Balochistan (Baluchistan, 1908)

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The Baloch struggle: A timeline; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, August 16, 2016

In brief

The Times of India, Aug 14, 2016

Here are 10 key points that will help you understand the Balochistan conflict better.

1. The annexation of Kalat

Balochistan has witnessed regular insurgencies since Pakistan annexed the autonomous Baloch state of Kalat in 1948. The state is now divided between Pakistan and Iran. The capital of the Pakistani province of Balochistan is Quetta.

2. Multiple insurgencies

The Pakistan government has waged military campaigns against Baloch insurgencies in 1948, 1958-59, 1962-63, and 1973-77. The most recent conflict began in the early 2000s.

3. A separate state

There have been calls in Balochistan for a separate state independent from Pakistan. Naela Qadri Baloch has even appealed to the Indian government, asking it to intervene and liberate Balochistan from Pakistan.

4. A vision for an independent Balochistan

She has told TOI that an independent Balochistan would be "nuclear free, terror-free, secular, democratic, pluralistic," and "gender-balanced"

5. Armed separatist groups

There are a number of armed separatist groups demanding independence from Pakistan. Prominent groups include the Balochistan Liberation Army and Lashkar-e-Balochistan.

6. Systematic repression and marginalization

The Pakistan government is accused of engaging in systematic repression and marginalization of Balochs. Islamabad has reportedly detained thousands of Baloch nationalists, denied Balochs positions in government institutions and the military, assassinated democratic Baloch leaders, funded religious schools to fuel religious radicalization, and backed the Taliban in general elections to counter democratic Baloch leaders.

7. Curbing press freedom

The Pakistan government is also accused of imposing extraordinary restrictions on press freedom. It has reportedly prevented the international media from reporting from conflict zones. In addition, foreign journalists working in the region have reportedly been physically assaulted by intelligence agents, or deported from Pakistan.

8. 'Kill-and-dump' policy

In May this year, Naela Qadri Baloch told TOI that Pakistan had "imposed" war on Balochistan, and that its human rights violations in the region had "reached the level of genocide." Describing what she called a "kill-and-dump" policy, the activist said the Pakistan Army killed Balochs indiscriminately, abducted women and took them to rape cells, and had official torture cells. "They are using rape and dishonour as an instrument to crush a nation," she said.

9. Creating terror groups

Naela Qadri Baloch also alleged that Pakistan had created local al-Qaida and ISIS groups in the region, in the same way that it had once created al-Shams and al-Badr in Bangladesh.

10. Siphoning resources

Pakistan is accused of siphoning Balochistan's energy resources away from their rightful beneficiaries. While Pakistan gets most of its energy from Balochistan's natural gas reserves, Punjab rather than Balochistan benefits from this fuel source.

Baluchistan, 1908

This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

(more correctly Balochistan). — An oblong stretch of country occupying the extreme western corner of the Indian Empire, and situated between 24 54' and 32 4' N. and 6o° 56' and 70 15' E. It is divided into three main divisions : (1) British Baluchistan, with an area of 9,476 square miles, consisting of tracts assigned to the British Government by treaty in 1879 ; (2) Agency Territories, with an area of 44,345 square miles, composed of tracts which have, from time to time, been acquired by lease or otherwise brought under control and been placed directly under British officers ; and (3) the Native States of Kalat and Las Bela, with an area of 78,034 square miles.

Baluchistan is bounded on the south by the Arabian Sea ; on the north by Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier Province ; on the west by Persia ; and on the east by Sind, the Punjab, and a part of the Frontier Province. The western boundary from Gwetter Bay to Kuhak was settled by Colonel Goldsmid in 187 1. A line from Kuhak to Koh-i-Malik-Siah was defined by an Anglo-Persian Boundary Com- mission in 1896, and the southern portion of it was demarcated by pillars to the bank of the Talab river. There has been no demarcation north of that point; but the line thence to Koh-i-Malik-Siah is governed by the agreement of 1896 and a supplementary agreement concluded in May, 1905. The Baloch-Afghan Boundary Commission delimited the northern frontier between 1894 and 1896. The boundary dividing Baluchistan from the Frontier Province on the one hand and the Punjab on the other has been denned at various times since the estab- lishment of the Agency. That between Sind and Baluchistan was settled in 1854 and demarcated in 1862.

The Province covers a total area of 131,855 square miles, including the Native States of Kalat and Las Bela, and is the largest of the Agencies administered under the Foreign Department. Its area exceeds that of the whole of the British Isles. The country, which is almost wholly mountainous, lies on the great belt of ranges connecting the Safed Koh with the hill system of Southern Persia. It thus forms a watershed, the drainage of which enters the Indus on the east and the Arabian Sea on the south, while on the north and west it makes its way to those inland lakes or hamuns which form so general a feature of Central Asia.

The name of the country is derived from the Baloch, whose migratory hordes gradually extended eastwards from Southern Persia in and after the seventh century, until they eventually took up a position in Kachhi about the fifteenth century. The Baloch are not, however, the most numerous people in the Province, being exceeded in numbers by both Brahuis and Afghans.

Physical aspects

The characteristic divisions of the country are four in number : upper highlands, lower highlands, plains, and deserts. The upper highlands, locally known as Khorasan, occupy the central and Physical east-central portion of the country, extending between 28°and 3i°N. Here the mountains reach an ele- vation of nearly 12,000 feet, while the valleys lie about 5,000 feet above sea-level. The lower highlands include the slopes of the Sulaiman range on the east, the Pab and Klrthar ranges on the south, and the ranges of Makran, Kharan, and Chagai on the west. The elevation of the valleys in this tract varies from 250 feet above sea-level upwards.

The plains of Baluchistan include the peculiar strips of country known as Kachhi and Las Bela, and the valley of the Dasht river. They may be described as flat triangular inlets of generally similar formation, running up into the mountains. Their population differs markedly from that of the highlands. The deserts are situated in the north- western part of the Province. They consist of open level plains covered with black gravel, or of broad expanses of deep sandhills which sometimes assume the proportions of formidable sand-mountains. The general configuration of the mountains resembles the letter S.

On the east the Sulaiman range stretches upwards in gradually ascend- ing steps to the Takht-i-Sulaiman. The mountains then curve round in a westerly direction on the northern side of the Zhob river along the Toba-Kakar hills till the Central Brahui range is reached. Near Quetta the direction becomes north and south, but from about the 66th degree of longitude the general trend is again in a westerly direction through Makran and Kharan. To the south of the Central Brahui range the KIrthar and Pab ranges occupy the south-east corner of the Agency. On the west four parallel ranges occur, the southernmost being known as the Makran Coast range, the next as the Central Makran range, north of which again lies the Siahan range. Above these are situated the Ras Koh, skirting Kharan, and the Chagai hills. The mountains are, as a rule, composed of bare rocky limestone or conglo- merate, and, except in the upper highlands, seldom have much vege- tation. In southern Makran the hills are distinguished by the absence of stones ; and the white clay of which they consist has been worn by the lapse of ages into most fantastic shapes. A range seldom bears a distinctive title, but every peak is known by a separate name to the inhabitants.

No rivers are to be found carrying a large and permanent flow of water. For the greater part of the year the beds contain merely a shallow stream, which frequently disappears in the pebbly bottom. Wherever practicable, this supply is taken off for irrigation purposes. After heavy rains the rivers become raging torrents ; and woe to the man who happens to meet a flood in one of those weird gorges of stupendous depth, running at right angles to the general strike of the hills, which form so remarkable a feature of this region. Sometimes these defiles are so narrow that both sides can be touched at one time with the hands, and the walls rise many hunared feet perpendicularly upwards. The largest river in the country is the Hingol or Gidar Dhor. The north-eastern part of the Province is drained by the Zhob river on the east and the Pishin Lora on the west. Farther south the Nari receives the drainage of Loralai and Sibi Districts and passes through Kachhi. The rivers draining the Jhalawan country are the Mula, the Hab, and the Porai.i. In Makran the Dasht river carries off the drainage to the south, and the Rakhshan, which joins the Mashkel river, to the north.

e plains of India and entered the passes of Baluchistan finds himself among surroundings which are essentially un-Indian. The general outlook resembles that of the Iranian plateau, and, taken as a whole, it is unattractive, though its peculiarities are not without a certain charm. Rugged, barren, sunburnt mountains, rent by huge chasms and gorges, alternate with arid deserts and stony plains, the prevailing colour of which is a monotonous drab. But this is redeemed in places by level valleys of considerable size, in which irrigation enables much cultivation to be carried on and rich crops of all kinds to be raised. The flatness of the valleys, due to the scanty rainfall, distinguishes Baluchistan from the Eastern Himalayas.

Within the mountains lie narrow glens, whose rippling watercourses are fringed in early summer by the brilliant green of carefully terraced fields. Rows of willows, with interlacing festoons of vines, border the clear water, while groups of ruddy chilaren and comely Italian-faced women in indigo-blue or scarlet shifts and cotton shawls complete a peaceful picture of beauty and fertility. Few places are more beautiful than Quetta on a bright frosty morning when all the lofty peaks are capped with glistening snow, while the date-groves, which encircle the thriving settlements of Makran, are full of picturesque attraction. The frowning rifts and gorges in the upper plateau make a fierce contrast to the smile of the valleys. From the loftier mountain peaks magnificent views are obtainable. No lakes of importance occur. The Hamun-i-Mashkel and Ha.mun-i- Lora can hardly be described as such, for they only fill after heavy floods. The same may be said of the kaps of Parom and Kolwa in Makran. The Siranda in Las Bela is a land-locked lagoon. Astalu or Haptalar, lying off the Makran coast, is the only island, unless the bare rock of Churna off Ras Muari be reckoned as such.

The Province has a coast-line of about 472 miles. The distance in a direct line, however, from Karachi to Gwetter Bay is only 335 miles. Owing to small rainfall, the salt nature of the soil, and the physical conformation of the country, the shore is almost entirely desert, pre- senting a succession of arid clay plains impregnated with saline matter and intersected by watercourses. From these plains rise precipitous table hills. The coast-line is deeply indented, but its most character- istic feature is the repeated occurrence of promontories and peninsulas of white clay cliffs, table-topped in form. The intermediate tract is low, and in some places has extensive salt-water swamps behind it. The chief ports on the coast are Sonmiani or Miani, Pasni, and Gwadar.

They are much exposed, and, owing to the shoaling of the water, no large ships can approach nearer than two or three miles. 1 For geological purposes Baluchistan is conveniently divided into three regions : —

(1) An outer series of ranges, forming a succession of synclines and anticlines comparable in structure to the typical Jura mountains of Europe. In this region we have two subdivisions : (a) the semi- circular area of Sewistan 2 , and (/>) the ranges of Kalat, Sind, and Makran, which continue into Southern Persia as far west as the Straits of Ormuz. Further curved ranges of the same type extend as far as Kurdistan.

(2) A region of more intense disturbance exhibiting the typical Him- alayan structure, whose southern or south-eastern limit is a great overthrust forming the western continuation of the Great Boundary Fault of the Himalaya s . It includes the ranges north of the Zhob and PishTn valleys. The Sewistan semicircular area stands very much in the same relation to these ranges as does the Jura to the Alps in Europe.

(3) A region of fragmentary ranges, separated by desert depressions, including the Nushki desert and Kharan. Little of the centre and west of Baluchistan has yet been geologically 1 From material supplied by Mr. E. Vredenburg, Deputy-Superintendent, Geological Survey of India.

2 Though not locally recognized, this name has come into general use in scientific literature. It includes the Marri-Bugti country and the Districts of Sibi and Loralai.

3 For an explanation of the Great Boundary Fault and a discussion of the Himalayan structure, see Manual of the Geology of India. explored. In the following table, most of the formations occur in- differently in any of the three regions. The upper Eocene igneous intrusions are, however, restricted to the second and third regional types, and the Makran group to the coast of that name.

Along the Great Boundary Fault we find the true Himalayan struc- ture typically exhibited, the Siwalik series of strata rising out of the gravel plain and dipping towards the mountains beyond, as if underlying their mass. South of the Zhob valley occurs a succession of curved ranges in four distinct zones or belts, the first or outer one Siwalik, the second Eocene, the third Jurassic, and the fourth or innermost Triassic. Of the various geological groups the upper and middle Siwaliks have, so far, proved unfossiliferous. The lowermost strata of the lower Siwaliks contain fresh-water shells and remains of mammalia. The

upper and lower Nari appear to be conformable with one another, the latter being well represented in the Bolan Pass. The Splntangi is a massive pale-coloured limestone that caps the scarp of the Kirthar range. It is the most important of the nummulitic limestones in Baluchistan. Shaly intercalations occur here and there in the Splntangi limestone, and become gradually more abundant towards its base, thus passing into the next underlying group called the Ghazij.

The Ghazij beds are the only formations among all the rocks in Baluchistan that have as yet proved of economic importance, owing to the coal seams which they contain. When the thickness of the Ghazij increases considerably, this group becomes very similar in appearance to the Khojak shales, the age of which is well established by the presence of nummulites contained in calcareous shales and massive dark bituminous limestone towards the base of the group. Cardita Beaumonti beds occur in the form of detached patches in many parts. The exposures of the Dunghan series are of limited extent. This consists of an extremely variable series of shales and limestone often merging into the flysch facies. Below comes a group of shales of Neocomian age containing innumerable specimens of belemnites, known as Belemnite beds. They rest on the massive limestone of which all the more conspicuous peaks in Baluchistan are composed. The Triassic shales and limestones, forming an extensive outcrop south of the Zhob valley, are profusely injected by great intru- sive masses of coarse-grained gabbro, often altered into serpentine, and innumerable dolerite or basalt veins and dykes of the Deccan trap age. To this period also belong many of the igneous rocks, both intrusive and eruptive, which occur abundantly in all three of the regional types mentioned above. A second group of igneous rocks is represented by deep-seated intrusions, without any connexion with volcanoes ; it belongs to the second and third regional types, where it forms the granite and dioiite of the Khwaja Amran, the augite-syenite and augite- diorite of the Ras Koh, and the hornblende-diorite of Chagai. Owing to the absence of rain, the materials formed by the disintegration of the mountains are not removed by rivers, but form immense deposits which are, therefore, of enormous depth. The desert plains represent vast areas of subsidence in regions once occupied by inland seas or lakes. 1 The flora of the plains and lower highlands resembles in general aspect the vegetation of Western Rajputana and the adjoining parts of the Punjab. Trees and herbs are conspicuously absent ; and the bare stony soil supports a desolate jungle of stunted scrub, the individual plants of which are almost all armed to the leaf-tip with spines, hooks, and prickles of diverse appearance but alike in malignancy. A few, like the two first mentioned below, dispense with leaves altogether ; and others, like Boucerosia, protect their fleshy branches with a hide-like 1 From notes by Major I D. Prain, Director, Botanical Survey of India, epidermis. The commoner constituents of this ill-favoured flora are Capparis aphylla, Periploca aphylla, Boucerosia, Tecoma undulata, Acan- thodium spicatum, Prosopis spicigera, Withania coagulans, Zizyphus Jujttba, Salvadora o/eoides, Calotropis procera, Caragona polyacantha, three kinds of Acacia, Leptadenia Spartium, Taverniera Nummularia, Physorhynchus brahuicus, and Alliagi camelorum. In low-lying parts where water is available Tamarix articulata and T. gallica are found. Here and there Euphorbia neriifolia and the dwarf-palm (Nannorhops Ritchicana) occur, the latter often in great quantities. The herbaceous vegetation is very scanty, consisting of such plants as Aerua javanica, Pluchea lanceolata, Fagonia arabica, Mimulus alatus, and Cassia obovata ; near water, Eclipta erecta ; and as weeds of cultivation, Solatium dulc- amara and Spergularia. Two species akin to Haloxylon, Suaeda vermi- culata and Salsola foetida, abound on saline soil. Panicum antidotale is the most important grass, but Eleusine flagellifera and a species of Eragrostis are also abundant.

In the upper highlands the flora is of a quite different type. The long flat valleys have, for the greater part of the year, a monotonous covering of Artemisia and Haloxylon Griffithii, diversified, where there are streams, with tamarisks and species of Salsola, Arenaria, Halocharis, &c. On the surrounding hills, up to an elevation of 7,000 feet above sea-level, are to be found species of Acantholimon, Acanthophyllum, Salvia, Amygdalus, Spiraea, Gentiana, Eremotachys, and Campanula. Pistachio trees, associated with ash, wild olive, and daphne, are also common. Myrtle is occasionally found in the valleys. At higher eleva- tions Juniperus macropoda and Prunus eburnea are abundant. Other plants common at these altitudes are Lonicera, Caragana ambigua, Berberis, Cotoneastcr nummularia, Spiraea brahuica, Rosa Beggeriana, Salvia cabulica, Berchemia lineata, Viola kunawarensis, Leptorhabdos Benthamiana, and two varieties of Pennisetum. With the coming of spring a host of bulbous and other herbaceous plants, which have lain hidden throughout the winter, send forth leaves and flowers and for a few weeks make the valleys and hill-sides gay with blossoms of divers hues. They include four varieties of Iris, Hyacinthus glaucus, Tulipa chrysantha, Tulipa montana, Fritillaria, Eremurus persicus, Cheiranthus Stocksianus, Campanula Griffithii, Delphinium persicum, several species of Alyssum, and many species of Astragalus. In swampy grass lands spring up Ononis hircina, Ranunculus aquatilis, Lotus corniculatus, Plan- tago major, and Eragrostis cynosuroides. The weeds of cultivation include Adonis aestivalis, Hypecoum procumbens, Fumaria parviflora, Malcohnia africana, Sisymbrium Sophia, Lepidium Draba, Malva rotundifolia, Veronica agrestis, and many others. This many-coloured carpet of flowers endures for all too brief a season, for, under the intolerable heat of the summer sun, it speedily shrivels and disappears.

The fauna has never been completely studied. In the higher hills are to be found the mountain sheep (Ovis vignei) and the mdrkhor {Capra falconeri). The latter, which is of the Kabul and Sulaiman varieties, lives a solitary life in the glens and cavities of the mountains, while the mountain sheep wanders on the lower slopes. In the lower highlands the markhor is replaced by the Sind ibex {Capra aegagrus). The leopard {Felts pardus) is frequently seen, and the black bear ( Ursus torquatus) is found here and there. The Asiatic wild ass CEquus hemionus) haunts the deserts of Kharan and Nushki. The Indian wolf (Canis pallipes) sometimes occurs in considerable numbers and does much damage to flocks. Several kinds of foxes are found, their skins being in some demand.

The characteristic game-birds of the country are chikor (Caccabis chucar) and slsl {Ammoperdix bonhami), which abound in years of good rainfall and afford excellent sport. Large flocks of sand-grouse pass through the country in the winter, and the tanks are frequented by many varieties of wild-fowl. A few woodcock are also to be found. Most of the birds of Baluchistan are migratory. Of those permanently resident, the most characteristic are the raven, frequent everywhere ; the lammergeyer, for which no place is too wild ; and the golden eagle. Among the visitors the most common are different species of Saxicola, headed by the pied chat, and several kinds of shrikes which appear in spring in large numbers. Sea-birds are numerous along the coast. Reptiles include the tortoise, several genera of lizards, of which the species Phrynocephalus is the most common, and the skink. Eleven genera of snakes have so far been discovered, the most numerous in species being Zamenis, Lytorhynchus, and Distira. They also include Eristocophis macmahonii.

The coast swarms with fish and molluscs, the former including sharks, perch, cat-fish, herrings, yellow-tails, and pomfrets. The study of insects has been confined almost entirely to Quetta- Pishln. Two species of locust are among the most conspicuous, and dragon flies are common, as also are bees, wasps, &c. The latter include both Indian and European species, and many of them have been described by Russian naturalists. Butterflies are scarce, but moths are fairly numerous. Ants are found plentifully, but few species have been recognized. Sand-flies are common, and few persons escape their irritating attentions. Among the lesser-known classes of insects may be mentioned cicadas, which sometimes appear in vast numbers, and Argas persia/s, so noxious to human beings. Plant-lice do great damage to many of the trees.

