Baluchistan District Gazetteer Series, Volumes VII and VII-A: Makrán and Khárán

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Baluchistan District Gazetteer Series. VOLUMES VII AND VII-A .

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I

MAKRAN AND

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Text and Appendices.

Price:Rs.

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KHARAN.

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Baluchistan District Gazetteer Series. VOL. VII.

1\IIAKRAN. TEXT AND APPENDICES BY

R. HUGHES-BULLER, I.C.S.

·"Thou showest me the road to· Makran, but what a difference there is between an order and its execution ? I will -never enter this country, as its name alone terrifies me." Tile Lamfmt of Sindn i!Jn Seldma, quoted in Major Sykes' " Ten Thousand Miles iff Persia."

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PREFACE. THE Gazetteer of Makran is the first of the series dealing with the divisions of the Katat State, which is to be published under the orders of the Government of India. Perhaps no part of Baluchistan possesses more interest, whether from the point of view of the historian or the ethnographist, than Makran. It was famous in ancient history under the name of Gedrosia, and' much was written about it in the days of· the Caliphate by the Arab geographers. To the ethnographist, its importance lies in the fact that for several centuries it became the settlement of the Baloch previous to their migration eastward towards Kachhi and the Punjab. It still contains remnants of those races, the Korak and the Meds, which figure so prominently in the accounts given by Arab authors. __ In 1892 Lord Curzon wrote : "Beluchistan comprises the Gedrosia, and parts of the Drangiana, of the ancients ; and it is a sigRificant illustration of the obscurity that has rarely lifted from these regions, and of the precarious political existence which till lately they enjoyed, that the words of Gibbon, written of a period i,7oo years ago, were equally applicable to their condition up till the middle of the century still unexpired : 'We can scarcely attribute to the Persian monarchy the sea coast of Gedrosia or Macran which extends along the Indian Ocean from Cape Jask to Cape Gwadel. In the time of Alexander, and probably many ages afterwards, it was thinly inhabited by a savage people of Ichthyophagi, who knew no arts, who acknowledged no master, and who were divided by inhospitable deserts from the rest of the world.' "It is an extraordinary, but nevertheless a true fact, that from the time of Alexander's march through Gedrosia, and the navigation of his admiral Nearchus along its shores, we have no record of the visit of a European to the interior of Beluchistan. until 18og. "* •P,rsia, Vol. II, p. 254•

iv

PREFACE.

The obscurity noticed by Lord Curzon has now gradually lifted from the whole of Baluchistan. Owing, however, to its remote situation, Makran has hitherto been the least known division of Katat and, with the exception of Ross's Memorandum on Makran and a few magazine articles, little has been published concerning it. In the present work an endeavour has been made to collate whatever published information is available and to supplement it with material gleaned from the country itself. For this purpose one of the Gazetteer assistants, Maulvz' Abdur Rab, was deputed to Makran, where be spent 14 months in investigating actual conditions in situ during 1go3-o4, and I am indebted to him for the local material included in the work. The drafts were sent to Captain F. McConaghey, Assistant Political Agent, Makran, who kindly undertook to . sc·rutinize them, and to whom I tender my acknowledgments. for the assistance thus afforded. QUETTA,

Decemh,er

1905.

BIRO'S EYE VIEW OF PASNI.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

MAKRAN. CHAPTER I.-DESCRIPTIVE. PHYSICAL ASPECTS-

PAGE.

Situation and dimensionlt Boundaries .•• Origin of name ... Configuration and natural divisions ... The Coast ••• Mountains ... Makrli.n Coast Range Gokprosh hills Central Makrli.n Range ... Zli.murli.n ... Zangi Lak or Dranjuk ... The Siahan Range Rivers The LJasht River ... The Gish Kaur Kll Kaur · ... The Kt\ch Kaur The Nihing The Dasht••• Shli.di Kaur The Basol .•• The Rakhshli.n The Gwli.rgo The Gicbk ... The Rli.ghai The Tank River ... Scenery Kaps Islands Harbours Pasni Bay ... Gwd.dar Port

..•

I

i!J 3 4

5 6 7 9 IO II

13 14 16

17 ib

io

IS

io

19

io

20'

io 21 2l

ib 2]'

ib 24 25

ill ill

ib

ii

CONTENTS•. PHYSICAL ASPECTS (co~tinued).Kalmat Ras Shamal Bandar Gwetter bay and Jiwnri .•• Geology Botany Zoology Climate and Seasons Weather on the Coast Climate of the interior Seasons Temperature Rainfall Winds Cyclones Earthquake,;

PAGE. 26 ib ib ib 28 29 ib

JO

...

