Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 37 (1/2)

_History._--Of the early history of this portion of the Asiatic continent little or nothing is known. The poverty and natural strength of the country, combined with the ferocious habits of the natives, seem to have equally repelled the friendly visits of inquisitive strangers and the hostile incursions of invading armies. The first distinct account which we have is from Arrian, who, with his usual brevity and severe veracity, narrates the march of Alexander through this region, which he calls the country of the Oreitae and Gadrosii.[2] He gives a very accurate account of this forlorn tract, its general aridity and the necessity of obtaining water by digging in the beds of torrents; describes the food of the inhabitants as dates and fish; and adverts to the occasional occurrence of fertile spots, the abundance of aromatic and th.o.r.n.y shrubs and fragrant plants, and the violence of the monsoon in the western part of Makran. He notices also the impossibility of supporting a large army, and the consequent destruction of the greater part of the men and beasts which accompanied the expedition of Alexander. In the 8th century this country was traversed by an army of the Caliphate.

The precise period at which the Brahuis gained the mastery cannot be accurately ascertained; but it was probably about two and a half centuries ago. The last raja of the Hindu dynasty found himself compelled to call for the a.s.sistance of the mountain shepherds, with their leader, Kambar, in order to check the encroachments of a horde of depredators, headed by an Afghan chief, who infested the country and even threatened to attack the seat of government. Kambar successfully performed the service for which he had been engaged; but having in a few years quelled the robbers against whom he had been called in, and finding himself at the head of the only military tribe in the country, he formally deposed the raja and a.s.sumed the government.

The history of the country after the accession of Kambar is as obscure as during the Hindu dynasty. It would appear, however, that the sceptre was quietly transmitted to Abdulla Khan, the fourth in descent from Kambar, who, being an intrepid and ambitious soldier, turned his thoughts towards the conquest of Kach Gandava, then held by different petty chiefs under the authority of the nawabs of Sind.

After various success, the Kambaranis at length possessed themselves of the sovereignty of a considerable portion of that fruitful plain, including the chief town, Gandava. It was during this contest that the famous Nadir Shah advanced from Persia to the invasion of Hindustan; and while at Kandahar he despatched several detachments into Baluchistan and established his authority in that province. Abdulla Khan, however, was continued in the government of the country by Nadir's orders; but he was soon after killed in a battle with the forces of the nawabs of Sind. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Haji Mahommed Khan, who abandoned himself to the most tyrannical and licentious way of life and alienated his subjects by oppressive taxation. In these circ.u.mstances Nasir Khan, the second son of Abdulla Khan, who had accompanied the victorious Nadir to Delhi, and acquired the favour and confidence of that monarch, returned to Kalat and was hailed by the whole population as their deliverer. Finding that expostulation had no effect upon his brother, he one day entered his apartment and stabbed him to the heart. As soon as the tyrant was dead, Nasir Khan mounted the _musnud_ amidst the universal joy of his subjects; and immediately transmitted a report of the events which had taken place to Nadir Shah, who was then encamped near Kandahar. The shah received the intelligence with satisfaction, and despatched a firman, by return of the messenger, appointing Nasir Khan beglar begi (prince of princes) of all Baluchistan. This event took place in the year 1739.

Nasir Khan proved an active, politic and warlike prince. He took great pains to re-establish the internal government of all the provinces in his dominions, and improved and fortified the city of Kalat. On the death of Nadir Shah in 1747, he acknowledged the t.i.tle of the king of Kabul, Ahmad Shah (Durani). In 1758 he declared himself entirely independent; upon which Ahmad Shah despatched a force against him under one of his ministers. The khan, however, raised an army and totally routed the Afghan army. On receiving intelligence of this discomfiture, the king himself marched with strong reinforcements, and a pitched battle was fought in which Nasir Khan was worsted. He retired in good order to Kalat, whither he was followed by the victor, who invested the place with his whole army. The khan made a vigorous defence; and, after the royal troops had been foiled in their attempts to take the city by storm or surprise, a negotiation was proposed by the king which terminated in a treaty of peace. By this treaty it was stipulated that the king was to receive the cousin of Nasir Khan in marriage; and that the khan was to pay no tribute, but only, when called upon, to furnish troops to a.s.sist the armies, for which he was to receive an allowance in cash equal to half their pay. The khan frequently distinguished himself in the subsequent wars of Kabul; and, as a reward for his services, the king bestowed upon him several districts in perpetual and entire sovereignty. Having succeeded in quelling a dangerous rebellion headed by his cousin Behram Khan, this able prince at length died in extreme old age in the month of June 1795, leaving three sons and five daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Mahmud Khan, then a boy of about fourteen years. During the reign of this prince, who has been described as a very humane and indolent man, the country was distracted by sanguinary broils; the governors of several provinces and districts withdrew their allegiance; and the dominions of the khans of Kalat gradually so diminished that they now comprehend only a small portion of the provinces formerly subject to Nasir Khan.