In a country which includes such varied natural divisions, differences of climate are varied and extreme. It is temperate or otherwise in pro- portion to local elevation above sea-level. Climatic conditions similar to those of Sind prevail in the plains and lower highlands, but in the upper highlands the seasons of the year are as well marked as in Europe. Owing to the proximity of the hills, the heat of the plains in summer is probably even greater than that of Jacobabad, where the mean temperature in July is 96 . ' O God, when thou hadst created Sibi and Dadhar, what object was there in conceiving hell ? ' says the native proverb. In this part of the country also the deadly simoom is not infrequent. During the short cold season, on the other hand, the climate is delightful. In the upper highlands the heat is never intense, the mean temperature at Quetta in July being only 79 . Except at Chaman, the diurnal range is highest in November. In winter the thermometer frequently sinks below freezing-point ; snow falls and icy winds blow. The following table indicates the average temperature at places for which statistics are available. The figures for Jacobabad, which is in Sind but lies close to the border of Baluchistan, have been inserted as typical of the conditions in the Kachhi plain ; — -

The mountainous character of the country affects the direction and force of the winds. These partake largely of the character of draughts traversing the funnel-like valleys and finally striking the hills, where they empty the vapour that they carry. The north-west wind, known to the natives as gorich, blows constantly. It is bitterly cold in winter and, in the west, scorching in summer. The west of Chagai is subject to the effect of the wind so well-known in Persia as the bad-i-sad-o-lnst- roz, or '120 days' wind.' Baluchistan lies outside the monsoon area and its rainfall is exceed- ingly irregular and scanty. Shahrig, which has the heaviest rainfall, can boast of no more than nf inches in the year. In the highlands few places receive more than 10 inches, and in the plains the average amount is about 5 inches, decreasing in some cases to 3. The plains and the lower highlands receive their largest rainfall in the summer, and the upper highlands in the winter from the shallow storms advancing from the Persian plateau. In the former area the wettest month is July ; in the latter February. The table on the next page shows, for eight to twelve year periods ending in 1901, the average rainfall received at principal places : —

The conformation of the surface of the country renders much damage from floods impossible, but the vast volumes of water which occasionally sweep down the river channels sometimes cause harm and loss of life. The floods are generally very sudden, and have been known to rise to a great height in the Nari. The only known cyclone was that which visited Las Bela in June, 1902, destroying many cattle. Earthquakes are common everywhere and are frequently continuous. They some- times cause much damage. A large earthquake crack has been traced for no less than 120 miles along the Khwaja Amran and Sarlath ranges, and near this range of hills a disastrous earthquake occurred on December 20, 1892.

History

One of the most striking facts in the history of Baluchistan is that, while many of the great conquerors of India have passed across her borders, they have left few permanent marks of their History. presence. Macedonian, Arab, Ghaznivid, Mongol, Mughal, Durrani, all traversed the country, and occupied it to guard their lines of communication, but have bequeathed neither buildings nor other monument of their presence.

The earliest-known mention of part of Baluchistan is in the Avesta, the Vara Pishin-anha of which is undoubtedly identifiable with the valley of Pishln. In the Shahnama we have an account of the conquest of Makran by Kai Khusru (Cyrus), and the Achaemenian empire which reached its farthest limits under Darius Hystaspes included the whole of the country. Among Greek authors Herodotus gives us little infor- mation about Baluchistan. He merely mentions Paktyake, which has been identified with the country of the Pakhtuns or Afghans. It is to Strabo that we owe the best account, and from his writings we are able to identify the localities into which Baluchistan was distributed in ancient geography. On the north-east, and probably including all the upper highlands, was Arachosia ; directly west of it was Drangiana ; to the south lay Gedrosia ; while in the Ichthyophagoi, Oraitai, and Arabies or Arabii are to be identified the fishermen of the Makran coast, the inhabitants of Las Bela, and the people of the Hab river valley respectively. Alexander's retreat from India led him through Las Bela and Makran, while a second division of his army under Craterus traversed the Mula Pass, and a third coasted along the shore under Nearchus. Alexander's march and the sufferings of his troops are graphically described by Arrian. After Alexander's death, Baluchistan fell to Seleucus Nicator, and later on passed from his descendants to the Graeco-Bactrian kings who ruled also in Afghanistan and in the Punjab. Between 140 and 130 B.C., they were overthrown by a Central Asian horde, the Sakas, who passed along to the valley of the Helmand. About this time Buddhism, of which many traces are still to be found, flourished in Baluchistan. The empire of the Sassanians which followed expanded slowly towards the east, and Baluchistan was not conquered till the time of Nausherwan (a. d. 529-77).

Henceforth the suzerainty over the petty rulers of Baluchistan alter- nated between east and west. In the fourteenth year of the Hijra (635-6) Rai Chach marched from Sind and conquered Makran. The Rai dynasty at the same time appear to have extended their dominions to the north towards Kandahar. The Arabs reached Makran as early as the year 643. The parts of Baluchistan which subsequently became best known to them were Turan (the Jhalawan country), with its capital at Khuzdar, and Nudha or Budha (Kachhi). Their power lasted till towards the end of the tenth century ; for when Ibn Haukal visited India for the second time about 976, he found an Arab governor residing in Kaikanan (probably the modern Nal) and governing Khuzdar.

Shortly afterwards Baluchistan fell into the hands of NasTr-ud-din Sabuktagln ; and his son, Mahmud of Ghazni, was able to effect his conquests in Sind owing to his possession of Khuzdar. From the Ghaznivids it passed into the hands of the Ghorids and, a little later, was included in the dominion of Sultan Muhammad Khan of Khwarizm (Khiva) in 12 19.

About 1223 a Mongol expedition under Chagatai, Chingiz Khan's son, penetrated as far as Makran. A few years later Southern Baluchi- stan came under the rule of Sultan Altamsh of Delhi, but it appears soon to have reverted to the Mongols. The raids organized by Chingiz Khan have burned deep into the memory of Baluchistan. From Makran to the Gonial, the Mongol (known to the people as the Mughal) and his atrocities are still a byword in every household. Henceforth the history of Baluchistan centres round Kandahar ; and it was from this direction that in 1398 Plr Muhammad, the grandson of Timur, was engaged in reducing the Afghans of the Sulaiman mountains. Local tradition asserts that Timur himself passed through the Marri country during one of his Indian expeditions. The succeeding century is one of great historical interest. The Baloch extended their power to Kalat, Kachhi, and the Punjab, and the wars took place between Mir Chakar the Rind and Gwahram Lashari which are so celebrated in Baloch verse. In these wars a prominent part was played by Mir Zunnun Beg, Arghun, who was governor of north-eastern Baluchistan under Sultan Husain Mirza of Herat about 1470. At the same time the Brahuis had been gradually gaining strength, and their little princi- pality at this time extended through the Jhalawan country to Wad. The Arghiins shortly afterwards gave way before Babar. From 1556 to 1595 the country was under the Safavid dynasty. Then it fell into the hands of the Mughals of Delhi until 1638, when it was again transferred to Persia.

We have an interesting account of Baluchistan in the Ai?i-i-Akbarl. In 1590 the upper highlands were included in the sarkar of Kandahar, while Kachhi was part of the Bhakkar sarkar of the Multan Subah. Makran alone remained independent under the Maliks, Buledais, and Gichkis, until Nasir Khan I of Kalat brought it within his power during the eighteenth century.

From the middle of the seventeenth century Baluchistan remained under the Safavids till the rise of the Ghilzai power in 1708. The latter in its turn gave way before Nadir Shah, who, during the first part of the eighteenth century, made several expeditions to or through Baluchistan. Ahmad Shah Durrani followed ; and thenceforth the north-eastern part of the country, including almost all the areas now under direct administration, remained under the more or less nominal suzerainty of the Sadozais and Barakzais till 1879, when Pishln, Duki, and Sibi passed into British hands by the Treaty of Gandamak.

Meanwhile the whole of Western Baluchistan had been consolidated into an organized state under the Ahmadzai Khans of Kalat. All tradition asserts that the former rulers of Kalat were Hindus, Sewa by name. As Muhammadan dynasties held Baluchistan from about the seventh century, we must look to an earlier period for the date of the Sewas ; and it is not improbable that they were connected with the Rai dynasty of Sind, whose genealogical table includes two rulers named Sihras. The Mlrwaris, from whom the Ahmadzais are descended, claim Arab origin. In their earlier legends we find them living at Surab near Kalat, and extending their power thence in wars with the Jats or Jadgals. They then fell under the power of the Mongols ; but one of their chiefs, Mir Hasan, regained the capital from the Mongol governor, and he and his successors held Kalat for twelve generations till the rise of Mir Ahmad in 1666-7. It ' s fr° m Mir Ahmad that the eponym Ahmadzai is derived.

Authentic history now begins, and the following is a list of the rulers, with approximate dates of their accession : —

1. Mir Ahmad I, 1666-7. 2. Mir Mehrab, 1695-6. 3. Mir Samandar, 1697-8.

10. Mir Shah Nawaz Khan, 1839. rr. Mir Nasir Khan II, 1840.

4. Mir Ahmad II, 1713-4. 12. Mir Khudadad Khan, 1857. 5. Mir Abdullah, 1715-6. From March, 1863, to May, 6. Mir Muhabbat, 1 730-1. 1864, the masnad was usurped 7. Mir Muhammad Nasir Khan I, by Khudadad Khan's cousin, 1 750-1. Sherdil Khan. 8. Mir Mahmud Khan I, 1793-4. 13. Mir Mahmud Khan II, 1893. 9. Mir Mehrab Khan, 1816-7. (The ruling Khan.) The rulers of Kalat were never fully independent. There was always, as there is still, a paramount power to whom they were subject. In the earliest times they were merely petty chiefs ; later they bowed to the orders of the Mughal emperors of Delhi and to the rulers of Kandahar, and supplied men-at-arms on demand. Most peremptory orders from the Afghan rulers to their vassals of Kalat are still extant, and the predominance of the Sadozais and Barakzais was acknowledged so late as 1838. It was not until the time of Nasir Khan I that the titles of Beglar Begi (Chief of Chiefs) and Wali-i-Kalat (Governor of Kalat) were conferred on the Kalat ruler by the Afghan kings. Gibbon's description of the history of Oriental dynasties, as 'one unceasing round of valour, greatness, discord, degeneracy, and decay,' applies well to the Ahmadzais. For the first 150 years, up to the death of Mir Mahmud Khan I, a gradual extension of power took place and the building up of a constitution which, looking at the condition of the country, is a marvel of political sagacity and practical statesman- ship. A period of social ferment, anarchy, and rebellion succeeded, in which sanguinary revolts rapidly alternated with the restoration of a power ruthless in retaliation, until at length the British Government was forced to interfere.

As the Mughal power decayed, the Ahmadzai chiefs found themselves freed in some degree from external interference. The first problem that presented itself was to secure mutual cohesion and co-operation in the loose tribal organization of the state, and this was effected by adopting a policy of parcelling out a portion of all conquests among the poverty-stricken highlanders. Thus all gained a vested interest in the welfare of the community, while receiving provision for their main- tenance. A period of expansion then commenced. Mir Ahmad made successive descents on the plains of Sibi. Mir Samandar extended his raids to Zhob, Bori, and Thal-Chotiali, and levied an annual sum of Rs. 40,000 from the Kalhoras of Sind. Mir Abdullah, the greatest conqueror of the dynasty, turned his attention westward to Makran, while in the north-east he captured Pishln and Shorawak from the Ghilzai rulers of Kandahar. He was eventually slain in a fight with the Kalhoras at Jandrihar near Sanni in Kachhi. During the reign of Mir Abdullah's successor, Mir Muhabbat, Nadir Shah rose to power ; and the Ahmadzai ruler obtained through him in 1740 the cession of Kachhi, in compensation for the blood of Mir Abdullah and the men who had fallen with him. The Brahuis had now gained what highlanders must always covet, good cultivable lands ; and, by the wisdom of Muhabbat Khan and of his brother Nasir Khan, certain tracts were distributed among the tribesmen on the condition of finding so many men-at-arms for the Khan's body of irregular troops. At the same time much of the revenue-paying land was retained by the Khan for himself.

The forty-four years of the rule of Nasir Khan I, known to the Brahuis as 'The Great,' and the hero of their history, were years of strenuous administration and organization interspersed with military expeditions. He accompanied Ahmad Shah in his expeditions to Persia and India, while at home he was continuously engaged in the reduction of Makran, and, after nine expeditions to that country, he obtained from the Gichkis the right to the collection of half the revenues. A wise and able administrator, Nasir Khan was distinguished for his prudence, activity, and enterprise. He was essentially a warrior and a conqueror, and his spare time was spent in hunting. At the same time he was most attentive to religion, and enjoined on his people strict attention to the precepts of the Muhammadan law. His reign was free from those internecine conflicts of which the subsequent story of Kalat offers so sad a record.

The reign of Nasir Khan's successor, Mir Mahmud Khan, was distinguished by little except revolts. In 1810 Pottinger visited his capital and has left a full record of his experiences 1 . The reign of Mir Mehrab Khan was one long struggle with his chiefs many of whom he murdered. He became dependent on men of the stamp of Mulla Muhammad Hasan and Saiyid Muhammad Sharif, by whose treachery, at the beginning of the first Afghan War, Sir William Macnaghten and Sir Alexander Burnes were deceived into thinking that Mehrab Khan was a traitor to the British ; that he had induced the tribes to oppose the advance of the British army through the Bolan Pass ; and that finally, when Sir Alexander Burnes was returning from a mission to Kalat, he had caused a robbery to be committed on the party, in the course of which an agreement, which had been executed between the envoy and the Khan, was carried off. This view determined the diversion of Sir Thomas Willshire's brigade from Quetta to attack 1 Henry Pottinger, Travels in Bcloochistan and Sinde (1816. Kalat in 1839, an act which has been described by Malleson as 'more than a grave error, a crime 1 .' The place was taken by assault and Mehrab Khan was slain. Shah Nawaz Khan was now appointed to succeed, with Lieutenant Loveday as Political officer. He was not, however, destined to occupy the masnad for long. In the year 1840 a rebellion of the Sarawan tribesmen caused his abdication, and Mir Muhammad Hasan, afterwards known as Mir Nasir Khan II, was placed upon it.

By the efforts of Colonel Stacy, Mir Nasir Khan II was induced to submit to the British Government, and was installed by Major (after- wards Sir James) Outram at Kalat in 1840. Nasir Khan at first acknowledged Shah Shuja as the paramount power in Baluchistan ; but subsequent events in Kabul caused this undertaking to be annulled, and in 1854, as a consequence of the European imbroglio with Russia, a formal treaty, the first of those with Kalat, was concluded with the British Government. Quarrels, which had meanwhile broken out between the Khan and the chiefs, led to Nasir Khan raising a small body of mercenary troops, a measure which the chiefs naturally regarded as a serious encroachment on their powers.

Nasir Khan II died, perhaps by poison, in 1857, and was succeeded by Khudadad Khan, then a mere boy. One of the first acts of the new ruler was to open fire with his guns on the chiefs who lay encamped near the city of Kalat; and, from this time till 1876, the history of Kalat contains little but one long chronicle of anarchy, revolt, and outrage, in which there were seven important and many minor rebel- lions. In March, 1863, through the machinations of Mulla Muham- mad Raisani, Sherdil, the Khan's cousin, attempted his assassination, but succeeded only in wounding him. A general insurrection ensued ; Sherdil Khan was declared ruler and Khudadad Khan retired to the frontier. Mulla. Muhammad now joined the other side, and the Khan regained the masnad in 1864. Revolt after revolt followed, until an attempt was made by the Commissioner in Sind to arbitrate between the parties in 1873. I* proved abortive, and Major Harrison, the British Agent, was thereupon withdrawn and the Khan's subsidy was stopped.

At this juncture, Sir Robert (then Major) Sandeman appeared on the scene. His first mission to Kalat in 1875 was not entirely successful; and, immediately after its departure from the capital, Nur-ud-dln, the Mengal chief, with many of his followers, was slain by the Khan owing, it was alleged, to a plot against the latter's life. But a few months later Major Sandeman was again on the spot, accompanied by a large escort. By his tact and firmness the Mastung agreement, the Magna Charta of the Brahui confederacy, was drawn up on July 13, 1875, and read out 1 Malleson, History of Afghanistan (1878). formally in Darbar. An account of its provisions is given below in the section on Native States (p. 319).

To make the influence which had been thus acquired effective for the future, the British Government now accepted the responsibility, as the paramount power, of preserving the peace of the country, and a fresh treaty was concluded with the Khan in December, 1876. In the fol- lowing year Sir Robert Sandeman was appointed Agent to the Governor- General, and Quetta was permanently occupied. The rest of the story of Kalat is soon told. During Sir Robert Sandeman's lifetime, no serious revolts occurred ; and, in spite of the waywardness of Khudadad Khan, he was always treated by the Agent to the Governor-General with the greatest courtesy and consideration. In March, 1893, the mustaufi or chief accountant, with his father, his son, and a follower, were murdered by the Khan's orders. The Khan appears to have suspected the mustaufi of treachery, and alleged that the latter had made an attempt on his life. Khudadad Khan's abdi- cation was subsequently accepted by the Government of India in favour of his son, Mir Mahmud, the present Khan. Mir Khudadad Khan was shortly afterwards removed with his second and third sons to Loralai, and is now living in Pishln.

The reign of the present Khan has been distinguished by few events of importance. In 1897 the wave of unrest, which passed down the frontier, made itself felt in Baluchistan, where a movement among the Sarawan chiefs, which might have had serious consequences, was averted by the arrest and imprisonment of two of the ringleaders. In the same year an outbreak occurred in Makran, and British troops engaged the Makran rebels at Gokprosh in January, 1898, the ringleader with many of his followers being slain. Another outbreak occurred in Makran in 1901, which was also put down by British troops by the capture of Nodiz fort.

Little need be said here of the history of Las Bela. Although nominally subject to Kalat, whose ruler could call on it for an armed force when required, and claimed the right of control over the amount of the dues levied on goods in transit from Sonmiani, its chiefs (Jams) have always asserted and maintained a greater or less degree of indepen- dence, their position being strengthened by matrimonial alliances with the Khans of Kalat. Since the advent of the British the bond of connexion between the two States has been almost entirely severed. The political connexion of the British Government with Baluchistan commences from the outbreak of the first Afghan War in 1839, wnen jt was traversed by the Army of the Indus and was afterwards occupied until 1842 to protect the British lines of communication. The districts of Kachhi, Quetta, and Mastung were handed over to Shah Shuja-ul- mulk, and Political officers were appointed to administer the country and organize a system of intelligence. Continual trouble occurred with the tribes in Kachhi ; and in 1840 Kahan, in the Marri hills, was occupied by Captain Lewis Brown. Here he was besieged for five months by the Marris, who defeated a relieving force under Major Clibborn.

In the meantime the garrison at Quetta was attacked by the neighbouring tribes, and was also invested by the insurgents, who had raised Nasir Khan II of Kalat to the masnad. On the retreat of this gathering to Dadhar and its defeat by a British force, Lieutenant Loveday, the Assistant Political Agent at Kalat, was murdered. The year 1841 opened auspiciously, but closed with the disaster at Kabul, an event which reacted on the Baluchistan tribesmen. Fortunately the country was in charge of a man of brilliant abilities, Sir James Outram ; and all remained quiet while General England's column was pushed up the Bolan Pass to Quetta at the beginning of 1842, only to be defeated in the unfortunate affair of Haikalzai in Pishin. Then began the with- drawal from Afghanistan ; the districts which had been assigned to Shah Shuja were handed over to the Khan of Kalat, and Quetta was finally evacuated in October.