HISTORYTraditional period Alexander the Great · ••• The Seleucids The Sassanians ••• The Brahman Dynasty of Sind Chach marches to Kirman and defines the boundary of Makran... Arab period The Country in the Middle Ages Foreign invaders... Portuguese attacks Local rulers The Maliks The Bul~dais The Gichkis The Brahui invasions Appointments of Naibs by the Khan... British Supremacy Settlemt>nt of the western boundary of the country. Later developments and establishment of British control ... Recent events The rising of 1898 Frontier disputes •• Visit of Lord Curz,>n to Makran and appointment of Assistant Politkal Agent Archmology

ib 31 ib ib 32 33 ib ib 34 41 ib 42

ib a'b 45 a'& 46 ib ill 47 49 ib

SO 51 ib

53 54 ilJ

56 ib 57

CONTENTS.

iii

(continued)Tumuli or dambs Bahmani damb near Turbat Ancient kdreses ••• Millstone at Shahrak Tombs Reservoirs Inscriptions

HISTORY

PAGE.

ib

ss ib ib 59 ib ib

POPULATION-

Ethnographical. History Density · Towns and villages Character of villages Growth of population. Migration •••. Nomads ••• Immigration Emigration Vital statistics, infrrmities and infant mortality Comparative number of the sexes and civil condition Marriage customs Dower Bow price

Bijjar Rights of the wife in her dower Property acquired by the bride from her father Divorce .•• ••• · Penalties for adu~tery ••• •••. The status of women and rights to property Inheritance by widows .•• ••• Inheritance Language Jadgali Lori-cblni ••• Western Baluchi or Makrani .•. Literature and ·correspondence Races, tribes and groups Fission Main divisions The Gichkis Nausherwanis Quarrels with the Khan Local distribution

...

70 ib 7I 72 73 ib

74

ib ib

75 76 76 ib ib ib 77 81' 82 83 ib 84 87 ·88 89

iv

CONTENTS. Po~ULATION

(continued)Baloch Khan Nausherwani Mirwaris Blzanjaus ... 'The Baloch Hots ·Thl;l j ad gals Kahnati Kattawar ... Kauhdai Lundi Ra£s .The Rinds .••. Sangur Shehzadas .• : Barr Kashd.ni Mulld.zai Kenagizai Inferior races The Meds ... Darzada or Nak{b Loris Servile dependants Khojas or Lotias Hindus Physical and moral characteristics The dominant classes Gichkis Nausherwanis M£rwaris The Baloch Darzadas Nak{bs Meds Lods Servile dependants Lharacteristics of the women ... Religion I shim Historical ... The practice of Islam Rifa ... SJ1epar-ja

...

...

...

Gwdt

I? AGE.

io go 91 93 io 94 95 96 97 io 98 ib 101

102 IOJ.

ib . 104 ib 105 ib 106 107 108

109 ib 110 ib ib ib ib ib III

ib ib liZ

ill io io IIJ

ill ib ib 114 ib

CON1ENTS. Po~ULATION

(concluded)-

v PAGE:

n6 119

Zikris Doctrines Practice

ih

· Kiskti

120

Occupation • Landowners Cultivators and flock-owners Sea-faring classes Artisans . Social life and social precedence Custom of hospitality The etiquette of entertainment · Co-operation· among individuals or groups... Manners of spending day by a headman, cultivator and shepherd Food

121

ih ih 122

ih ih 124 135

ih 126 127

Dre~

1d

Dwellings ... Disposal of dead ••• Amusements and festivals Names and Titles Rules of honour ··•· System of reprisftls Blood compensation Leading families .•• Kaqhda Kenagi, Ghulam Shahzai Mulla MuM.rak Wad~la Mulla Dad Kadm, Mullai

130

...

ih 131

132 133

134

ih 1

35 ih

136

ib

CHAPTER H.-ECONOMIC. AGRICULTURE-

General conditions Soil...

137 138

Milk Mat... Dal or dalo Kork or rod So1'ag Pat...

ih

141

Conformation of surface and cultivation in relation thereto ... Rainfall and humidity, etc. · .•• System of cultivation in relation to rainfall ..•·

142 143

139 1 40

ih ih

ih

vi

CONTE.VTS. (continuetl)Population engaged in, and dependent on, Agriculture Seasons of the year, sowing and harvest Agricultural calendar Principal crops · ·Staple food-grains, juari (local name BU~rat or sokro) Dry cultivation Threshing •• Winnowing Juari sowings Crop area in the Dasht valley ••• .fuari in irrigated lands ••• Watering ... Zurrat cultivation in Zamuran and Panjgur Weeding .. Varieties Diseases Uses Wheat Irrig