal" means (Speech and group), thus meaning (the group of Mins). The well-known ancient city of Minnagara in Sindh (town of the Mins) have been also named from this tribe.

Demographics
The Mengal tribe is one of the largest Brahui Speaking Baloch tribe. The tribe can be divided in two major branches: Zagar Mengal and Shahizai Mengal.

Notable clans of Mengal tribe are Shahizai, Lehri, Baranzai, Mahmudzai etc.

Tribal area
The Mengal tribal area is around 70000 sqmi, stretching from the Helmand River in the North to Lasbela District in the south, and bordering on the province of Sindh to the east.

Politics
For many years the Mengal tribe has been seeking greater autonomy from the Pakistan government. The Pakistani government and the Mengals have been clashing for the past four decades, for various reasons. Large-scale military operations were carried out in the area of Khuzdar in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the Pakistani government headed by the former Prime Minister Late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, with support of the Shah of Iran, carried out one of the bloodiest military operations in the history of Balochistan against the Mengal and Marri tribes which lasted for 5 years, during which around 8,000 Baloch fighters and 6,000 army soldiers were killed.

Prominent people

 * Sardar Ataullah Mengal is a former Chief Minister of Balochistan.
 * Sardar Akhtar Mengal is a former Chief Minister of Balochistan.
 * Mir Gul Khan Naseer was a renowned poet, historian and politician and the First Education Minister Of Balochistan.
 * Mir Amir-ul-Mulk Mengal was Governor and Chief Justice of Balochistan.
 * Mir Muhammad Naseer Mengal served as acting Chief Minister of Balochistan and as Pakistan's acting Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources.
 * Mir Nooruddin Mengal was a prominent politician of Balochistan. He was assassinated on 13 October 2010.
 * Mir Lawang Khan Mengal was a famous politician and tribal leader