In 1845 General Sir Charles Napier led a force of 7,000 men against the Bugtis ; but in spite of the assistance given by their enemies, the Marris, the operations were only a qualified success. The charge of the Upper Sind Frontier and of Baluchistan devolved on Captain (after- wards General) John Jacob from the beginning of 1847, an d he held it till his death in 1858. Jacob's indefatigable energy and military frontier methods belong to the history of Sind rather than of Baluchistan ; but his influence in Kalat was very great, and it was he who negotiated the first treaty with that State in 1854. From 1856 to 1873 Political Agents were deputed to Kalat, who were subordinate to the Political Superin- tendent in Upper Sind.

The founder of the Baluchistan Province as it now exists was Sir Robert Sandeman, who gave his name to a policy which has been aptly described as humane, sympathetic, and civilizing. Sandeman was the first to break down the close border system and to realize that the Baloch and Brahui chiefs, with their interests and influence, were a powerful factor for good. His policy, in short, was one of conciliatory intervention, tempered with lucrative employment and light taxation.

Captain Sandeman, as he then was, first came into contact with the Marris and Bugtis as Deputy-Commissioner of Dera Ghazi Khan in 1867 ; and, in consequence of the relations he then established and of his successful dealings with these subjects of the Khan of Kalat, he was invited to take part in the Mithankot conference, which was held in February, 1871, between the representatives of the Governments of the Punjab and Sind. The result of this conference was to place Sandeman, in his relations with the Marris and the Bugtis, under the Political Superintendent of the Upper Sind Frontier, and to cause the extension of the system of employing tribal horsemen, with the object of maintain- ing friendly communications with the tribes. Shortly afterwards matters in Kalat went from bad to worse; the missions of 1875 and 1876 already referred to took place, and Baluchistan became a separate Agency directly under the Governor-General.

The importance of the position which had been acquired on the frontier was soon to be illustrated. At the end of 1878, the second Afghan War broke out, and troops were hurried forward to Kandahar along a line of communication which Sandeman's policy had rendered absolutely safe. At the close of the first phase of the war Sir Robert Sandeman accompanied General Biddulph's column, which had been deputed to open up the country between Pishln and Dera Ghazi Khan. At Baghao an engagement took place with the Zhob and Bori Kakars under Shah Jahan, Jogezai, in which they were defeated. By the Treaty of Gandamak (May, 1879), Pishln, Sibi, Harnai, and Thal-Chotiali were handed over by Yakub Khan to the British Government, on condition that the Amir should receive the surplus revenues after payment of the expenses of administration. This treaty was afterwards abrogated by the massacre of the British Resident and his escort at Kabul and the deposition of Yakub Khan. Then followed the second phase of the war and the British defeat at Maiwand in July, 1880. As a result of the renewal of military operations, some of the Afghan tribes within the Agency became restive and had to be subdued. An outbreak, too, occurred among the Marris, which was put down by a small expedition. At the close of the war the retention of the areas ceded by the Treaty of Gandamak was decided on, at Sir Robert Sandeman's strenuous instance.

The ten years succeeding 1882 were years of administrative and organizing activity. Arrangements were commenced for the proper collection of the land revenue, irrigation schemes received attention, dispensaries were started, forests developed, and communications opened out in every direction. The strategical importance, too, of the western and north-eastern portions of the Province was fully realized. Two ex- peditions were made to Makran : the fiist in 1883-4, during which the disputes between the Nausherwanis and the Khan of Kalat were settled; and the second in 1 890-1, when the question of the better administration of Makran was taken up. On the north-east an expedition was made against the Zhob Kakars in 1884, which resulted in their submission.

In 1886 Bori was taken over and the cantonment of Loralai founded. In 1887 the status of the Agent to the Governor-General was raised from that of a Resident of the second class to that of a Resident of the first class ; the assigned districts were declared to be British territory, and the Agent to the Governor-General was appointed Chief Commissioner for them. The year 1889 saw an expedition to the Gonial through Zhob, when the district was occupied and the station of Fort Sandeman selected. At the end of 1890 another expedition took place under the command of Sir George White, the object being the punishment of two of the Zhob chiefs who had been raiding the Zhob valley, and the chastisement of the Khidarzai section of the Largha Shiranis. The chiefs were not captured, but the Shirani country was occupied without opposition. The position thus taken up enabled the Gonial to be effectively flanked, and the Shiranis and other tribes of the Takht-i- Sulaiman to be brought under control. Sir Robert Sandeman died at Bela in January, 1892, universally mourned.

He was succeeded by General Sir James Browne, who died in 1896. A period of consolidation and demarcation followed. Nushki was permanently leased in 1899 ; and in 1903 the lands irrigated by the Sind canals, now known as the Nasirabad tahsil, were acquired from Kalat on a perpetual lease. In the same year the Political Agent was withdrawn from Southern Baluchistan, and Las Bela was placed under the Political Agent of Kalat ; the Loralai District was formed by taking parts of the Zhob and the Thal-Chotiali Districts, and the name of the latter was changed to Sibi. Thus, in a little more than a quarter of a century, security has replaced anarchy, and peace and plenty prevail now in tracts formerly given over to bloodshed and perpetual poverty. Baluchistan offers a virgin field to the archaeologist, and one which is not altogether unpromising. Throughout the country curious mounds occur, now deserted, but generally covered with masses of broken pottery, which will probably some day afford good ground for excava- tion. When the site of the present arsenal at Quetta was being prepared, a statuette of Hercules was discovered. Mounds opened at Nal and Mamatawa in the Jhalawan country have yielded interesting finds of pottery. That found at the former place possesses striking resemblances to pottery of the eighth century b.c. found in Cyprus and Phoenicia and of Mycenaean technique. At Hinidan in the valley of the Hab river, at Surab in the Jhalawan country, and in Las Bela highly ornamented tombs of unknown origin are to be seen, which afford evidence of a system of superterrene burial. The gabrbands, or embankments of the fire-worshippers, which are common throughout the Jhalawan country, are also of considerable interest, while some of the underground water-channels, both round Quetta and near Turbat in Makran, indicate the possession of scientific skill entirely unknown at the present day. North of Bela lies the curious cave-city of Gondrani, the cave- dwellings being hewn out of the conglomerate rock. At Chhalgari in Kachhi are indications of interesting Buddhist remains. Such finds of coins as have been made from time to time render it clear that all sorts of traders, from ancient times to the present, have left traces of them- selves along the routes leading from Persia to India. Near Dabar Kot in the Loralai District coins of the time of the Caliph Marwan II, struck at Balkh in the year of the Hijra 128 (a. d. 745), have been unearthed ; and at Khuzdar in the Jhalawan country Ghaznivid coins of interest have been picked up, chiefly of Ibrahim (1059-99) ar >d Bahrain Shah (11 18-52). The Koh-i-Taftan, which, though not actually in Baluchistan, is close to the western border, has yielded a find of considerable value in the shape 'of Indo-Scythian coins, some of which are now deposited in the British Museum. Punch-marked coins have been discovered in Zhob, and coins of the Shahis of Kabul in Kharan.

Population

Although an attempt was made to obtain a rough enumeration of the population of some parts of Administered areas in 1891, it was not until 1901 that any systematic census was carried out. This Census extended over 81,632 square miles, but omitted Makran, Kharan, and Western Sinjrani. In the towns and certain other selected places a synchronous enumeration took place, but elsewhere estimates only were made. The accuracy of the avail- able figures is not therefore absolute. The total population amounted to 810,746 persons. According to a careful estimate made in 1903, the population of Makran amounts to about 78,000, and a similar estimate puts the population of Kharan at 19,600. That of Western Sinjrani may be reckoned at about 6,000. The total population of the Province is, therefore, about 915,000 persons. Areas directly adminis- tered have an area of 46,692 square miles and an estimated population of 349,187, of whom 343,187 were actually enumerated. The popula- tion of the Native States and of the Marri and Bugti tribal areas (85,163 square miles) is estimated at 565,400, of whom 467,559 were counted at the Census. Detailed figures for the different localities will be found in Table I at the end of this article.

The density of population in the area covered by the Census amounts to less than ten persons per square mile. Including the areas for which estimates have now been obtained, the density falls to seven persons per square mile. The highest density is to be found in Quetta-Pishin, with its large urban population and well- ; rrigated tracts, which possesses twenty-two persons to the square mile. In Chagai, on the other hand, only one person per square mile is to be found. The number of persons per house in 1901 was 4-54.

About 95 per cent, of the total population enumerated dwelt in rural areas. No inducement exists in Baluchistan for the indigenous inhabi- tants to collect into towns, and a tendency is apparent among the people to avoid living together in large communities. This accounts for the paucity of towns, of which there are only six. All of them had garrisons in 1903, with the exception of Sibi and Pishin, and they have sprung up since the British occupation. They contain a population almost entirely alien, which has accompanied the new rulers, either in service or for purposes of trade. Striking evidence of this is afforded by the fact that only 158 per 1,000 of the persons living in towns speak vernaculars of Baluchistan. Similarly, the villages are not only few in number (2,813, or one f° r every 47 square miles), but their size is small, and most of them contain less than 500 inhabitants. They are, as a rule, mere collections of mud huts, which are evacuated in summer when the cultivators encamp near their fields in blanket tents. The prevalence of the nomadic habit, to which reference will be made later, is one of the most remarkable features in the population. One of its results is that throughout the country small detachments, each of some half-dozen households, live together, owning cattle, sheep, and goats, and moving from place to place for pasturage.

Owing to the doubtful accuracy of the figures obtained by the Census of 1 89 1, no reliable comparative statistics exist by which the increase in the population can be gauged. The Census of 1901 showed an increase in some rural areas of 45 per cent., but part of this is probably due to better methods of enumeration. When we consider, however, that previous to 1876 the condition of affairs represented the 'ebb and flow of might, right, possession, and spoliation,' there can be little doubt that the increase of population since the British occupation has been considerable. In Quetta town, where the figures are reliable, an increase of 20 per cent, occurred in the decade.

The figures of migration in the Report on the Census of India, 1901, show a net loss to Baluchistan of 35,986 persons, the total of emi- grants enumerated in India outside Baluchistan being 70,267 against 34,281 immigrants. Migration to and from Baluchistan is of two kinds : periodic and temporary. Nearly all the highland population of the country take part in the periodic migration — towards the plains in the autumn and towards the highlands in the spring. A distinction is observable between the migrations of the Afghans and the Brahuis. The Afghans move far afield, and their object is generally commerce, the transport trade, or search for work as labourers. The Brahuis, on the other hand, move in a more limited circle ; few of them care for commerce, while such transport as they do is confined to short dis- tances. The work in which they particularly engage is harvesting and fuel-carrying. Many of them spend nearly the whole of the year in harvesting. In October and November they cut the rice in Sind ; this is followed by the joivar, and later by the spring wheat and barley. Then the heat drives them upwards until the highlands are reached in June. July and August are the Brahui's months of rest, and in September he starts downwards again.

Temporary emigration is confined chiefly to Afghans and Makranis. The former roam all over India, and even make their way so far afield as Chinese-Turkistan and Australia. Makranis make good workmen, and leave their homes in search of labour. This temporary emigration is compensated by the large immigration. The immigrants constitute the security, the motive force, and the brains of the country. They are soldiers, clerks, merchants, and artisans ; but few of them settle per- manently in Baluchistan, a fact sufficiently indicated by the very small proportion of women (18 per cent.) who are found among them. The majority of them are drawn from the Punjab, the United Provinces, and Sind.

No detailed record of age was attempted in 1901, but adults were distinguished from minors during the enumeration. It was found that in 100,000 males there were 66,053 adults and 33,947 chilaren, while in 100,000 females there were 64,352 adults and 35,648 chilaren. Chilaren are thus proportionately less in number, and adults more numerous, than in India. In the towns and other places where the regular schedule was used, a synchronous statement of the ages of the normal population divided into age-periods indicates that the alien population in Baluchistan varies largely from the normal. Normal figures must naturally show a decreasing series of numbers at each age ; but in Baluchistan, owing to the large alien population, the figures gradually rise till the maximum is reached in the case of males between twenty-five and thirty, and in the case of females between twenty and twenty-five.

Longevity among the indigenous tribesmen appears to be infrequent. Exposure, bad nutrition, hunger, and sickness affect the age of the popu- lation ; and the principle of survival of the fittest must necessarily prevail among an uncivilized people such as is found in Baluchi- stan. A member of a tribe whose usefulness is affected by disease becomes a social outcast depending for his subsistence on charity ; and when in hard times these sources are dried up, the impaired constitu- tion quickly sinks. Of infirmities, blindness is common, probably owing to the dry and dusty climate, malnutrition, and excessive grain diet. Leprosy does not appear to be endemic, and insanity is rare. Infant mortality is undoubtedly high, owing to the unhealthy sur- roundings, want of proper nourishment, and exposure with which infant life has to contend.

The disproportion of the sexes in the towns in 1901 was very great, there being only 260 women to every 1,000 men. The excess is greater in winter than in summer, as many women leave for their homes in India to avoid the former season. Among the indigenous population, numbering 762,039, a total deficiency in females of 50,901 was indi- cated, and this deficiency was uniform in Districts, tribes, and groups of different religious denominations. In every 1,000 Afghans there were found to be 540 males and 460 females ; among the Baloch the figures were 552 males to 448 females, and among Brahuis 523 males to 477 females. The highest proportion of females is thus to be found among the Brahuis and the lowest among the Baloch. That, these figures are not far , from the truth is indicated by the comparatively high bride-price paid by Afghans, reaching Rs. 400 to Rs. 500, while among the Brahuis it is much lower.

Every tribesman marries as soon as he possibly can, but the payment of bride-price frequently makes bachelorhood compulsory till middle age. Polygamy is desired by all, but attained by few. As a rule, marriage among the Muhammadan population does not take place till puberty. Some of the Kakar Afghans have a curious custom permitting cohabi- tation after betrothal. A Brahui or Baloch will always endeavour to marry a first cousin. The Afghans, on the other hand, give their daughters to the highest bidder without regard to relationship. Among both Afghans and Brahuis a widow passes to the deceased husband's brother. Divorce, though a simple process, is infrequent. Adultery is punished among Baloch and Brahuis by the death of the parties, but Afghans will generally salve their honour for a consideration in money or kind. In the area under a regular census, where, however, con- ditions are wholly anomalous, there were in 1901, 4,632 unmarried, 4,839 married, and 529 widowers among 10,000 males; while among 10,000 females 3,539 were unmarried, 5,626 were married, and 835 were widowed. As might be expected in a population which is largely Musalman, the proportion of widows is less than in India proper. The marriage of chilaren at an early age is much less common, among both Hindus and Muhammadans, than in the neighbouring Province of the Punjab. Of Hindus more than twice as many are married under fifteen years than of Muhammadans.

The indigenous languages prevailing in Baluchistan are Pashtii, Brahui, Eastern and Western Baluchi, Jatkl or SiraikI, Jadgali or Sindhl, KhetranI, and Lasl. The Dehwars of Kalat and Mastung speak Dehwari, a kind of bastard Persian. The Loris or minstrels and black- smiths have a curious jargon called Mokaki. The language of corre- spondence is Persian. Of Indian vernaculars spoken in 1901 in the areas where the standard schedule was used, Punjabi was the most common with 20,263 speakers. Urdu came next with 9,331, and then Sindi with 3,305. There were 3,584 English-speaking persons. Generally speaking, Pashtii is spoken throughout the country lying eastward of a line drawn from Sangan near Sibi to Chaman. In the south-eastern corner of Loralai, KhetranI, a dialect of Lahnda or Western Punjabi, is prevalent. In the Marri-Bugti country and in parts of Kachhi, Eastern Baluchi occurs. The cultivators of the last-named area speak both Jatkl and Jadgali, the latter language being more widely spoken and being also prevalent in Las Bela. Brahui is spoken throughout the Sarawan and Jhalawan countries, but only extends up to about the 66th parallel of longitude, where it meets Western Baluchi. Affinity of race is no criterion of language. All Afghans do not speak Pashtu, nor do all Brahuis speak Brahui. Sometimes one section of a tribe talks Brahui and another Baluchi.

Of the principal indigenous languages, Pashtu and Baluchi belong to the Indo-Aryan family, while Brahui has been placed by the latest inquirer, Dr. Grierson, among the Dravidian languages. Baluchi has two main dialects, Eastern and Western. Western Baluchi, also called Makra.nl, is more largely impregnated with Persian words and expres- sions than the Eastern dialect. A considerable body of literature has sprung up in this language. The soft southern dialect of Pashtu, as distinguished from the Pakhtu or northern dialect, is alone spoken in Baluchistan. Popular literature is entirely oral, commemorating events of local importance and relating stories of love and war. An account of Brahui and its speakers will be found elsewhere (see Brahuis).

The Meds, the Afghans, and the Jats appear to have been the inhabi- tants of Baluchistan at the time of the Arab invasions. The Meds now, as then, live on the coast. The Afghans still cluster round their homes at the back of the Tahkt-i-Sulaiman. The Jats, in spite of the influx of Brahui and Baloch, to this day compose the cultivating classes of Las Bela and Kachhi ; and some of the Kurks, whose insolence led to the final subjugation of Sind by the Arabs, are still to be found in the Jau valley in the Jhalawan country. The indigenous races of chief importance at the present day are the Afghans, Baloch, Brahuis, and Lasis. The Jat cultivators now form only a small minority ; but many of them have undoubtedly been absorbed by the Baloch and Brahuis.

Among religious and occupational groups may be mentioned Saiyids, Dehwars, and the indigenous Hindus who live under the protection of the tribesmen and carry on the trade of the country. The Afghans, Baloch, and Brahuis have been determined by Mr. Risley to be Turko- Iranians. Their stature is above the mean ; complexion fair ; eyes dark but occasionally grey ; hair on face plentiful ; their heads are broad and their noses of great length. The Baloch hold the Marri and Bugti hills, and parts of Kachhi, where they mingle with the Jats. The Brahuis occupy the great mountain band between Quetta and Las Bela, and in Las Bela we again have Jats called Lasis.

In Makran many mixed races occur, which may be divided into two principal groups : the dominant races forming a small minority, and the races of aboriginal type known as Baloch, Darzadahs, &c. In the north-west of the Province the Baloch occur again, while in Nushki and the north-east of Kharan Brahuis are numerous. In the area where a regular census was taken in 1901, Brahuis were found to be the strongest race, numbering 292,879. Afghans came next with 199,457, and, after a considerable drop, Baloch with 80,552. Jats numbered 66,746, and Lasis 37,158. The numerical predominance of the Afghans and the insignificance of the Baloch are worthy of remark.

The Afghans, or Pashtuns as they describe themselves, appear to have been living not far from their present abode in the time of Herodotus, if the identification of his Paktyake with Pakhtuns be accepted. Cunningham considers that they are also identifiable with the Opokien of Hiuen Tsiang in the seventh century. At the beginning of the eleventh century they had already spread southwards as far as Multan, for Mahmud of Ghazni attacked them there. Subsequently two of their tribes, the Lodi and Suri, gave rulers to the throne of Delhi. But while scattered groups pushed out east and west to seek power and even empire, the nucleus of the race still remained in its ancient haunts ; and to this day we find its elder representatives clustering round the Takht-i-Sulaiman, while others have made their way south to Sibi and as far north as Dlr, Swat, and Bajaur. According to the Afghan genealogies, Kais Abdur Rashid, the thirty- seventh in descent from Malik Talut (King Saul), had three sons, Gurgusht, Saraban, and Baitan. Among the descendants of Gurgusht we have Mando Khels, Babis, Kakars, and Panis ; the Saraban division is represented by the Tarlns, Shiranis, Mianis, and Barech ; the descendants of Baitan can be identified in the Baitanis living across the Gonial. The most numerous and important indigenous Afghan tribes in Baluchistan are the Kakar (105,444), Tarin (37,906), Pani (20,682), and Shirani (7,309). The Kakars are to be found in largest numbers in the Zhob, Quetta-Pishin, and Loralai Districts. The Tarlns have two main branches, the Spin Tarin and Tor Tarin, of whom the former live in the Loralai and Sibi Districts and the latter in the Sibi and Quetta-Pishin Districts. The Panis include both the Musa Khels of Zhob and the Panis of Sibi. The Shiranis live in close proximity to the Takht-i-Sulaiman. Of their two divisions, the Bargha, or upper Shiranis, alone occupy territory in Baluchistan. Numerous Ghilzais, nearly all of whom are nomads, occupy the country to the south of the Gonial river in winter. They are labourers, traders, and expert karez diggers.