In 1839, when the British army advanced through the Bolan Pa.s.s towards Afghanistan, the conduct of Mehrab Khan, the ruler of Baluchistan, was considered so treacherous and dangerous as to require ”the exaction of retribution from that chieftain,” and ”the execution of such arrangements as would establish future security in that quarter.” General Wills.h.i.+re was accordingly detached from the army of the Indus with 1050 men to a.s.sault Kalat. A gate was knocked in by the field-pieces, and the town and citadel were stormed in a few minutes. Above 400 Baluches were slain, among them Mehrab Khan himself; and 2000 prisoners were taken. Subsequent inquiries have, however, proved that the treachery towards the British was not [v.03 p.0295] on the part of Mehrab Khan, but on that of his vizier, Mahommed Hussein, and certain chiefs with whom he was in league, and at whose instigation the British convoys were plundered in their pa.s.sage through Kach Gandava and in the Bolan Pa.s.s. The treacherous vizier, however, made our too credulous political officers believe that Mehrab Khan was to blame; his object being to bring his master to ruin and to obtain for himself all power in the state, knowing that Mehrab's successor was only a child. How far he succeeded in his object history has shown. In the following year Kalat changed hands, the governor established by the British, together with a feeble garrison, being overpowered. At the close of the same year it was reoccupied by the British under General Nott. In 1841 Nasir Khan II., the youthful son of the slain Mehrab Khan, was recognized by the British, who soon after evacuated the country.

From the conquest of Sind by the British troops under the command of General Sir Charles Napier in 1843 up to 1854 no diplomatic intercourse occurred worthy of note between the British and Baluch states. In the latter year, however, under the governor-generals.h.i.+p of the marquess of Dalhousie, General John Jacob, C.B., at the time political superintendent and commandant on the Sind frontier, was deputed to arrange and conclude a treaty between the Kalat state, then under the chieftains.h.i.+p of Nasir Khan and the British government. This treaty was executed on the 14th of May 1854 and was to the following effect:--

”That the former offensive and defensive treaty, concluded in 1841 by Major Outram between the British government and Nasir Khan II., chief of Kalat, was to be annulled.

”That Nasir Khan II., his heirs and successors, bound themselves to oppose to the utmost all the enemies of the British government, and in all cases to act in subordinate co-operation with that government, and to enter into no negotiations with other states without its consent.

”That should it be deemed necessary to station British troops in any part of the territory of Kalat, they shall occupy such positions as may be thought advisable by the British authorities.

”That the Baluch chief was to prevent all plundering on the part of his subjects within or in the neighbourhood of British territory.

”That he was further to protect all merchants pa.s.sing through his territory, and only to exact from them a transit duty, fixed by schedule attached to the treaty; and that, on condition of a faithful performance of these duties, he was to receive from the British government an annual subsidy of Rs.50,000 (5000).”