Baloch tradition indicates Aleppo as their country of origin. The latest inquirer arrives at the conclusion that they are Iranians l . The word Baloch means ' nomads ' or ' wanderers,' and is coupled by Ibn Haukal and others with the word Koch. Whatever their original habitat, the Baloch had taken up a position in close proximity to Makran early in the seventh century, and to this day many of their tribal names bear the impress of the localities which they occupied in 1 M. L. Dames, The Baloch Race (1904). Persian Baluchistan. Hence they made their way eastward until in the fifteenth century we find them settled in Kachhi. The tribes of impor- tance are the Marris, the Bugtis, the Buledis, the Magassis, and the Rinds. Of these, the Rinds and Magassis have been enrolled in the ranks of the Brahui confederacy ; but the Marris and Bugtis appear, even in the palmiest days of the Ahmadzai rulers, to have been more or less independent.

Except in South-Western Baluchistan, where no tribal system appears to exist, Afghans, Baloch, and Brahuis are all organized into tribes, each having a multitude of subdivisions, clans, sections, and sub- sections. There is a distinction, however, between the constitution of an Afghan tribe and that of a Brahui or Baloch tribe. Among the former the feeling of kinship is a bond of union far stronger than among the latter, with whom common blood-feud forms the connecting link. Theoretically, an Afghan tribe is constituted from a number of kinared groups of agnates ; in a few cases only are small attached groups to be found which are not descended from the common ancestor. On the other hand, the Brahui or Baloch tribe is a political entity, composed of units of separate origin, clustering round a head group known as the Sardar Khel. It is recruited on a definite system : a new-comer first shares in the good and ill of the tribe : later he obtains a vested interest in the tribal welfare by receiving a portion of the tribal lands ; and his admission is sealed with blood by the gift of a woman in marriage. The tribe is organized and officered expressly for offence under an hereditary chief and headmen of groups. Among Afghans the leader does not necessarily hold by heredity, for the individual has great scope for asserting himself; once, however, he has gained a position, it is not difficult for him to maintain it, provided he receives external support, and this is largely the secret of the Sandeman policy.

The Afghans are tall, robust, active, and well formed. Their strongly marked features and heavy eyebrows give their faces a somewhat savage expression. The complexion is ruddy ; the beard is usually worn short, as also is the hair. Their general bearing is resolute, almost proud. Courage is with them the first of virtues, but they are cruel, coarse, and pitiless. Vengeance is a passion. Their cupidity and avarice are extreme. The Baloch presents a strong contrast to his Afghan neigh- bour. His build is shorter, and he is more spare and wiry. He has a bold bearing, frank manners, and is fairly truthful. He looks on courage as the highest virtue, and on hospitality as a sacred duty. He is an expert rider. His face is long and oval, and the nose aquiline. The hair is worn long, usually in oily curls, and cleanliness is considered a mark of effeminacy. A Baloch usually carries a sword, knife, and shield. He rides to the combat but fights on foot. Unlike the Afghan he is seldom a religious bigot.

Out of 810,746 persons enumerated in 1901, 765,368 were Muham- madans, 38,158 Hindus, 4,026 Christians, 2,972 Sikhs, and 222 'others.' In 100,000 of the population there were thus 94,403 Muham- madans, 4,706 Hindus, 497 Christians, 367 Sikhs, and 27 persons of other denominations. Of the total Christian population, 3,477 were Europeans, 124 Eurasians, and 425 natives. Members of the Anglican communion were most numerous, numbering 2,857.

Islam and Hinduism are the only indigenous religions. The spread of Islam in Baluchistan probably occurred very early in the Muham- madan era. In practice, animistic beliefs and superstition rather than orthodox Muhammadanism prevail, and there is general ignorance of the tenets of the faith. Although the Baloch and Brahuis are now professed Sunnis, there are indications that they have been much in- fluenced by Shiah doctrines. Of sects, the Zikris or Dais of Makran are the most interesting. They are the followers of a Mahdi, who is stated to have come from Jaunpur in India, and they believe that the dispensation of the Prophet Muhammad is at an end. While denying many of the doctrines of Islam, they have imitated others. They have constituted their Kaaba at Koh-i-Murad near Turbat, and thither all good Zikris repair on pilgrimage in the month of Zil Hij. They are very priest-ridden, and believe their mullas to be endowed with miracu- lous powers. At the same time their alleged incestuous practices appear to have been much exaggerated by their critics. They include nearly half the population of Makran. The Taibs (' penitents ') of the Kachhi are another small but curious sect. Hinduism has been modified by its Musalman surroundings. Hindus have little or no compunction in drinking from Musalman water-skins, and some of them keep Musalman dependants for domestic service. The Ramzais of the Loralai District afford a curious example of the assimilation by Hindus of Baloch aress and customs.

Christian missions are endeavouring to gain a footing by giving medical aid and education. Branches of the Church Missionary Society and of the Church of England Zanana Mission have been opened at Quetta. The Province forms part of the Anglican diocese of Lahore and of the Roman Catholic arch-diocese of Bombay. The majority of the indigenous population are dependent for their livelihood on agriculture, the provision and care of animals, and trans- port. An Afghan and a Baloch, as a rule, cultivates his own land. The Brahuis dislike agriculture, and prefer a pastoral life. Their lands are, therefore, cultivated through tenants who belong to professional agricultural groups. A reminiscence of the slavery which existed in the country before British occupation is to be found in a population of servile origin numbering 22,304 in 1901. These servile dependants are happy and contented, and cases of ill-treatment seldom occur. Women u 2 take a large part in all occupations. Not only have they ordinary household duties to perform, but they take the flocks to graze, groom their husband's horse, and assist in cultivation. When a husband dies, his widow is looked on as a valuable asset in the division of his property, owing to the custom of demanding bride-price.

Meals are generally taken twice, at midday and in the evening. Flesh, milk, which is highly prized, and cheese in various forms, with wheaten or jowar bread, are the chief constituents. In the highlands a kind of ' biltong ' is prepared in the winter from well-fattened sheep, and is much relished. Onions, garlic, and fresh asafoetida stalks are most used as vegetables. On the coast rice and fish are eaten, while in Makran dates and dried fish form the staple diet of the people. Brahuis and Baloch never condescend to eat with their women folk. The Afghan wears a loose tunic, baggy drawers, a sheet or blanket, sandals, and a felt overcoat with the sleeves hanging loose. His women wear a loose scarlet or dark-blue shift, with or without wide drawers, and a wrapper over the head. The Baloch wears a smock reaching to his heels and pleated at the waist, loose drawers, and a long cotton scarf. His headaress is wound in rolls round his head, generally over a small skull-cap. The colour must be white, or as near it as dirt will allow. His wife's clothes resemble those of Afghan women, but must be red or white.

Mat huts and black blanket tents stretched on poles are the charac- teristic dwellings of the country. They are of various dimensions, some being as much as 50 feet long by 10 feet broad. They are generally about 4 feet high. The walls are of matting, home-spun blankets, or stones laid in mud. The dwelling is partitioned in the centre by a hurdle, on one side of which live the family and on the other the flocks and herds. At the back of the human dwelling are piled the felts and quilts used for bedding. The remainder of the furniture consists of a wooden bowl or two, an earthen pot, a flat stone griddle for baking, and a few skins for water and grain. Permanent dwellings are numerous only in those parts where they are required for protection from the climate, or where there is much cultivation. The house of a well-to-do person generally consists of a courtyard with three rooms in a line. They always face east or south, and consist of a store- house, a winter room, and a summer room. Outside, in the courtyard, are a kitchen and a stable for cattle. Sometimes the houses are double- storeyed, the lower part being used as a storeroom. Cultivators of the poorer class merely have two rooms without a courtyard. In the plains an open shelter, roofed with brushwood and supported on posts, is used in summer. In Las Bela a peculiarity of the houses is the wooden framework, generally of tamarisk ; there are no windows, but light and air are admitted through a windsail in the roof.

The usual Muhammadan mode of burial is in vogue. The aperture of the grave is narrow at the top but broader near the bottom. In some parts a corpse is never taken out through the door of the house, but the mat wall is broken down for purposes of removal. If a person dies far from home, the body is sometimes temporarily interred pending removal to its native place.

Field sports are the usual amusements of the people. They indulge in racing, shooting, coursing, and tent-pegging. Indoor recreations among the Brahuis and Baloch include singing, dancing, and a kind of draughts. The Afghans are fond of marbles, prisoner's base, quoits played with a circular stone, and a game like hunt-the-slipper. Ram- and cock-fighting are much admired, but their chief delight is in dancing. Some ten or twenty men or women stand in a circle, with a musician in the centre, and the dancers execute a number of figures, shouting, clapping their hands, and snapping their fingers. Wrestling after the European fashion is common among the Afghans and Tats. Brahuis are fond of trying their strength by lifting weights. Egg- lighting is also of frequent occurrence.

Fairs are held throughout the country on the occasion of the Muham- madan festivals of Id-ul-Fitr and the Id-uz-Zuha, when general re- joicings take place. Shrines are common and are constantly visited. The best-known places of pilgrimage are Hinglaj and Shah Bilawal in Las Bela, and Pir Lakha Lahrani in Kachhi.

Among Brahuis and Baloch, chilaren are named on the sixth night after birth ; among Afghans, on the third day. Boys are named after the Prophet, according to the Muhammadan custom. The Brahuis borrow names from trees, plants, animals, &c. The word Khan is frequently added, out of courtesy, to the names of men of good birth, and Blbi, Naz, Bano, Bakht, Gul,- Khatun to those of women ; a native gentleman prefixes Mir, thus : Mir Yusuf Khan. The first child usually receives the name of the grandmother or grandfather as the case may be, a practice which causes much confusion. In stating his name a man will generally add the name of his tribe (kaum), and if questioned farther, will always give his section and sub-section also. The sectional name is formed by adding the suffix kkel or zai to an eponym for Afghans, zai and did for Brahuis, and dni for Baloch, thus : Sanzar Khel, Ahmadzai, Aliani. Permanent villages are usually named after individuals, with the addition of kilt, kot or got, ka/af, or shahr. An encampment is called halk or khalk.

Agriculture

Agriculture, camel-driving, and flock-owning constitute the occupa- tions on which the majority of the population depend. The proportion of agriculturists to flock-owners is probably about . , three to one. In many cases both agriculture and pasture are combined. Previous to the advent of the British, life and property were so insecure that the cultivator deemed himself fortunate if he reaped his harvest ; the fastnesses of the hills, on the other hand, afforded shelter and safety to the herdsman. The spread of peace and security has been accompanied by a marked extension of agriculture, which accounts for the increase in numbers of the purely cultivating classes, such as Langavs, Dehwars, and Dehkans. Some tribes are still almost entirely pastoral, including the Marris and Bugtis ; the Sulaiman Khel, Nasir, and other Afghans ; and many Brahuis.

The cultivable area of the country ill comparison with the total area is necessarily small ; for, with the exception of the plains of Kachhi, Las Bela, and the Uasht in Makran, cultivation is confined to the limited area lying in the centre of the valleys between the mountains. Here there is generally a fringe of permanently irrigated land cut up into small polygons, while towards the hills lie larger fields surrounded by embankments three or four feet high, by which the rainfall is caught as it descends from the gravel slopes bordering the valleys. In the centre are sometimes found bright red clays, many of them highly saliferous. Elsewhere, as in the great Thai plateau, the valleys consist of loess deposits, apparently formed by accumulations of wind-blown dust. In the plains the soil is generally loess mixed with alluvium. The admixture of moisture-bearing sand is the usual test applied by the cultivators to the quality of a soil.

The scanty rain and snowfall, averaging between 6 and 7 inches, is nowhere sufficient to ensure cultivation without artificial assistance. The husbandman's return, therefore, is assured only where his cultivation is dependent on the karez or underground water-channel, on springs, or on streams. All other cultivation is carried on by the artificial dams mentioned above. The areas under cultivation are thus divided into abi, i. e. lands that are permanently irrigated ; and khushkdba, i. e. ' dry- crop ' lands which include land subject to flood cultivation {sailaba). The season for sowing the principal crops in the plains occurs in July and August, for at this time the rivers bring down the necessary moisture. In the upper highlands the dams are filled by the winter rainfall between December and March, when wheat and barley are sown. Here the system of cultivation in 'wet-crop 3 differs from that in ' dry-crop ' areas. In the former the land is first watered and then ploughed, after which the seed is sown broadcast, and for further irri- gation the fields are later on subdivided into small plots. In the latter, wheat, barley, and other spring crops are sown with the drill {ndli), and the seed depends for further moisture on the subsequent rain- fall. In the plains, where the only important crop is jowar, the seed is everywhere sown broadcast after the ground has absorbed the flood moisture. There are two harvests, gathered in the spring and the autumn. The spring harvest, known to the Afghans as sparlai or dobe and elsewhere as sarav or arhari, is most important in the uplands, while the autumn harvest, known as mane in Pashtu and sanwanri or amen elsewhere, takes its place in the plains.

Of spring crops, the most important is wheat. Jowar (Andropogon sorghum) is the chief autumn crop in the plains, and maize in the high- lands. Dates constitute the sole crop of importance in Makran. Miing (Phaseolus mungo) and oilseeds in the plains and tobacco and melons in the hills also occupy considerable areas. Of minor products may be mentioned barley, gram, and beans among spring crops ; and rice, several varieties of millet, gingelly, cotton, and a little indigo among autumn crops. Lucerne yields from May to October.

Wheat is of several varieties, both red and white. The red is preferred for home consumption, but the white fetches better prices in the market. In the highlands the seed can be sown from the middle of September to the end of January. In the plains wheat is not grown unless there are late floods towards the end of August, affording moisture which is carefully preserved for sowing as soon as the heat of summer subsides in October. Both autumn and winter wheat are culti- vated, the former ripening in about nine months and the latter in about five or six. In the highlands the crop is often grazed down with sheep or goats up to February. The harvest commences about June. The straw is carefully preserved for fodder {bhusd). The local varieties are hardy, but are affected by sudden changes of climate and by much rain in early spring.

Jowar is sown broadcast as soon as the lands which have absorbed the summer floods have been ploughed. If spring floods occur, much iowar is cultivated for fodder, and the same plants, if they receive water from the summer floods, bear a good crop of grain. Many varieties occur, of which those known as thuri and thor are most extensively cultivated. Not only does jowar form the staple food-grain of the tracts where it is cultivated, but the fresh stalks contain saccharine matter which is much relished. When dry, they constitute excellent fodder {karb).

A large increase in the cultivation of melons, known locally as pa/ezat, has taken place. Both water-melons and sweet melons are grown. Sweet melons are of two varieties : garma, or summer melons ; and sarda, or autumn melons. Garma melons are of several kinds — spotted, streaked, or white — and are eaten fresh. It is a peculiarity of sarda melons that they can be kept for several months. Those grown from imported Kabul seed are considered the best. The cultivation of melons has been much improved by the introduction of the joia system from Kandahar. After the land has been ploughed, long raised beds are formed, enclosed by an irrigation trench on either side about one foot deep. The seed is sown along the edges of the trench and, when small, the plant is carefully pruned. At a later stage poor flowers are picked off and the young melons are buried in the soil to avoid disease. Throughout Makran the staple food is dates. Great attention is paid to the cultivation and care of the date-tree, and the dates of Panjgur are declared by Arabs to excel those of Basra. Though all the trees belong to the species Phoenix dactylifera, they are distinguished locally into more than a hunared kinds, according to the weight, size, and quality of the fruit. All trees are known either as pedigree trees (nasabi) or non- pedigree trees (kuroch). Among the former, the best varieties are mozafi, ap-e-dandan, hafeni, begam Jang/, and sabzo. Fresh trees are raised from offsets ; they produce fruit after three to eight years, and continue to do so for three generations. The young offsets must be carefully watered for the first year, and afterwards at intervals until their roots strike the moisture of the subsoil. The date season is divided into three principal periods : machosp, rang or kulont, and amen. In machosp (March) the artificial impregnation of the female date-spathes by the insertion of pollen-bearing twigs from the spathe of the male tree is effected. In the season of rang or kulont (June) the colour first appears on the fruit, and there is general rejoicing. The harvest (amen) lasts from July to September, when men and cattle live on little else but dates. The fruit is preserved in various ways, the most common being by pressing and packing in palm-leaf baskets (laghati). Better kinds are mixed with expressed date-juice and preserved in earthen jars known as humb. Owing to the excessive quantity of dates in the diet of the people of Makran, night-blindness is common. The use of manure is fully appreciated by the highland cultivators. Each one collects the sweepings from his cattle-yard and carries them to his field, and in the neighbourhood of the towns all the available manure is bought up. The following table gives the average out-turn per acre of wheat dxv&jowar from experiments made in Administered areas : — Wheat. Jcrwar.

Cwt. Cwt. Irrigated land, manured ...... 13.3 13.6 Irrigated land, not manured 9.0 8.3 Land under flood-irrigation . . . . . 13.6 12-9 ' Dry-crop ' land ....... 6.2 6-4 The fertility of land dependent on flood-irrigation is well exemplified by these statistics. Manured and irrigated land has been known to produce as much as 18 cwt. of wheat per acre and 21 cwt. oijowar. No rotation is followed in unirrigated lands, the silt brought down by floods being sufficient to ensure an excellent crop whenever there is enough moisture for cultivation. Irrigated fields near homesteads, which can be manured and which therefore are generally cropped twice a year, are allowed to lie fallow in alternate years. In other irrigated lands three or four years of fallow are allowed after each crop.

Fruit is extensively grown in the highlands, and the export is increas- ing. The principal kinds are grapes, the best of which are known as lal, sahibi, haita, and kishmish ; apricots, mulberries, almonds, apples, pomegranates, peaches, nectarines, quinces, plums, and cherries. Much improvement has been effected by the introduction of fresh varieties. All kinds of English vegetables are grown. Excellent potatoes are pro- duced and the cultivation is extending. The appointment of a Superin- tendent of Arboriculture and Fruit-growing was sanctioned in 1902, and large numbers of good fruit-trees are raised and distributed. An impetus has recently been given to mulberry cultivation by the inception of sericultural operations.

A test of the increase of cultivation which has taken place in recent years is afforded by the returns of the Government share of revenue in kind. In 1879-80 the revenue in Sibi amounted to 6,575 maunds of wheat, while in 1902-3 it was 11,978 maunds; and between 1882 and 1895 the revenue in wheat from the Quetta tahstl rose from a little more than 4,000 maunds to about 18,000 maunds. The cultivation of tobacco, potatoes, and oats has been recently introduced, and sugar- cane is making some way. Madder-growing, which was extensive at one time, has now ceased.

The implements of husbandry are primitive. The plough is similar to that used in India, but somewhat lighter owing to the softness of the soil. A heavy log is used as a clod-crusher. For making large embank- ments a plank about 6 feet long and 2 feet wide, called kenr, is employed. Small embankments in irrigated lands are made with a large wooden spade (da/), which is worked by two men with a rope. Shovels of an improved pattern are now in use near Quetta. Mattocks have a flat blade. A four-pronged fork called char sheikha is used for winnow- ing and for cleaning straw. Efforts have been made, but without success, to introduce a plough worked by horses.

Though the Land Improvement and Agriculturists' Loans Acts have not been formally applied, advances to cultivators are made under executive authority. A special feature is the permission given to Dis- trict officers to carry out improvements themselves with such advances. Owing to the backwardness of the country, encouragement is given to applicants by the grant of loans on easy terms or without interest. An annual sum of Rs. 60,000 is allotted for the purpose, the advances being ordinarily used for the construction of underground water-channels, embankments, and wells. The people fully appreciate the advantage of the system, and the political effect has been excellent. The rate of interest usually charged is 6^ per cent, per annum. No difficulty has been found in obtaining repayment. During the five years ending March, 1904, nearly 3 lakhs of rupees was advanced. About z\ lakhs was outstanding at the end of that time.

Except in the plains, the agriculturists largely finance one another. The usual method of obtaining a loan is to mortgage the land with pos- session until both principal and interest have been paid. Tenants-at- will are deeply involved in debt, and live a hand-to-mouth existence. In the plains the Hindu bania plays an important part among the agri- cultural community. He keeps a running account with the cultivator on the security of the latter's crop, and at each harvest receives a part of the grain-heap as interest, with such amount as the cultivator can spare towards the reduction of the principal. The usual rate of interest is two annas in the rupee per annum, but this rate is only allowed by the bania to those cultivators who give mahtai. This is a measure given by the cultivator from his grain-heap at each harvest to induce the bania to advance sums at low interest. Cultivators who do not give mahtai have to pay four annas per rupee.

A thickly built bullock, of small size and generally black or brown in colour, is found in the hills and is well suited to them. A pair fetch about Rs. 60 to Rs. 80. The bullocks bred at Bala Nari in Kachhi, being suitable for agricultural, siege-train, and army transport purposes, are much sought after by dealers from the Punjab. They are of two distinct types. The taller ones are 56 inches at the shoulder, white or fawn in colour, with horns growing upwards and inwards. The other type is smoky white, with black legs and neck, 42 to 48 inches high at the shoulder, and with horns growing slightly upwards and backwards. Both these kinds fetch good prices, a pair selling for Rs. 100 or more.

the seventh century, Rai Chach of Sind took tribute in horses from Gandava. This reputation has ever since been maintained ; and in pre- British days the Huramzai Saiyids of Pishln and many of the Brahui tribesmen were in the habit of taking horses for sale so far afield as Mysore. Pedigree Baloch mares are still much prized, especially those of the Hirzai breed of Shoran. The best animals in the country are those bred round Mastung and at Jhal in Kachhi. They are big power- ful animals with plenty of bone. Another good breed is found in Barkhan, these horses being about 15 hands in height, with small well-bred heads and long slender arched necks. Their legs are small below the knee, but they are very hardy. The Government, therefore, found much excellent material for commencing horse-breeding operations, when it decided to introduce Government stallions in 1884 under the superintendence of the Civil Veterinary department. The stallions are all Arabs or English and Australian thoroughbreds, the services of which are allowed free of charge to owners for mares which have been branded after inspection. As indicating the results hitherto attained, it may be noted that the Horse-breeding Commission in 1901 pronounced one of the classes of brood mares at the Sibi fair as good as anything to be seen in England. In 1903 the Army Remount Department took over charge of the operations. The country contained 1,276 branded mares in 1904, and 379 foals from Government sires. In the same year 36 stal- lions were employed. Horses vary much in price. A tribesman can generally obtain a good mount for Rs. 100 to Rs. 150, but well-bred animals fetch Rs. 400 and more.

The heavy transport of the country is done entirely on camels. They are of the small hill-bred type, excellent over rocky ground but unable to stand the great heat of the plains of India. Their usual load is about 400 lb. They are bred chiefly in the Quetta-PishTn and Zhob Districts, the Marri-Bugti country, Kachhi, Kharan, and Las Bela. As a rule transport animals are readily available, but the number varies in different parts of the country with the season of the year. The total number of camels in the country has been estimated at about 350,000, but this figure is probably above the mark. In some parts they are used for ploughing. Special arrangements have been made by Government to organize camels for transport purposes. The price of a transport camel varies from Rs. 60 to Rs. So, and of a breeding camel from Rs. 50 to Rs. 60.

Donkeys are used by every nomadic household and are most useful animals. They frequently carry over 300 lb., and require little or no fodder besides what they can pick up on the march. The Buzdar breed, obtainable in the Loralai District, is the best, and there are some good ones near Kalat. To enable donkeys to breathe freely when going uphill, it is usual for their nostrils to be slit soon after birth. An ordinary donkey fetches from Rs. 20 to Rs. 30 ; large donkeys from Rs. 60 to Rs. 80. Encouragement is now being given by Government to donkey-breeding on the same lines as to horse-breeding, and six donkey stallions were stationed in the country in 1904.

The sheep are of the fat-tailed variety, white, brown, and grey in colour. The white with black faces preponderate. A breed imported from Siahband, near Kandahar in Afghanistan, is preferred for both meat and wool. Sheep are shorn twice, in spring and in autumn, pro- ducing 2 to 3 lb. of wool. The quality of the wool is coarse, and it comes to the market in very dirty condition. The goats are small and generally black. They are not very hardy. They yield about i-| lb. of hair, which is generally used at home for making blanketing, ropes, grain-bags, &c. Both sheep and goats are very numerous, and consti- tute much of the agricultural wealth of the country. The average price of a sheep is from Rs. 4 to Rs. 5. Goats fetch from Rs. 3 to Rs. 4. The question of fodder is one of the most difficult in Baluchistan, since no large quantity of grass exists in the greater part of the country, and horses and bullocks subsist chiefly on the straw of cereals. The best fodder available for horses is straw mixed with lucerne, but it is expensive. In the plains the stalks (karb) oijoivar constitute almost the only fodder. The large herds of sheep and goats, which rove over the hills for six or seven months of the year, keep in excellent condition owing to the numberless small cruciferous and leguminous plants, which afford good pasturage. The goats also obtain grazing from the bush growth. Camels find abundant fodder in the salsolaceous plants, Alhagi came- lorum, tamarisk, &c, and are fond of browsing on most of the trees. The best grazing tracts are to be found in the Loralai District.

Horse and cattle fairs are held at Sibi in February and at Quetta in September. The former is chiefly a breeder's and the latter a dealer's fair. About 1,800 horses are brought to these shows, and prizes to the value of Rs. 6,000 are given. At the Quetta fair many Persian horses are brought for sale.

Cattle suffer considerably from diseases of the pulmonary organs owing to the cold. Foot-and-mouth disease also occurs occasionally. Mange in goats and camels is common. Camels suffer also from colic, rheumatism, fever, and cough. A gadfly causes some mortality in summer, and the cold induces pneumonia in winter. The Superinten- dent, Civil Veterinary department, Sind, Baluchistan, and Rajputana, controls the operations of the department in the Province.

The majority of the crops depend either on permanent or flood irri- gation, and those raised from rain-water are insignificant. Except jowdr, tilting, and oilseeds, for which a single flooding of the land is sufficient, all other crops require further waterings to bring them to maturity. The sources of permanent irrigation are Government canals, underground water-channels (karez), springs, and streams. Temporary irrigation is obtained by constructing embankments along the slopes of the hills, or by throwing large dams across the river-beds to raise the flood-water to the level of the surrounding country. In the highlands the two prin- cipal irrigation works are the Shebo and Khushdil Khan schemes in Pishln. These ' minor' works have been constructed at a cost of nearly 17 lakhs, and irrigate annually about 6,000 acres. The return on the capital outlay is less than 1 per cent, in each case, but they have pro- duced an excellent political effect in settling down the inhabitants. The revenue is levied in kind at one-third o c the gross produce, which in- cludes water rate. In the plains, the Begari and Desert Canals, which form part of the Upper Sind system, afford irrigation in the Nasirabad tahsil of Sibi District.- The assessment on the former is Rs. 2 per acre, of which R. 1 is reckoned as water rate and R. 1 as revenue, and on the latter Rs. 2-8, of which the water rate amounts to Rs. 1-8. A small cess of 6 pies per acre is also levied. The total area irrigated in 1902-3 was 105,962 acres, and the water rate realized Rs. 1,27,404. Improvements are now under consideration for extending the area com- manded by these canals, and a revision of assessment is contemplated.

Twenty-four artesian wells of moderate depth have been bored near Quetta. The Irrigation Commission (1903) considered that experi- mental borings in Baluchistan appeared to hold out more hope of securing an artesian supply of water at moderate depth than in any other part of India, and steps are being taken to experiment farther on a larger scale.

The indigenous sources of irrigation in Administered areas include 1,803 springs, 496 karez, 132 streams, and 76 wells. The karez is an underground tunnel, driven into the great inosculating fans which spread with a slope of 300 to 600 feet per mile from the mouths of the hill ravines into the valleys. These tunnels have a slope less than that of the surface and, acting as a subsoil drain, carry the water out to the surface. The cost varies, according to their size and the soil in which they are excavated, from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 8,000. Most of the wells are in the Nasirabad tahsil; they irrigate about five acres each, and their cost varies from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,000. Perhaps the most interesting- system of indigenous irrigation is that prevailing in Kachhi, where the cultivators, under an organized method of co-operation, construct annually immense earthen dams in the Nari river for raising the water to the surface. A specially expert cultivator, known as the razd, is selected to superintend the work, and the cultivators living for many miles along the banks of the river are called in with their bullocks to construct the dam. The implement used is the wooden plank-harrow (kenr). Some of these dams are as much as 750 feet long, 180 feet broad at the foot, and 50 or 60 feet in height. Every village has to supply its quota of men and bullocks, or, should it fail to do so, has to pay a proportionate amount in cash. There are many of these dams in the Nari ; and in July and August, when the floods come, the upper dams are broken as soon as sufficient water for the area irrigable by each has been received. Still, much water runs to waste, and the scientific development of this indigenous system would probably result in a very large increase of cultivation.

Fisheries

The Makran coast is famous for the quantity and quality of its fish, and the industry is constantly developing. It affords a considerable income to the States lying along the coast, as they Fisheries. generally take one-tenth of the fresh fish. as duty. The fishermen are principally Meds and Koras. The fish are caught both with nets and with the hook and line. Large shoals of cat-fish (gallo) and of kirr {Sciaena diacanthus) appear off the coast towards the end of the cold season, when they are surrounded and caught. After arrival on shore the air-bladders are extracted, and are eventually exported to England for the manufacture of isinglass. The fish are salted and used as food by the people of the country. They also form a large article of export to Bombay and Zanzibar. Sharks are prized especially for their fins, which fetch as much as R. i per lb. Fresh sardines are so plentiful that they not infrequently sell at the rate of forty for a pice (one farthing).

Rents wages and prices

The greater part of the land is held by a cultivating class of peasant proprietors. The few tenants are almost all tenants-at-will. In local parlance such a cultivator is ' the husband of a slave for he can be replaced at his master's will. He- can acquire no permanent rights, and is liable to ejectment after the crop has been harvested. Sometimes, when much labour has to be expended on the construction of embankments, a tenant retains possession so long as the embankment remains unbreached or for a given term of years. In Makran a curious custom prevails, giving to a tenant-at-will a permanent alienable right in all date-trees which he may plant. Occupancy rights are seldom, if ever, acquired in irrigated and only occasionally in unirrigated lands. Where they have been so acquired, they usually represent compensation for the labour expended by the tenant on raising embankments.

As might be expected in a backward country in which crops are liable to great variations, rent consists in a share of the grain-heap. Various systems are in vogue ; but, as a general rule, the distribution in unirrigated lands is made on the principle of an assignment of a portion of the produce for each of the chief requisites of cultivation: the land, seed, bullocks, and labour. In irrigated lands a further, and pro- portionately large, share is assigned for the water. Certain services have also to be performed by the tenant, such as the supply of fuel and the transport of the proprietor's share of the produce. The position of the tenants on the whole is strong, since, owing to the inveterate laziness of the land-holding classes, there is a large demand for them and they can enforce their own terms.

No cooly class exists among the cultivating population ; tenants-at- will perform the services mentioned above, while the household and agricultural work of men of means is done by their servile dependants. At harvest-time the workers, many of whom are women and chilaren, receive a share of the grain-heap, generally one-twentieth. To shep- herds are given their food, two changes of clothes, and a proportion of the lambs born during the year. The wages of village servants consist in a fixed measure from the grain-heap, or in a special share of water for irrigation. Cooly work proper is a peculiarity of the industrial centres which have grown up since the British occupation, and here a plentiful supply of labour from Makran and Afghanistan is always to be found. As a navvy the Hazara or Ghilzai Afghan is unrivalled. All domestic servants and skilled labourers come from India, chiefly from Sind and the Punjab.

Owing to the severity of the climate and the comparatively large amount of clothing and fuel required by the wage-earning classes, wages throughout the highlands are higher than those usually pre- valent in India. An unskilled labourer receives Rs. n to Rs. 15 a month ; a skilled labourer, Rs. 20 to Rs. 45 ; mechanics, Rs: 35 to Rs. 90. The wages of domestic servants vary from Rs. 10 to Rs. 25 in European households, and from Rs. 6 to Rs. 12 with food among natives. The clerical wage rises from Rs. 20 for vernacular clerks to about Rs. 200 for those who know English. In a few special cases it is higher. A levy footman is generally paid Rs. 10 and a horseman Rs. 20 a month, for which sum the latter must maintain a mount. The opening of communications has not materially affected the wages of unskilled labour, but there has been a decrease in the earnings of artisans and clerks.

Wheat is the staple food-grain in the highlands and jowar in the lower tracts. Firewood and chopped straw for fodder also form impor- tant items in domestic economy. Prices rule high when compared with those prevailing in India. The following table exhibits the average prices (retail) in seers ' per rupee of staples at principal centres for the two quinquennial periods ending 1895 and 1900 : —

In 1903 the price of wheat at Fort Sandeman and Quetta was nf seers per rupee, equivalent to about 35 lb. for 2s., and at Loralai 14 1/2 seers, equivalent to 44 lb. for 2s. The price of Jowar in the plains at Sibi was 20 1/2 seers per rupee, equivalent to 62 lb. for 2S. The purchasing power of the rupee in the case of the more important staples shows a marked decrease during the decade ending 1900, but the period was one of abnormally bad agricultural con- ditions. Prices are affected largely by the seasons. They are always lower in the plains than in the hills.

There has been a steady improvement in the standard of comfort throughout Baluchistan since the British occupation. This is more marked in the tracts under British administration than in the Kalat State. Tea is now becoming a common luxury ; sandals have given place to leathern boots and shoes ; warmer clothing is worn in place of the light cotton garments formerly in vogue ; and ornaments are 1 One seer is equivalent to about 2 lb. more largely used by women. Clerical establishments are all recruited from India. Their standard of living is somewhat high and leaves little opportunity for saving. A middle-class clerk generally has a house with two or three rooms, a kitchen and bath-room. His furniture con- sists of two or three chairs, a small table, lamps, carpets, rugs, and cooking utensils. He generally has one servant, who is his cook and does other household work. He has two meals a day, morning and evening.

There is a considerable difference between the mode of living of a headman owning land in a village and of an ordinary cultivator. The former generally wears clothes of a superior quality, and he adds to the number a thick coat and waistcoat. He has larger house accom- modation and more furniture, and he possesses a sufficiently large number of cooking utensils, rugs, blankets, felts, quilts, and saddle- bags. Both utensils and bedding in an ordinary cultivator's house are scarce. One or two earthen or metal pots, two or three bowls, an iron tripod, and a few ragged quilts complete his equipment. His aress in summer costs about Rs. 6 : a turban at Rs. i-8-o, and a shirt, trousers, shoes, and sheet at about R. i each. In winter he adds a felt overcoat costing Rs. 3, and sometimes a waistcoat at Rs. 2. His wife's aress, which consists of a wrapper, a shift, wide drawers, and shoes, costs about Rs. 4.

Forests

Generally speaking, the country is scantily clothed with vegetation, trees are few in number, and most of the hills which are not protected by other and higher ranges are bare of forest growth. In Administered territory steps were taken in 1880 to control certain forest areas in the Sibi District, and rules were issued for their management in t88i. Legal and systematic action commenced in 1890, when the Forest Law and Forest Regulation Acts were enacted. Since then twenty-seven tracts have been ' reserved,' comprising a total area of 203 square miles. Some tracts in Zhob, which have been hitherto protected by the Political Agent, are now being brought under the Forest department. Between 1891 and 1900 the forest revenue averaged Rs. 17,102 and the expenditure Rs. 37,531, leaving an annual deficit o f Rs. 20,429. The revenue in 1 900-1 was Rs. 16,927, and the expenditure Rs. 29,254. Owing to a change of system the deficit has now been reduced, and in 1902-3 the revenue was Rs. 19,336 and the expenditure Rs. 23,240. These figures exclude the revenue and expenditure of the Zhob forests, the income of which was Rs. 6,370 in 1901-2 and the expenditure Rs. 1,713.

The greater part of the revenue is derived from the sale of timber and fuel, the annual income from this source averaging nearly Rs. 15,000. The Reserves are of three kinds : juniper forests, pistachio forests, and mixed forests. The first of these, bearing Jtmiperus excelsa, form the principal Government forests in Baluchistan. They are twelve in number, covering an area of 114 square miles. The two Reserves which contain Pistacia khanjak have an area of 13 square miles. Mixed forests number eleven, with an area of 78 square miles. The principal trees in these forests are Prosopis spicigera, Capparis aphy/la, Tamaris indica, Tamarix articulata, Dalbergia Si'ssoo, Olea cuspidata, Pistacia khanjak, and Acacia modes ta. In Zhob Pinus Gerardiana, Pinus excelsa, and Olea cuspidata are the commonest trees in protected areas. The regeneration of juniper and pistachio has not been very encouraging, except in areas closed to grazing. Here also the improve- ment in undergrowth indicates the benefits to be derived from the exclusion of browsing animals, especially goats and camels. Experi- ments in the introduction of exotic trees have not been successful, except in the case of fruit and one or two roadside trees. No protected and legally recognized unclassed forests exist, but certain trees growing on land at the disposal of Government have been ' reserved ' and their cutting is regulated. These include, besides those mentioned above, Pistacia mutica, Fraxinus xanthoxyloides, Zizyphus nummularia, Zizyphus oxypkhlla, Tecoma undulala, Populus euphiratica, and Periploca aphylla.

Pine timber is used for building purposes at Fort Sandeman, and juniper at Ziarat. In the rural villages, almond, apricot, mulberry, and sinjid wood (Elaeagnus angustifolia) are used for roofing. Minor forest produce includes the gum of the wild almond, cumin seed, hyssop, juniper berries (which are used for flavouring tobacco in Calcutta and Kanauj), the seeds of the edible pine, and the wild pistachio. The latter is much prized as an article of food by the natives. Asafoetida {king), the gum of Ferula persica, is found in parts. In the lower tracts of Kalat and Las Bela dwarf-palm, gum arabic, bdellium, honey, and shellac occur.

The Forest department is in charge of an Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests, borne on the Punjab Provincial list, who is styled the Chief Forest Officer, and who works under the general control of the Revenue Commissioner in forest matters. The Reserves are divided into three ranges, known respectively as the Quetta, Ziarat, and Sibi range. Each range is in charge of a Deputy- Ranger, who is assisted by forest guards. The extraction of timber and fuel is carried on by unregulated fellings. The sale of minor forest produce, such as grass, fruit, flowers, &c, is conducted by public auction or by permit. The relations of the Forest department with the people of the country have always been conciliatory. Minor forest offences average 20S per annum. Timber for building purposes and fuel is imported from Sind. The question of fuel supply was considered at a conference in 1891, and it was decided that the main object of Government should be to maintain existing and future forest Reserves intact for use in times of emergency.