The provisions of the above treaty were most loyally performed by Nasir Khan up to the time of his death in 1856. He was succeeded by his brother, Mir Khodadud Khan, when a youth of twelve years of age, who, however, did not obtain his position before he had put down by force a rebellion on the part of his turbulent chiefs, who had first elected him, but, not receiving what they considered an adequate reward from his treasury, sought to depose him in favour of his cousin Sher dil Khan. In the latter part of 1857, the Indian rebellion being at its height and the city of Delhi still in the hands of the rebels, a British officer (Major Henry Green) was deputed, on the part of the British government, to reside as political agent with the Khan at Kalat and to a.s.sist him by his advice in maintaining control over his turbulent tribes. This duty was successfully performed until 1863, when, during the temporary absence of Major Malcolm Green, the then political agent, Khodadad Khan was, at the instigation of some of his princ.i.p.al chiefs, attacked while out riding by his cousin, Sher dil Khan, and severely wounded. Khodadad fled in safety to a residence close to the British border, and Sher dil Khan was elected and proclaimed Khan. His rule was, however, a short one, for early in 1864, when proceeding to Kalat, he was murdered in the Gandava Pa.s.s; and Khodadad was again elected chief by the very men who had only the previous year caused his overthrow, and who had lately been accomplices to the murder of his cousin. After the above events Khodadad maintained his precarious position with great difficulty; but owing to his inability to govern his unruly subjects without material a.s.sistance from the British government, which they were not disposed to give, his country gradually fell into the greatest anarchy; and, consequently, some of the provisions of the treaty of 1854 having been broken, diplomatic relations were discontinued with the Kalat state after the end of 1874.

After this the chiefs of Las and Wad, the Marris and Bugtis, Kej and Makran all threw off their allegiance, and anarchy became so widespread that the British government again interfered. The treaty of 1854 was renewed in 1876 by Lord Lytton (under Sandeman's advice), and the khan received substantial aid from the government in the form of an annual subsidy of a lakh of rupees, instead of the Rs.50,000 previously a.s.signed to him. The treaty of 1854 was a treaty of alliance offensive and defensive. The treaty of 1876 renewed these terms, but utterly changed the policy of non-intervention which was maintained by the former, by the recognition of the sirdars as well as the khan, and by the appointment of the British government as referee in cases of dispute between them. British troops were to be located in the khan's country; Quetta was founded; telegraphs and railways were projected; roads were made; and the reign of law and order established. The nebulous claims of Afghanistan to Sibi and Pis.h.i.+n were disposed of by the treaty of Gandamak in the spring of 1879, and the final consolidation of the existing form of Kalat administration was effected by Sandeman's expedition to Kharan in 1883, and the reconciliation of Azad Khan, the great Naus.h.i.+rwani chief, with the khan of Kalat. British Baluchistan was incorporated with British India by the resolution of 1st November 1887, and divided into two districts--Quetta-Pis.h.i.+n and Thai Chotiali--to be administered by a deputy-commissioner and a regular staff.

In 1890 and 1891 were carried out that series of politico-military expeditions which resulted in the occupation of the Zhob valley, the foundation of the central cantonment of Fort Sandeman, and the extension of a line of outposts which, commencing at Quetta, may be said to rest on Wana north of the Gomal. The effect of these expeditions, and of this extension of military occupation, has been to reduce the independent Pathan tribes of the Suliman mountains to effective order, and to put a stop to border raiding on the Indus plains south of the Gomal. In 1893 serious differences arose between the khan of Kalat and Sir James Browne, who succeeded Sir Robert Sandeman as agent to the governor-general in Baluchistan, arising out of Mir Khodadad Khan's outrageous conduct in the management of his own court, and the treatment of his officials. Finally, the khan was deposed, and his son Mir Mahmud Khan succeeded in November 1893. Since then the most important change in Baluch administration has been the perpetual lease and transfer of management to British agency of the Nushki district and Niabat, with all rights, jurisdiction and administrative power, in lieu of a perpetual rent of Rs.9000 per annum. This was effected in July 1899. This secures the direct control of the great highway to Seistan which has been opened to khafila and railway traffic.

The revenues of the khan of Kalat consist partly of subsidies and partly of agricultural revenue, the total value being about Rs.500,000 per annum.

Since 1882 he has received Rs.25,000 as government rent for the Quetta district, besides Rs.30,000 in lieu of transit duties in the Boian; this has been increased lately by Rs.9000 as already stated. In 1899 the total imports of Kalat were valued at Rs.700,000, and the exports at Rs.505,000.

AUTHORITIES.--The Seistan Boundary Report of 1873 by Sir F. Goldsmid; Floyer, _Unexplored Baluchistan_ (London, 1882); T. Thornton, _Life of Sandeman_ (London, 1896); G. P. Tate, _Kalat, a Memoir_ (Calcutta, 1896); Sir T. Holdich, ”Ethnographic and Historical Notes on Makran,” Calcutta, 1892 (_Survey Report_); ”Antiquities, Ethnography, &c., of Las Bela and Makran,” Calcutta, 1894 (_Survey Report_); ”Ancient and Medieval Makran,”

vol. vii. _R.G.S. Journal_ (1896); ”Perso-Baluch Boundary,” vol. ix.