Government departments within reach of the railway are, therefore, supplied from external sources and special railway rates are allowed. The average area of 'reserved' forest closed to grazing is 126 square miles. In the other parts of closed areas grazing by right-holders is permitted. All these areas are available for relief in times of scarcity. The question of the depletion of the undergrowth in the large grazing tracts near the towns is one of some difficulty.

Mines and minerals

Coal is the only mineral produced in large quantities. Petroleum has also been worked, and a syndicate has recently been formed for extracting chromite in the Quetta-Pishin District.

The Production of coal has been I 1 886) 122 tons, (1891) 10,368 tons, (1901) 24,656 tons, and (1903) 47,374 tons ; and of petroleum (1886) 27,700 gallons, and (1891) 40,465 gallons. In 1903 the output of chromite amounted to 284 tons. Earth-salt is manufactured chiefly in Kachhi and along the coast. It is also obtained in Quetta-Pishin and part of Zhob, and from the Wad-i- Sultan in the Hamun-i-Mashkel. A salt-mine is worked in Las Bela. The average annual out-turn of earth-salt is estimated at about 1,000 tons. Lime is burnt at Quetta and also in Las Bela. Saltpetre is manufactured in small quantities in Kachhi.

Coal is fairly widely distributed in the Central Brahui range, and is worked at Khost, in the Sor range near Quetta, and in the Bolan Pass. It generally possesses good steam-producing qualities, but is very friable. The seams vary from 6 inches to 4 feet in thickness, outcropping in hill-sides and dipping steeply, and are worked by excavating adits hori- zontally from the face of the hills. The principal colliery is at Khost, where the mines are worked by the North-Western Railway under European supervision. Capital to the total amount of about 3^ lakhs has been invested in the undertaking. The number of men employed daily is about 700. A miner earns about 12 annas a day. The working cost has recently been reduced to about Rs. 8 per ton. The miners are chiefly Makranis, but Hazaras and local Afghans are also employed. The output, which amounted to a total of 246,426 tons between 1887 and the end of 1903, is almost entirely consumed by the North-Western Railway. In the Sor range, in which coal is to be traced for some seventeen miles, and in the Bolan Pass leases have been granted of small stretches of coal to five lessees, Government finding the super- vising staff necessary for periodical inspection and to ensure safe and scientific working. The coal has to be transported on camels, and is all consumed in Quetta. About 100 men are employed daily.

The presence of petroleum is indicated at Shoran in Kachhi, in the Bolan Pass, in the Harnai valley, and at Khattan in the Marri country. A boring was made at Kirta in 1889 and a show of oil was struck at 360 feet, but it was afterwards abandoned, as also was one at Spintangi. The borings so far undertaken have been made in far less promising strata than the Siwaliks, which have not been tested ; and there is no prima facie reason why mineral oil should not be discovered in the natural reservoirs of this geological group, which has produced it in Burma and Persia. Operations were carried on by Government at Khattan for seven years from 1884 to 1S92, and by a private company in 1893-4, but both ventures were ultimately abandoned. Thirteen bore-holes were put down, the deepest being 736 feet, but oil was not obtained below 332 feet. It was pumped to the surface. On analysis the oil was described as containing 45 to 55 per cent, of pitch, with 45 to 35 per cent, of lubricating oil, but no light oils whatever. The total output between 1886 and 1892 was 777,225 gallons, the largest annual amount being 309,990 gallons in 1889. The private company after- wards extracted 60,000 gallons of oil. The expenditure incurred by Government amounted to about 6h lakhs of rupees, and there was a net loss of about 4 lakhs ; but the oil may yet prove valuable for the manufacture of patent fuel. The area prospected lies in the territory of the Marri chief, who was paid Rs. 300 a month by Government during the operations, but he afterwards compounded with the private company for a lower sum.

Little is known of the unworked minerals of the country. Chryso- tile, also known as fibrous serpentine or Canadian asbestos, occurs in some quantities in the Zhob valley and in the Quetta-Pishin District. Samples of the fibre have been found to be of some commercial value.

Experts have pronounced clays obtained from the Bolan Pass as fit for the production of good paint and terra-cotta and of fair Portland cement at remunerative rates. Oriental alabaster is obtainable in Chagai, and copper, lead, iron ores, and alunogen or hair-salt have also been found there. Ferrous sulphate (melanterite), known locally as zagh, is obtain- able in the east of the Jhalawan country, and is used by the natives for dyeing purposes. Carbonate of lead (cerussite) is found at Sekran near Khuzdar. A sulphur-mine was worked by the Afghan rulers near Sanni in Kachhi, but it has been abandoned since the British occupation. Iron bisulphide (marcasite) is of frequent occurrence, but it has nowhere been found in sufficiently large quantities to render it commercially valuable.

Arts and Manufactures

Existing conditions in Baluchistan are still too primitive to admit of the organization of industries on commercial lines. Such as there are consist of handicrafts worked at home, and in the majority of cases the work is done by the women in manu f actures their spare time. In all instances the same worker completes the article in hand from the raw material down to the finish. All Baluchistan art-work displays specially Persian characteristics. Cotton-weaving is a moribund industry still existing in a few parts. The cloth, known as kora in the east and Inst dasti in the west, is woven in pieces about 30 feet long by 28 inches broad. Coloured double sheetings called khes, which are fashionable among the natives, are also manufactured. Silk-weaving is done in Makran alone. The best specimens are tartans, known as man-o-bas, and a dark-green crape with crimson border called gushan. They resemble fabrics made at Purnea and Chittagong.

Embroidery is very common, especially among the Brahuis. It is highly artistic and of many varieties, but unfortunately the products have been injuriously affected by the introduction of aniline-dyed silks. Of the Brahui embroideries, that called mosam is the best. It consists of very close work in a form of satin stitch, the design being primarily geometric. Other kinds, which are not quite so fine, are known as pardwez and pariwar. These embroideries are generally made in four pieces : a pair of cuffs, a breast-piece resembling the linen front of a European shirt, and a long panel forming the pocket. Another fine kind is the Kandahar embroider)-, which is generally worked with a double satin stitch in ivory white. Padded or quilted embroidery is also not uncommon. In the Marri and Bugti hills the prevailing designs consist of medallions, made up of zones of herring-bone stitch separated by rings of chain stitch. In Las Bela a fine embroidery is done on silk and cloth with the crochet needle. In Kachhi, Kalat, Las Bela, and Makran, shoes, sword-belts, and other leathern goods embroidered in silk are popular. The Kachhi embroidery is exceedingly elaborate.

The articles known as Baloch rugs are not an indigenous product of Baluchistan. They are chiefly made at Adraskan, a place south of Herat, and in Seistan. Large quantities are, however, imported through Quetta. Saddle-bags and nose-bags made in this style are popular among Europeans for cushion covers, chair backs, &c. A few pile carpets are made in the Jhalawan country, but entirely for home use. Rugs in the dari stitch are manufactured in almost every nomad house- hold. They are made for sale in some quantities by the AngarTas of Las Bela and in the Barkhan tahstl of Loralai District. Saddle-bags and nose-bags richly ornamented with shells are also made there. The shuji, or long rug usually stretched in front of the bedding in a nomad tent, is manufactured in Kharan and the Sarawan country. Eelts of excellent quality and richly embroidered are also made, but chiefly for home use. Among minor woollen products, manufactured chiefly from camels' and goats' hair, are ropes and grain-bags, blanketing for tents, girths, and camel gear.

Since the British occupation four steam flour-mills have been opened. There are also two ice factories and a steam press for chopped straw, wool, and oil. Patent fuel is manufactured from coal-dust at Khost. A brewery has been started near Quetta, the out-turn of which has risen in the eighteen years between 1886 and 1903 from 86,000 to 347,000 gallons. A plentiful supply of unskilled labour is available for these industries, chiefly recruited from trans-border Afghans and Makranis.

Among minor industries may be mentioned tanning, the manufacture of carbonate of soda, mat- and basket-making, and indigenous methods of dyeing. Tanning is in vogue chiefly in Kachhi, Las Bela, and Makran. A good soft leather is produced by immersing the hides in lime and carbonate of soda, and afterwards tanning them with a decoction of the exudation of the tamarisk. The manufacture of carbonate of soda, chiefly from the saltworts known as Haloxylon Griffithii and Haloxylon salicornicum, is increasing. The white variety is preferred to the black. The saltworts are cut and after being partially dried are set on fire. Much matting and raw material for mat-making is exported from Baluchistan, especially from the lower highlands and Makran. For this purpose the dwarf-palm (Nannorhops Eitc/iieatia, called pish or dhora in the vernacular) is employed. In 1 900-1 the exports of mats and raw material to Sind were valued at Rs. 44,800. The people are well versed in the manufacture of natural dyes from lac, decoctions of willow and olive leaves, madder, &c. Pomegranate husks, alunogen or hair- salt, and lime are used as mordants. In Quetta rose-water and attar of roses are manufactured by Punjab Khojas from the common Persian rose. Experiments recently made in sericulture have proved successful, and Quetta silk has been pronounced of the best quality. Measures are now being taken to develop the industry.

Commerce and Trade

The indigenous trade of the Province was insignificant in former times. The country owed such commercial importance as it possessed to its geographical position athwart the main lines of communication between Persia, Central Asia, and trade India. The routes followed by caravans lay through the Gomal Pass to Multan, through the Harnai, Bolan, and Mula Passes to Shikarpur, and via Kalat and Bela to Sonmiani ; but trade was greatly hampered by the raiding proclivities of the adjacent tribes and the system of levying transit-dues. In the earliest engagement between the British and Kalat an attempt was made to regulate the latter, but without much success. The levy of transit-dues still con- stitutes one of the greatest impediments to trade in the Kalat State. In Administered areas the system has been broken down, generally by the expropriation of right-holders. The general character of the trade between India and Baluchistan in pre-British days resembled the land trade now carried on with Afghanistan, exports from Baluchistan con- sisting of wool, dried fruits, medicinal drugs, and horses, and imports of metals, piece-goods, sugar, and indigo. The traders were chiefly Babi Afghans, Hindus of Sind, whose transactions extended far into Central Asia, and Powinda Afghans.

Excluding internal trade, the commerce of Baluchistan divides itself naturally into two classes : trade borne by sea, land, and rail to and from other Provinces in India ; and foreign maritime and land trade. Omitting land-borne trade with Indian Provinces, the total trade was valued in 1902-3 at more than 2 crores of rupees, a striking evidence of the prosperity engendered by British rule. Exports consist chiefly of wool, dried and fresh fruits, medicinal drugs, fish and shark-fins, raw cotton, and mats ; imports, of piece-goods, food and other grains, metals, and sugar. The chief maritime centres of trade are Gwadar and Parni ; inland marts are Quetta, Sibi, Nushki, Kila Abdullah, Bhag, and Gandava. Much trade also finds its way direct to large markets in Sind, such as Jacobabad, Shikarpur, and Karachi.

All goods moving within the country, otherwise than by rail, are carried on camels. They consist chiefly of wool, agricultural produce, and fruit, including dates. Trade is almost entirely conducted by Hindus from India, but there are a few Muhammadan traders from Kandahar, and along the coast Khojas are fairly numerous. The Hindus move with the Brahuis, up in summer and down in winter, collecting produce at convenient centres whence they send it direct to the larger markets. Barter is common, food-grains being exchanged for salt, fish for dates, and cloth for ghi and wool. The maritime trade is carried on from the coast of Makran chiefly with Bombay and Karachi, salted fish, shark-fins, mats, wool, and raw cotton being exchanged for cotton piece-goods, food-grains (chiefly rice), and also sugar. Trade by land passes across the frontier to the Frontier Province, the Punjab, and Sind, but it is not fully registered. Wool, ghi, dwarf-palm for mat-making, and sheep and goats are the chief exports, and piece-goods and food-grains the imports. Of trade carried by rail, raw wool, fruits, medicinal drugs, and g/u constitute the largest articles of export ; piece-goods, grain, metals, and sugar are the largest imports. The table on the opposite page exhibits the value of the maritime and rail-borne trade with other parts of India. No statistics of foreign trade by sea are available ; but native craft carry dates and matting from Makran to the Persian Gulf, Arabia, and the east coast of Africa. Trade by land is carried on with Persia and Afghanistan, but is much hampered by the fiscal policy of those countries. The export of wheat, g/il, and horses from Afghan territory is entirely prohibited, though a good deal of smuggling takes place. The export of almonds is a State monopoly, while imports are liable to heavy duties. Transport too is entirely on camels and donkeys. The trade is registered at Chaman and Nushki ; but, as goods cross the frontier at many other points on both the north and the west, the statistics are far from complete. Trade along the newly opened route from Nushki to Persia has to face keen competition from Russian goods brought from the Trans-Caspian Railway through Meshed ; but, in spite of these drawbacks, it exhibits a considerable expansion. The table on the next page shows the value of the chief imports and exports of foreign land trade. The decrease in 1902-3 was due to a long period of drought which culminated in 1 900-1.

Communication

The impression created on the wild tribes of the frontier by the con- struction of railways and roads has been immense ; and their civilizing influence has been felt far beyond the political frontier, .

for every year many thousands of trans-border Afghans travel to India by their means to find remunerative employment. All the railways and the best of the roads have had their origin in strategical needs. The necessity of a railway was forcibly demonstrated by the

waste of treasure and life which occurred during the second Afghan War in the weary marches between Sind and Quetta, and the Sind- Pishln Railway owed its inception to this period. The critical year of 1885 caused the extension of the railway up the Bolan Pass, and shortly afterwards the Bolan road was bridged and metalled. The Pishin-Dera Ghazi Khan road was constructed to control the country between Pishin and the Punjab, and to form an alternative line of com- munication with the Indus valley.

1897-8.*

The first year for whieh figures are available. The total length of railways open for traffic in 1891 was 277 miles, which had increased to 399 miles in 1901. The opening of the Nushki Railway, which was completed in 1905, has brought the total up to 481 miles. The railways, which are on the standard gauge, have been built at immense cost. The total capital outlay, excluding the Nushki Railway, has been 11 crores, equivalent to 7-3 millions sterling, or an average cost of nearly 3 lakhs per mile. The Sind-PishTn line enters the Province near Jhatpat, traverses the Harnai valley, and has its terminus at Chaman. Its total length, including the branch line from Bostan to Quetta, is 312 miles. It was begun in 1879, but not com- pleted to Chaman till 1892. The chief difficulties in construction were met with in the Chappar Rift, at Mud Gorge, and in excavating the Khojak tunnel. The Chappar Rift is a huge gorge traversing the Chappar mountain at right angles to its general strike. It is crossed by a single span bridge, 150 feet long and 234 feet high, which is reached by tunnels excavated in the solid rock with the aid of adits

horizontal to the face of the cliffs. At Mud Gorge slips used to obliterate the line entirely at times, but, since 1894, the construction of a system of dams has prevented further subsidence. The surface line originally constructed from Rindli through the Bolan Pass was realigned in consequence of serious damage done by heavy floods in 1889 and 1890, and was taken from the Nari river to Mushkaf and thence along the east of the valley. The tunnelling on this line, especially between Mushkaf and Pishi, was extremely heavy. The gradients also are steeper than those on the Sind-Pishin line, and are as much as one in twenty-five between Mach and Kolepur. The length of the Quetta-Nushki Railway is 82 miles. The principal works are the Nishpa tunnel, half a mile long, and the excavation of the alignment through the Shaikh Wasil gorge. The cost will probably be less than 1 lakh per mile. There has been a continual increase of roads since the British occupation, connecting remote parts with the railways and the Punjab. The principal extension has taken place in the north-east corner of the Province. In the south and the west no cart-roads exist, and many of the routes are barely practicable even for camels. The following table gives statistics of the mileage and character of the roads maintained under the supervision of officers of the Military Works service, who are in charge of civil works in the Province : —

The total cost of maintenance of these roads in 1902-3 was Rs. 74,919. In addition, 1,128 miles of roads and paths are super- vised by civil officers, of which i,ior miles are maintained from Pro- vincial revenues and 27 from Local funds. In directly Administered areas the more important roads are the Bolan -Quetta-Chaman road, the Pishln-Dera Ghazi Khan road, and the Harnai-Fort Sandeman road. A road partially bridged and metalled runs from Quetta through Kach and Ziarat to Smallan on the Harnai-Fort Sandeman road. All these roads are provided with resthouses or ^z^-bungalows at con- venient stages. The roads from Sibi to Quetta, from Dera Ghazi Khan to PishTn, and from Harnai to Loralai are maintained from military

funds. The maintenance of the remainder, with some minor exceptions, falls on Provincial revenues, Local funds being applied only to the maintenance of roads in the Quetta municipality and a few other head- quarters stations. Of the more important roads, that in the Bolan Pass was commenced in 1886-8, and completed to Quetta in 1888, at a total cost of about 19 lakhs. The section between Quetta and Chaman (distance 78 miles) was improved and completed between 1887 and 1893. The Pishin- Dera Ghazi Khan road was commenced in 1886 and completed in 1888, at a total cost of 7 lakhs. The length in Baluchistan is 224^ miles. The section of the Harnai-Fort Sandeman road between the former place and Loralai was constructed as a military road after the occupa- tion of the Bori valley in 1886, and it cost Rs. 10,600 per mile. It traverses the fine Dilkuna gorge, which has been negotiated by carrying the road along the cliffs above flood-level. The road has been extended by civil agency from Loralai to Fort Sandeman. An important link of communication between Zhob and the Punjab will shortly be secured by the road through the Dhana Sar in the Sulaiman range to Dera Ismail Khan, which is now being realigned and reconstructed at great cost. It is 115 miles long, of which about 47! miles lie within Baluchistan. The remaining fair-weather paths and tracks form a net- work connecting all the principal places in Administered areas, but they are, as a rule, fit only for camel carriage. On the west the Nushki- Seistan trade-route, 378 miles to Robat Kila, has been aligned at a cost of Rs. 29,864. Camel carriage is everywhere the ordinary means of transport, but donkeys are largely employed for light loads. In Kachhi use is made of bullock-carts of the type in vogue in Sind. The steamers of the British India Steam Navigation Company cam- passengers, mails, and cargo between India and Pasni and Gwadar on the coast. These ports are visited on alternate weeks. Owing to shoal-water, a landing can be effected only in country boats. The postal service is- under the Deputy-Postmaster-General of the Sind and Baluchistan Circle. In 1881 there were 19 post offices and 453 miles of postal line, in addition to the railway. In 1902-3, 54 post offices and 27 letter-boxes were open, and the miles of com- munication numbered 2,281 ; the letters dealt with numbered 1,201,580 ; postcards, 811,030; packets, 150,745; newspapers, 208,050; and parcels, 27,740 \ The total amount of savings bank deposits was 7-8 lakhs. The money-order system is generally utilized by the Indian population temporarily resident in the country, and also by Afghan merchants trading with India. Beyond the railway, mails are carried by horsemen, who are appointed by the District officers, and whose 1 The figures for post offices ami miles of communication do not include 372 miles of dak line from Nushki to Robat Kila and the four post offices located thereon.

pay forms a Provincial charge. The levies so employed numbered 214 in 1903-4. A postal service in Las Bela has been organized by that State between Karachi and Bela. The first telegraph line constructed in Baluchistan was the Indo- European system, which reached Gwadar in 1863. Treaties and arrangements are in force with Las Bela and Kalat for the protection of the line. It skirts the coast for 399 miles. The rest of the country, especially the north-east, is well provided with telegraphs ; and a line runs to Robat Kila on the Persian frontier, which also connects with the Indo-European system. The tribesmen through whose country the lines pass are responsible for their protection, with the exception of the line to Kalat, for which a small establishment is maintained.

Famine

Actual famine is unknown, but scarcity is frequent. Cultivation depends either on permanent or on flood irrigation ; and as karez are most numerous in the upper highlands, these areas are better protected than the lower parts. Every- where, except in the plains, the principal harvest is reaped in the spring, the chief crop being wheat. In the plains, jowar is the staple food- grain. Trade returns show that the average aggregate imports of food- grains by rail exceed the exports by about one-third ; but much of the imported grain must be consumed by the foreign residents, and a fair wheat harvest is probably sufficient to carry the native-born population through the year. Again, the majority of the people are both graziers and agriculturists, and though the season may be unfavourable to agriculture, it may still be one of fairly good pasturage. Only a com- bined failure of both crops and grazing for consecutive seasons causes a crisis. Recent experience indicates that, while the people can tide over two years of bad rainfall or snowfall, a third reduces them to straits. Prices rise and a large emigration takes place to more favoured tracts. Local tradition speaks of constant scarcity, and Masson records a ten years' drought from 1830 to 1840. Between 1897 and 1901 a succession of bad years resulted in a deficit of land revenue of about i\ lakhs of rupees, an expenditure of Rs. 1,87,443 from special Imperial grants on works and relief, and of Rs. 30,000 from the Indian Famine Relief Fund. Large advances, were also made for agricultural purposes. Produce revenue adjusts itself automatically ; and during the first two years some remissions and suspensions in assessed areas, combined with assistance for the purchase of seed and stock, were found to be all that was required. But, on the culmination of the drought in 1 900-1, relief works had to be opened, chiefly roads, and doles of grain were distributed to the Marri and Bugti tribes. Advances and doles to the amount of about Rs. 34,000 were also made by Native States. No mortality was recorded.

The greatest safeguard against famine consists in the migratory habits of the people, and the proximity of fully protected areas in Sind, where ample means of subsistence exist for all who are willing to work. The two state irrigation schemes in the upper highlands are dependent on rainfall, and cannot, therefore, be regarded as entirely protective. Except in Kachhi it is doubtful if there is much scope for other large schemes. The widest source of protection probably ies in the extension of embankments for catching the rain-water as it runs off the stony sides of the hills. There are indications that large resort was had to this method of retaining the moisture in pre- historic times, the gabrbands of the Jhalawan country having been undoubtedly intended for this purpose.

Administration

The head of the local administration is the officer styled Agent to the Governor-General and Chief Commissioner. The following is a list of those who have held the substantive appoint- ment : Colonel Sir Robert Sandeman (1877), Major- General Sir James Browne (1892), Mr. (now Sir Hugh) Barnes (1896), Colonel C. E. Yate (1900), Sir A. H. M'Mahon (1907). The Agent to the Governor-General exercises judicial powers under the Frontier Crimes Regulation, and conducts the political administration of Baluch- istan. He is also Inspector-General of Police and Levies. He has two Assistants, who are officers of the Political Department, and a personal Native Assistant of the rank of an Extra Assistant Commis- sioner. Other members of his staff are the Agency Surgeon and the Officer Commanding the Royal Engineers at Quetta, who is the Civil Secretary in the Public Works department.

Next in rank comes the Revenue Commissioner, who advises the Agent to the Governor-General in financial matters and generally controls the revenue administration. He combines the functions of Settlement Commissioner, Superintendent of Stamps, Commissioner of Excise, Inspector-General of Registration and Jails, Registrar-General, and Judicial Commissioner ; and he has the powers of a Local Govern- ment in the disposition of Local funds. Forest administration is also in his hands. For local and rural administration the Political Agency or District is the unit. Each District is divided into taksils, of which one or more constitute a subdivision. The village, which is often nothing more than the area occupied by a tribal subdivision, is the unit of management within the tahsil. The Political Agent, who is also Deputy-Commissioner for such portions of his District as form part of British India, is the Collector, District and Sessions Judge, and the administrative head of his charge. He has frequently to deal with important trans-border affairs of a political character. Assis- tant Political Agents and Extra Assistant Commissioners or Native Assistants are in charge of subdivisions, supervise the collection of revenue, exercise civil and criminal powers, and have the subordinate political control of the tribes in their respective areas. Each tahsil is in charge of a tahsilddr, with an assistant styled naib-tahsildar. A naib-tahsildar holds charge of each sub-tahsil. These officials are primarily responsible for the collection of the revenue, but they also exercise judicial powers. A tahsil is distributed into circles, in which the pativari represents the authority of Government. He is charged with the maintenance of settlement, crop and other records, supervises the maintenance of sources of irrigation, and assists in maintaining order. It is his duty to see that the headmen collect and pay the revenue demand punctually. The village headmen collect the revenue, assist in the appraisement of crops, and maintain order. They are generally remunerated by an allowance of 5 per cent, on the gross collections. The Sandeman system of offering allowances to headmen to maintain followers, by whose means they are expected to control their tribes, is freely employed. It is closely connected with the system of levy services referred to below. In 1904 five Political Agents, seven Assistant Political Agents, eight Extra Assistant Commissioners, and five Native Assistants were employed in District administration in the Province. There were also fourteen iahsildars and eighteen naib- tahsilddrs. A Cantonment Magistrate and an Assistant Cantonment Magistrate are posted to Quetta, and a Staff Officer performs the same duties in Loralai. A Munsif is stationed at Quetta and another at Sibi. The Director, Persian Gulf Telegraphs, is a Justice of the Peace for places along the coast, and also exercises certain political powers as an Assistant to the Political Agent in Kalat.

Excluding Native States, the Province is divided into two main portions : British Baluchistan, and the territories administered by the Agent to the Governor-General, the latter being generally known as the Agency Territories. British Baluchistan includes the tahsils 01 Shahrig, Sibi, Duki, Pishin with Shorarud, and the Chaman subdivision, with a total area of 9,476 square miles. Agency Territories is an elastic term, including areas which are directly administered and also other tracts which are merely politically controlled. Of these, the directly administered areas cover 37,216 square miles, comprising the Quetta tahsil, the Bolan Pass District, and the Nushki and Nasirabad tahsils, all of which have been leased from the Khan of Kalat ; the lands occupied by the railway from Jhatpat to Mithri, Nari to Spintangi, and Spezand to Sorosham ; the Chagai and Western Sinjrani country ; and the whole of the Zhob and Loralai Agencies, except the Duki tahsil in the latter. The inhabitants of the last two tracts have placed themselves under British protection from time to time. Throughout these areas revenue is collected. The part of Baluchistan, therefore, including British Baluchistan, which is under direct administration, covers 46,692 square miles, an area about the same size as Sind. It comprises six Districts — Quetta-Pishin, Sibi, Loralai, Zhob, Chagai, and the Bolan Pass. Each of the first four is in charge of a Political Agent and the fifth of a Political Assistant, while the Bolan Pass is administered by the Political Agent in Kalat. The latter, with two Political Assistants, one of whom is ex-officlo Commandant of the Makran Levy Corps, controls the affairs of the Kalat and Las Bela States. The Political Agent in .Sibi exercises political control over the Marri and Bugti tribes and in the Lahri niabat of the Kalat State, which is inhabited by the Dombki, Umrani, and Kaheri tribes.

The Native States are two in number, Kalat and Las Bela, the latter being nominally a feudatory of the former. The Kalat State consists of a confederacy of tribal groups headed by the Khan of Kalat. These groups were originally organized into three great divisions : (1) the Khan's u/us, or following, which was scattered throughout the country ; (2) the Sarawan tribesmen living to the north of Kalat under their hereditary chief, the Raisani Sardar ; and (3) the Jhalawan tribes- men living to the south of Kalat under the Zahri Sardar. All were liable to the Khan for military service. Succession to the masnad of Kalat appears to have been by inheritance, subject to the approval of the chiefs and of the paramount power. Gross incompetence might exclude. In external affairs the Khan was supreme and absolute.

Internally each of the Sarawan and Jhalawan tribes retained the fullest rights of self-government, but by the unwritten rule of the constitution there was a general right of interference by the Khan. The Khan, through his naibs or deputy-governors, managed the affairs of those people from whom he collected revenue. Kharan was, and still is, quasi-independent. These arrangements have, however, been modified by lapse of time.

The relations of Kalat with the British Government are governed by two treaties, those of 1854 and 1876. The treaty of 1876 reaffirmed the treaty of 1854. Under the terms of the earlier treaty a subsidy of Rs. 50,000 was payable to the Khan, which was raised to 1 lakh in 1876. At the same time the Khan agreed to act in subordinate co-operation with the British Government ; a British Agency was re- established at the Khan's court with certain powers of arbitration ; and the presence of British troops in Kalat was permitted. The con- struction of railways and telegraphs and freedom of trade were also provided for. There are further agreements with Kalat in connexion with the construction of the Indo-European Telegraph , the cession of jurisdiction on the railways and in the Bolan Pass, and the per- manent lease of Quetta, Nushki, and Nasirabad. A Political Agent was permanently reappointed to Kalat in 1884, to keep touch with the Khan and to exercise the right of arbitration already referred to.

The Khan is entitled to a salute of nineteen guns. The relations of the Brahui tribesmen with the Khan are now- regulated by the Mastung agreement, the treaty of 1876, and the custom which has arisen therefrom. In the Mastung agreement the Sarawan and Jhalawan Sardars declared their submission and allegiance to the Khan, the Khan on his part restoring to them their ancient rights and privileges and promising good treatment so long as they proved loyal and faithful. Difficulties having arisen in cases where disputes had occurred between the Khan's deputies, as representing his subjects, and the Brahui tribesmen, such disputes were to be referred to the Khan for inquiry and decision, and, in case of dis- agreement, the disputed point was to be left to the arbitration of the British Government. The rights of internal self-government previously possessed by the tribesmen remained intact. In 1879 service and allowances were granted by the British Government to the Sarawan chiefs, in personal recognition of their loyal behaviour during the second Afghan War. To assist in the administrative control of the tribes, a Native Assistant for Sarawan was appointed in 1902.

The Khan is assisted in the general administration of his State by a Political Adviser, whose services are lent by the British Government. The affairs of the Jhalawan country, in which certain tribal subsidies are paid by the Khan, are supervised by a Native Assistant also lent by the British Government, who is stationed at Khuzdar. The country, other than tribal, in which the Khan exercises control and collects revenue is divided into niabats. Makran is under the control of an officer known as the nazim. Each of the niabats, of which there are nine, was for- merly in charge of a naib or deputy-governor. The Mastung niabat and the five niabats of Kachhi are supervised by four tahsildars or mustaufis, who are represented locally by deputies, called ja-nashin. This system was introduced in 1902, but in some cases the naib has been retained and exercises jurisdiction concurrently with the ja-nashin. Important civil cases are heard by the Political Adviser. The mustaufis hear civil suits up to Rs. 10,000 in value, and naibs and ja-nashins suits of lower value on a graded scale. Court-fees are levied at 10 per. cent, ad valo- rem. Criminal cases are dealt with by the Political Adviser on the basis of tribal custom.

The chief of Las Bela, known as the Jam, is bound by agreement with the British Government to conduct the administration of his State in accordance with the advice of the Governor-General's Agent. This control is exercised through the Political Agent in Kalat. Sentences of death must be referred for confirmation. The Jam also employs an approved Wazir, to whose advice he is subject, and who generally assists him in the transaction of state business. For purposes of administration the State is divided into seven niabats. The naib or officer in charge, inquires into petty judicial cases, and collects transit- dues and the land revenue after it has been appraised by the revenue establishment. He submits all cases for the orders of the Jam. The revenue arrangements are in the hands of atahsildar, assisted by a head revenue naib and other naibs.

Legislation and Justice

Acts and Regulations are extended to British Baluchistan either under the Scheduled Districts Act (XIV of 1874) or by special mention in the Act itself, and are applied to the Agency Territories Legislation and . the Governor-General-in-Council under the Indian justice.

(Foreign Jurisdiction) Order in Council, 1902. En- actments peculiar to Baluchistan are the Laws Law, the Civil Justice Law and Regulation, the Criminal Justice Law and Regulation, and the Forest Law and Regulation, all passed in 1890. The Civil and Crimi- nal Justice Laws and Regulations were modified in 1893, and re-enacted in 1896, when the post of Judicial Commissioner was created. He is the High Court for Baluchistan, but sentences of death passed or confirmed by him require the sanction of the Local Government. In proceedings against European British subjects the 1'unjab Chief Court is the High Court. Each District is a Sessions division, the District Magistrate being the Sessions Judge, who may take cognizance of any offence as a court of original jurisdiction without previous commitment by a magistrate. The trial may take place without jury or assessors. Assistant Political Agents, Extra Assistant Commissioners, and Native Assistants ordinarily have the powers of a magistrate of the first class ; tahsildars those of the second class, and naib-tahsilddrs those of the third class. The Cantonment Magistrate, Quetta, exercises first-class powers ; and the Cantonment Magistrate, Loralai, and the Assistant Cantonment Magistrate, Quetta, possess second-class powers. The limit within which sentences are not appealable has been raised in cases tried by Courts of Sessions and certain magistrates.

The civil courts are of five grades : courts of naib-tahsilddrs, with jurisdiction up to Rs. 50 ; of tahsildars and Munsifs, with jurisdiction up to Rs. 300 ; of Assistant Political Agents, Extra Assistant Com- missioners, and Native Assistants, with iurisdiction which may extend up to Rs. 10,000 ; and of Political Agents, without limit of pecuniary jurisdiction. The Judicial Commissioner constitutes the highest appel- late authority. Appeals from the orders of a naib-tahsilddr, tahsilddr, or Munsif ordinarily lie to the subdivisional officers concerned. The Cantonment Magistrate and Assistant Cantonment Magistrate at Quetta and certain other officers preside over Courts of Small Causes. In questions relating to certain specified subjects, the civil courts are bound to have regard to tribal custom, where such custom is inconsistent with ordinary Hindu or Muhammadan law. No legal practitioner can appear in any court without the sanction of the Local Government. The number of cases disposed of is shown in the following table. Nearly half the number of criminal cases are of a petty nature. The decline in the number of civil cases is due to the completion of the large railway and other works.

The indigenous system of referring disputes to a council of tribal elders or jirga has been developed under British administration, the Punjab Frontier Crimes Regulation 1 having been applied for this pur- pose in 1890. Local cases are referred to local jirgas, while intertribal and other important cases are decided by Shahi jirgas which meet twice a year at Sibi and Quetta. A Shahi jirga is also held once a year at Fort Munro, for the disposal of inter-Provincial cases between the Punjab and Baluchistan.

These periodical assemblies have to decide cases of blood-feud, murder, important land disputes, &c, which, if unadjusted, would probably lead to bloodshed, loss of life, and political complications. During the five years ending March, 1898, the average annual number of cases thus disposed of was 2,871 ; in the succeeding three years the average number was 3,049. The actual number of cases in 1902-3 was 4,230. The Murderous Outrages Regulation was extended to Baluchistan in 1902. Under its provisions a fanatic guilty of murder may be sentenced to death or transportation or imprisonment for life in India ; to forfeiture of property ; and to whipping, in addition to transportation or imprisonment. It also authorizes the enforcement of tribal and village responsibility. During the ten years ending 1902 the number of murderous outrages on Europeans was nine and on natives of India sixteen.

The registrars under the Indian Registration Act are District officers, and the sub-registrars are generally tahsildars. In 1893-4 the number of registrars was 3 and of sub-registrars 12; 632 documents were registered, registration being compulsory in the case of 425. In 1902-3 the number of offices was 19 and the number of documents registered 868. 1 The Frontier Crimes Regulation III of 1901 has since been applied to Baluchistan, with certain modifications.

Finance

The Provincial finances are managed in accordance with a quasi- Provincial settlement framed by the Government of India. The first settlement was made for a period of five years com- mance. niencing in 1897 ; the terms were slightly modified and renewed for a similar period in April, 1902.

Under native rule the only items of revenue, other than that derived from land, consisted of transit-dues (sung), fines, and, in some places, grazing tax. The amount realized cannot be ascertained. The transit- dues were either taken by the State, or shared between the State and the tribal chiefs, or pocketed by the chiefs themselves. They have now been abolished in all Administered areas. On the first arrival of the British, the niabat of Quetta was managed by British officers on behalf of the Khan of Khalat from 1877 to 1883. During this period the annual revenue averaged Rs. 47,674. From April 1, 1883, the revenues of Quetta were treated as an Excluded Local Fund for one year ; but afterwards, up to 1891, they were brought into the regular accounts of the Government. During these years the revenue averaged Rs. 1,46,000 per annum. In April, 1891, the Agent to the Governor-General was permitted to exercise the powers of a Local Government for two years in respect of the revenues of Quetta District, which were entirely made over to him. Meanwhile the provincialization of the Police and Levies, except those in the Zhob valley, had been authorized ; the Bori, Barkhan, and Zhob valleys had come under control and the Zhob Levy Corps had been constituted, and the general control of the revenue and expenditure in each case had also been made over to the Local Govern- ment. In 1893, therefore, a consolidated contract was sanctioned which included the four existing contracts, and an assignment of Rs. 8,65,000 per annum for a period of four years was granted. This was raised later on by Rs. 600 per annum. During the four years 1893-7 the receipts, excluding the Imperial assignment, averaged Rs. 5,70,550, and the expenditure Rs. 14,20,000 annually. The revenue and expendi- ture of Thal-Chotiali — i.e. Duki, Sibi, and Shahrig — and of Pishln, which areas had been declared to be British Baluchistan, had through- out this period been treated as Imperial. Their revenue from 1883 •to 1890 averaged Rs. 3,40,000, and from 1890 to 1897 Rs. 3,67,000 per annum.

From April 1, 1897, the whole revenue and expenditure of the Pro- vince, classified under certain specified heads, was provincialized, the settlement being sanctioned for a period of five years. The standard figure of revenue was fixed at Rs. 9,89,000, and that of expenditure at Rs. 22,34,000. The latter was afterwards increased to Rs. 22,74,000, owing to the arrangements made in connexion with Chagai District.

Under this settlement the Agent to the Governor-General exercises the powers usually given to Local Governments under the scheme of Pro- vincial finance, and is subject to the rules of financial procedure which have been applied to Local Governments. The balance at the close of each year is carried on to the next. The expenditure on levies may not be materially reduced below Rs. 8,27,000 per annum without special sanction. The revenue includes that from salt made locally, usually an Imperial item ; the only head of revenue classed as Imperial is interest. Under expenditure, the items (a) Ecclesiastical, (/>) Territorial and Political Pensions, and (c) Political Salaries, are treated as Imperial. Territorial and political pensions include sums payable to persons of political importance. The salaries of Political officers borne on the Foreign Department list, of the Agency Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon at Kalat, and of all Extra Assistant Commissioners and Native Assistants, except the Extra Assistant Commissioner, Quetta, and the Native Assistant, Sarawan, are debitable against the head Political Salaries. The ultimate result of the first provincialized settlement was a debit balance of Rs. 43,312. The average revenue amounted to only Rs. 9,36,000, about half a lakh less than the standard figure ; on the other hand the expenditure was reduced to an average of Rs. 22,39,000 per annum, against the estimated standard figure of Rs. 22,74,000. A decrease occurred under almost all heads of revenue, especially from land revenue and stamps. It was only from irrigation that an increase occurred, amounting to about Rs. 6,000. The standard figure of land revenue was Rs. 6,19,000 ; but, owing to a series of dry years, culminat- ing in actual drought in 1 900-1, the realizations averaged Rs. 5,85,000, or about Rs. 33,000 less than the estimate. Stamp revenue also fell below the estimate by about Rs. 31,000. Owing to the expansion of the Province, there have been increases in the establishments for the collection of land revenue and for general administration, and in the expenditure on levies. By the reorganization of the Forest department a saving of about Rs. 14,000 has been effected. Owing to the peculiar circumstances of the Province, the allotment for public works constitutes the only reserve from which expenditure in times of scarcity can be met.

All other charges are practically fixed. During the quinquennial period the amount spent on public works was less than the standard by about Rs. 50,000. Of the average sum of Rs. 3,75,000 expended on public works, about one-third was devoted to repairs and the remainder to original works. The greater part of the assigned revenues was thus shown to be stationary, while the expenditure on public works, and especially on roads, was unduly curtailed. In the renewed settlement of 1902 an increase in the Provincial assignment was sanctioned, to enable the provincialized services to be maintained in a state of efficiency and internal communications to be developed. The annual assignment now amounts to a total of 15 lakhs per annum.