_R.G.S. Journal_ (1897); McMahon, ”The Southern Borderland of Afghanistan,”

vol. x. _Journal R.G.S_. (1897). Notes on Sir R. Sandeman's tours in Baluchistan will be found in vols. v., xii., xiii. and xiv. of the _R.G.S.

Proceedings_; _Popular Poetry of the Baloches_, by M. Longworth-Dames (2 vols., _Roy. As. Soc._ 1907).

(T. H. H.*)

[1] See W. T. Blanford, ”Geological Notes on the Hills in the neighbourhood of the Sind and Punjab Frontier between Quetta and Dera Ghazi Khan,” _Mem.

Geol. Surv. India_, vol. xx. pt. 2 (1883); E. Vredenburg, ”A Geological Sketch of the Baluchistan Desert, and part of Eastern Persia,” _Mem. Geol.

Surv. India_, vol. x.x.xi. pt. 2 (1901); E. Vredenburg, ”On the Occurrence of a Species of Halorites in the Trias of Baluchistan,” _Rec. Geol. Surv.

India_, vol. x.x.xi. (1904), pp. 162-166, pls. 17, 18.

[2] See V. A. Smith, _Early Hist. of India_ (ed. 1908), p. 103 seq.

BALUCHISTAN, a province of Persia consisting of the western part of Baluchistan (_q.v._) in a wider sense. Persian Baluchistan has an area of about 60,000 sq. m., and lying along the northern sh.o.r.e of the Arabian Sea, is bounded E. by British and [v.03 p.0296] independent Baluchistan, N. by Seistan and the central Persian desert, and W. by Kerman. The country has little water and only a small part of it is under cultivation, the remainder being composed of arid, waterless plains, deserts--some stony, others with moving sands--barren hills and mountains. The princ.i.p.al rivers are the Mashkid and that of Bampur which flow away from the sea and are lost in depressions called _hamuns_. The rivers which flow into the sea are unimportant and dry during the greater part of the year. Persian Baluchistan forms an administrative division of the province of Kerman and is subdivided into the following twenty districts:--(1) Bampur; (2) Serhad; (3) Dizek; (4) Jalk; (5) Sib; (6) Irafshan; (7) Magas; (8) Serbaz; (9) Lashar; (10) Champ; (11) Fannuj; (12) Bazman; (13) Aptar; (14) Daman; (15) Aprandagan; (16) Asfehgeh; (17) Surmij; (18) Meskutan; (19) Pushteh; (20) Makran, the country of the Ichthyophagi, with the subdistricts Kasrkand, Geh, Bint, Dasht, Kucheh and Bahu. The total population of Baluchistan is under 200,000. The province was practically independent until the occupation of Bampur by Persian troops in 1849, and over some of the extreme eastern districts Persian supremacy was not recognized until 1872.

BALUE, JEAN (_c._ 1421-1491), French cardinal and minister of Louis XI., was born of very humble parentage at Angle in Poitou, and was first patronized by the bishop of Poitiers. In 1461 he became vicar-general of the bishop of Angers. His activity, cunning and mastery of intrigue gained him the appreciation of Louis XI., who made him his almoner. In a short time Balue became a considerable personage. In 1465 he received the bishopric of evreux; the king made him _le premier du grant conseil_, and, in spite of his dissolute life, obtained for him a cardinalate (1468). But in that year Balue was compromised in the king's humiliation by Charles the Bold at Peronne and excluded from the council. He then intrigued with Charles against his master: their secret correspondence was intercepted, and on the 23rd of April 1469 Balue was thrown into prison, where he remained eleven years, but not, as has been alleged, in an iron cage. In 1480, through the intervention of Pope Sixtus IV., he was set at liberty, and from that time lived in high favour at the court of Rome. He received the bishopric of Albano and afterwards that of Palestrina. In 1484 he was even sent to France as legate _a latere_. He died at Ancona in 1491.

See Henri Forgeot, ”Jean Balue, cardinal d'Angers” (1895), in the _Bibliotheque de l'ecole des hautes etudes_.