The following tables give the average revenue and expenditure under main heads for the quinquennial period ending March, 1902, and the actuals for the two years 1 900-1 and 1902-3 : —

Land Revenue

The land tenures of the Province are of a very simple character. In a few tracts the organized and corporate system originating in tribal conquest and territorial allotment, often in the shape Land revenue of compensation for blood, still exists. The land appears to have been divided originally into groups of holdings forming the several shares of the different tribal subdivisions. In course of time, however, successive distributions have resulted in individual pro- prietorship, which is now almost universal. Such proprietors have full control over their property and the right of alienation. In some parts periodical division of land and water still takes place. In others, where there is little water in proportion to the amount of land, the water is permanently divided, while the land is owned jointly and apportioned for each crop. In irrigated tracts the proprietor is fre- quently the cultivator. If he leases his land, it is only as a temporary measure. In flood- and rains-crop areas, where cultivation is possible only by embanking, it was formerly usual in the highlands for an owner to assign the proprietary right in a portion of the land embanked, generally a half or a quarter, to the person making the embankment. This system is falling into desuetude in proportion as the value of land is appreciated, and temporary written leases are now generally granted.

In low-lying tracts a cultivator who makes an embankment pays the proprietor a fixed share in the produce (hakki-topa) and acquires an alienable occupancy right.

Revenue was levied in Mughal times partly in cash and partly in kind. The tribes were also required to furnish a specified number of horsemen and footmen. In 1590 Duki, Pishin, the Harnai valley, Shorarud, and Quetta were included in the sarkdr of Kandahar, and Sibi in the sarkdr of Bhakkar. Besides revenue in cash and kind, the value of which may be estimated at about i-| lakhs of rupees, these areas furnished 4,750 armed horsemen and 6,400 foot- men. Immediately previous to the advent of the British, various systems prevailed in different parts of the country. Tribes far remote from the head-quarters of the provincial governors paid only an occa- sional sheep or goat to the tribal chief, who carried a small nazarana or present to the local governor. In those districts which were under more immediate control and had originally furnished armed men, this service had been commuted into a cash payment known as gham-i- naukar. In some places a fixed amount in cash or kind, known as zar-i-kalang, was levied, but a complicated system of batai or sharing of grain was the more general method of taking revenue. The share realized varied from one-third to one-tenth, and resort was sometimes had to appraisement. A host of cesses were also levied, including pay- ments for the naib or agent, the weighman, the seal-man, and the crop-watcher. The total amount thus exacted appears to have seldom amounted to less than one-half of the produce. The batai system still survives in this form in the Kalat State.

Under British rule no attempt has yet been made to enforce entire uniformity in revenue management. Existing methods have been taken as the basis for introducing an improved system, and great care has been exercised not to cause discontent among the people. The present methods of realizing land revenue are as follows : (a) cash assessments fixed for a term of years {jamabast) ; (b) temporary assessments (ij'dra) ; (c) division of the produce {batai) ; (a 7 ) appraisement of the standing crops and levy of revenue in kind (tashktas or ddnabandi) ; and (e) estimation of the Government share in cash after measurement of a portion of the crops (tashkhis-i-nakdi). In the last three cases the Government share varies, the highest rate being one-third and the lowest one-eighth. The usual rate is one-sixth. Where revenue is taken in kind, an amount of fodder equal to the grain is also generally realized. As a result of inquiries into the existing revenue system made in 1882, orders were issued for making summary settlements, village by village, for the removal of irritating fees, and for the conversion in special cases of grain dues into cash. At this time the usual share of produce taken in irrigated lands was one-third; but in 1887 this rate was reduced, and about the same time the Government of India recommended the intro- duction of fixed assessments throughout the Agency. It was found impossible to effect this change immediately, and an option was there- fore given to the cultivator to pay the revenue in kind or the equiva- lent of the crop assessment in cash. As new areas have come under control, batai revenue has usually been levied at one-sixth, and the cultivator is found to prefer this system with all its drawbacks to cash payment.

Settlement work was begun in 1902 and is still in progress. The record-of-rights has covered the ta/isi/s of Quetta, Pishln, Hindubagh, Kila Saifulla, Bori, Shahrig, Sibi, and Sanjawi. A fixed cash assessment has been introduced only in the Quetta, Pishln, Shahrig, and Sanjawi tahsils. This being the first settlement and the data available being scanty, the methods followed have been summary. Keeping in view the fact that only a light assessment was required, the Settlement officer fixed the revenue after personal inspection and after calculation of the average out-turn of the principal crops, the valuation of the Government share being ascertained at the average prevailing prices. Regard has also been had to the proximity of markets, the quality of irrigated lands, the nature of the soil, and the number of crops usually obtained. In rains-crop areas the introduction of a fluctuating grain assessment, pro- posed by the Government of India, has not yet been found practicable ; and when a cultivable ' dry-crop ' area forms even a large addition to an irrigated estate it has, as a rule, not been found worth while to assess it.

Extensive tracts have been formed into separate estates, which are subject to batai. The period of assessment is usually ten years, but this has been extended to twenty in Pishln. In settled tahsils the incidence per acre on the irrigable area varies from about 7 annas to about Rs. 3-9-0, and on the area actually irrigated from Rs. 1-5-3 to R s « 5- The assessments are on the whole low. They generally follow the shares in water, but are sometimes fixed on areas also. Individual holders are in all cases responsible for payment of the revenue. The ordinary term of exemption for a new source of irrigation is ten years, and land brought under cultivation during the term of the settlement is not liable to revenue. The planting of fruit-trees is also encouraged. The proprietary right in land acquired by confiscation under native rule has now passed to the British Government, and it has been granted to cultivators at rates which cover both land revenue and the proprietor's share of the produce. In pre-British days, the state was considered the owner of all grazing lands ; and in the draft Land Revenue Regulation, which is now under consideration, a provision has been inserted giving the Government the presumptive right in all lands comprised in unclaimed and unoccupied waste. The Punjab Land Revenue Act, XVII of 1887, has been applied with modifications to Quetta and Pishln, and rules have been issued for the maintenance of records. For this purpose an establishment of kanungos, patwaris, &c, is maintained.

Grazing tax {tirni) has been levied everywhere since 1890, except in the Bolan, the Nasirabad tahsil, and Nushki. In the latter District only nomads from Afghan territory are liable. Rates vary from one anna for a sheep or goat to Rs. 1-8-0 for a female camel. Plough and milch cattle are exempt. The tax is collected by annual enumera- tion or by annual contract without actual counting. It yielded Rs. 88,682 in 1903-4, or about 13 per cent, of the aggregate land revenue.

The total land revenue in 1900-1, including Rs. 4,394 collected as grazing tax from Powindas on their way to the Punjab, and payable to that Administration, was 6 lakhs, which gives an incidence of Rs. 1-96 per head of total population and Rs. 2-27 on the rural population. Of this, 1 >7 lakhs was collected by cash assessment and 3-4 lakhs by division of crops. The annual value in 1901 of the Government revenue alienated in revenue-free grants was Rs. 88,783. Most of these grants constitute a relic of Afghan times, and are held by privileged classes, such as Saiyids. Under British rule they have sometimes been made to persons for services rendered, or to chiefs to enable them to support their position or compensate them for the loss of former privileges.

They consist either of an assignment of the whole or of a fixed pro- portion of the revenue on certain lands, of fixed allowances in grain, or of remissions of grazing tax. Remissions or suspensions of revenue are given in tracts under fixed assessment only in years of drought or damaged crops, and are based on the proportion of the area in which crops have failed. Remissions of grazing tax are also allowed. Under the Civil Justice Law agricultural land may not be sold in execution of a decree without the sanction of the Local Government, and the draft Land Revenue Regulation contains provisions limiting the power of alienation of such land to non-agriculturists.

Miscellaneous Revenue

The opium revenue is derived entirely from vend fees. The culti- vation of poppy is prohibited, and opium required for local consumption is imported from the Punjab by licensed vendors who Miscellaneous make their Qym arran g ements f or procuring it. No import duty is levied. The exclusive right of retail- ing opium is disposed of annually by auction for each District, the number of shops being limited. The sale of opium and poppy-heads for medicinal purposes is also regulated. The consumption of opium in 1 900- 1 was about 16 maunds, and in 1902-3 about 15 maunds.

The salt consumed in Baluchistan consists of earth-salt manufactured in the Province, and rock-salt. The latter is imported by rail, in small quantities only, owing to the competition of untaxed local salt. The imports of rock-salt averaged about 800 maunds during the three years ending 1900; the imports in 1900-1 reached 1,142 maunds. The wholesale price at Sibi is about Rs. 3-12-0 and at Quetta Rs. 4-9-0 per maund. Punjab rock-salt is used in the towns and bazars by the non-indigenous civil and military population, while the local earth-salt is used by the tribesmen. The latter pays duty on importation into Administered areas at Rs. 1-8-0 per standard maund. Local salt on importation into Quetta town pays duty at Rs. 1-8-0, but in Pishin bazar and Kila Abdullah the rate is R. 1. No tax is levied on earth- salt produced in Zhob, Loralai, or Chagai. In the Native States the right of manufacture is generally given on contract. No preventive establishments are anywhere maintained. The annual revenue from salt from 1897 to 1900 averaged Rs. 3,670. In 1900-1 it was Rs. 3,383, and in 1902-3 Rs. 3,151.

The cultivation of hemp has been absolutely prohibited in British Baluchistan since July, 1896. In the Kalat highlands its cultivation appears to be on the increase. Charas and bhang are imported into British territory in small quantities from Afghanistan and Kalat, and have been subject to import duty since 1902. The main supply of charas comes from the Punjab, while bhang and ganja are supplied by Sind. Bhang is the only drug of which there is any considerable con- sumption. The consumption of intoxicating drugs in 1 900-1 was as follows : poppy-heads, 3A maunds ; ganja, 34 seers ; charas, 30 maunds ; and bhang, 119 maunds. In 1902-3 the consumption of poppy-heads amounted to ii maunds ; of ganja to 8 seers ; of charas to 291 maunds ; and of bhang to 4o| maunds. Separate annual contracts are given to licensed vendors for the wholesale and retail vend of intoxicating drugs. For medicinal purposes they are sold by licensed druggists. The inci- dence of revenue per head of population in i 900-1 was about one anna. The manufacture and vend of country spirits are combined under a monopoly system. Each District forms a separate farm. The rights are generally disposed of annually by auction. The sale of rum is sometimes included in the contract. Manufacture is carried on under the out-still system.

The out-turn of the brewery at Quetta averaged 212,977 gallons of beer per annum between 1891 and 1900, of which 170,460 gallons were supplied to the local Commissariat department. The quantity brewed was 238,572 gallons in 1901, and 347,220 gallons in 1903. Up to 1897 malt liquors supplied to the Commissariat department were, as a special case, free of duty. One anna per gallon is now levied. Foreign liquors, including spirit manufactured in other parts of India after the English method, are sold under wholesale and retail licences, which are granted on payment of fixed fees of Rs. 32 for wholesale vend and from Rs. 100 to Rs. 300 for retail vend. Retail vendors may not sell by the glass. Rates varying from Rs. 6 to Rs. 200 per annum are charged for licences for places of refreshment. The excise revenue from various sources has been as follows : —

The incidence per head is about seven annas. The consumption of intoxicating liquors and opium is confined to the foreign population. Hemp drugs are used to some extent by the people of the country. There appears to be a tendency among the educated classes to consume foreign liquors in preference to country spirits.

The net stamp revenue during the nine years 1 891-1900 averaged Rs. 76,600. In 1900-1 it was Rs. 59,000, and in 1902-3 Rs. 62,600. About two-thirds of the total is derived from judicial and one-third from non-judicial stamps. The Income Tax Act (II of 1886) has not been applied to Baluch- istan. British subjects in the service of the Government of India or of a local authority, or who may be serving within Native States in the Province, are alone liable to the tax. The receipts during the three years 1 897-1900 averaged Rs. 15,400 per annum ; in 1 900-1 they were Rs. 16,200, and in 1902-3 Rs. 17,300.

Quetta is the only municipality that has been formally constituted in Baluchistan. An octroi tax was levied by Kalat officials before British occupation, which was continued after Sir R. Sandeman's arrival, a conservancy cess being added in 1878. The site of the town and civil lines was purchased by Government, and was subsequently assigned to the municipality under certain conditions. Up to the year 1893 the affairs of the town and its funds were managed by the Extra Assistant Commissioner at Quetta, controlled by the Political Agent.

The Quetta Municipal Law came into force on October 15, 1896. The municipal committee consists of a chairman and not less than six nominated members. The Political Agent is ex-officio chairman, and the term of office of the members is one year. In March, 1904, the committee included five European ex-officio members and eight natives. During the four years ending 1901 the municipal income averaged 1-7 lakhs. The principal item is octroi, the receipts from which are about a lakh annually. Half of the net receipts from this source are paid over to the Quetta cantonment committee. Taking the popula- tion of Quetta town alone, the incidence of taxation is Rs. 1 2-4-1 per head ; including that of the cantonment, however, it drops to Rs. 6-n-io. Quetta being surrounded by open country, the cost of collection of octroi is necessarily costly, amounting to more than 19 per cent, of the gross receipts in 1901. In 1903-4 the total income of the municipality had increased to 2-2 lakhs.

Local and municipal

Seven ' excluded ' Local funds have been created, known as the Sibi municipal fund, the Shahrig District bazar fund (which includes the Ziarat improvement fund), the Pishin Sadar and Dis- Trict bazaar fund , the Loralai town fund (including the Duki and Ba.rkh.an funds), the Fort Sandeman, the Nushki, and the Bolan bazar funds. These have been formed from time to time as new centres of trade sprang up and developed. The objects to which their income is devoted include local works and other measures of public utility, such as education and conservancy.

The accounts, except in the case of the Sibi municipal fund, are governed by rules issued by the Government of India, and are audited by the Comptroller, India Treasuries. The Revenue Commissioner exercises with regard to their disposition the powers of a Local Government ; the Political Agents are controlling officers, while the officers in charge of subdivisions (except in the Bolan, Pishin, and Chaman) are the ad- ministrators. The total income of these funds during the four years ending 1901 averaged Rs. 1,18,000 per annum, and the expenditure Rs. 1,14,000. No local rates are levied ; but the principal source of income is octroi, which contributed an average of Rs. 62,700. One- third of the octroi receipts at Chaman, Loralai, and Fort Sandeman is paid over to the military authorities at these stations. The income of the funds in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 1,07,000, and the expenditure to Rs. 1,01,000.

Quetta was declared a cantonment in 1883 and Loralai in 1897. The funds of each are administered by a cantonment committee. Their income consists chiefly of octroi and of grants-in-aid from Government, and is expended on objects similar to those of Local funds. During the four years ending 1901, the total income averaged Rs. 93,000 and the expenditure Rs. 92,000 per annum. In 1903 the income amounted to Rs. 1,25,600 and the expenditure to Rs. 1,39,700.

Public works

The Public Works department has had a chequered career. Up to 1882 a Superintending Engineer was appointed under the immediate orders of the Local Government. From 1882 to 1885 the execution of civil works was entrusted to the Director-General of Military Works, the military Superintending Engineer being Secretary to the Local Government. From 1885 to 1889 public works were carried out by both military and civil agency, the civil Superintending Engineer being Joint Secretary to the Agent to the Governor-General. From 1889 to 1893 the civil Superintending Engineer was made Secretary for Public Works to the Local Govern- ment, and three civil divisions were created ; the military Superintend- ing Engineer was Joint Secretary and also controlled two Military Works divisions.

In 1 893 all civil works were again entrusted to the military ; and, owing to the importance of training Royal Engineer officers on the frontier and to the evils of a dual system, this arrangement still continues. Thus, the executive officers of the department of Military Works carry out both the civil and military works falling within their charges. The Commanding Royal Engineer, Quetta, is Superintending Engineer for all works and Secretary for Public Works to the Agent to the Governor- General. The Agency is divided into two sub-districts, each in charge of a Sub-District Commanding Royal Engineer. Subordinate to the Sub-District Commanding Royal Engineers are Garrison Engineers, who have charge of local areas. All works carried out on behalf of the civil authorities are executed as contribution works to the Military Works department. For establishments, tools, and plant, and cost of audit a fixed sum of 24^ per cent, on the cost of all works is credited to the Military Works services. A payment of Rs. 2,300 is also made on account of establishments engaged for the supervision of coal mines. A special irrigation Engineer has been recently appointed, whose pay is debitable to Provincial revenues.

The Commanding Royal Engineer, in his capacity as Superintending Engineer and Secretary to the Agent to the Governor-General, frames budget estimates, considers original ' major ' works costing more than Rs. 2,500, and allots sums for ' minor ' works. Sub-District Command- ing Royal Engineers sanction original works costing not more than Rs. 2,500, which have been previously selected by the Governor- General's Agent, and dispose of the annual grants for repairs through Garrison Engineers. ' Minor ' works costing not more than Rs. 200 in each case are disposed of by civil officers.

In the quarter of a century which has elapsed since its occupation, all the north-eastern part of the Province has been covered with a system of roads ; bungalows and resthouses have been built at convenient places, and water-supplies have been provided in the principal head- quarters stations. Many of the most important of these schemes owe their inception and execution to military needs. Such are the Bolan road ; the buildings in the cantonments at Quetta and Loralai ; and the water-supplies at Quetta, Sibi, and Loralai. The Pishln-Dera Ghazi Khan and Harnai-Loralai roads, though carried out as civil works, are now maintained from military funds.

Of civil works, three canal systems, Shebo, Khushdil Khan, and the Anambar scheme, have been constructed at a total cost of 17-3 lakhs. An account of the most important roads and their cost has been given in the section on Communications. Among public buildings may be mentioned the Quetta Hospital, which consists of fifteen blocks for in-patients and has a splendidly equipped operating room, the whole erected at a cost of about Rs. 76,000 ; the administrative buildings at Quetta in which the District courts and treasury are located, which were completed in 1892 at a cost of about 2 lakhs, including later additions : the Church of England, which cost 2-8 lakhs ; and the Roman Catholic Church, towards the erection of which a donation of Rs. 95,000 was given by Government.

Two Residencies have been constructed for the Agent to the Governor-General. That at Quetta, which is one of the prettiest official residences in India, and cost 1-3 lakhs, was completed in 1893 ; the other is at Ziarat, the capital cost of which was about half a lakh. The Darbar Hall at Quetta, which contains a fine room for darbar purposes, was formerly used as the church, and cost about Rs. 92,000. The Public Works department has also constructed the Sandeman Memorial Hall at Quetta and the Victoria Memorial Hall at Sibi, in which the Shdhi jirgas are held. The former cost i-i lakhs, of which rather less than half was raised by private subscription, and the latter Rs. 38,800.

The only municipal drainage scheme of importance is that in Quetta town, on which about i-i lakhs has been expended on capital account. Permanent open drains have also been constructed in Sibi and Fort Sandeman. Piped water-supplies exist at Quetta, Fort Sandeman, Loralai, Sibi, Chaman, and Ziarat.

Armys

Quetta was originally occupied in 1839, but was evacuated at the conclusion of the first Afghan War. On the outbreak of the second Afghan War in 1878 it was used as the base of opera- tions, and troops held Pishln, Quetta, and the line of Army. the Bolan from Sibi. Loralai was occupied in 1886, and Chaman in 1889. Fort Sandeman was garrisoned in 1890.

Quetta is the head-quarters of the fourth division of the Western Command. The troops in Baluchistan are under the divisional head- quarters direct, and a brigade under a colonel on the staff is located in Sind. The division is commanded by a major-general. The troops in the Province consisted in 1903 of three mountain batteries, two com- panies of garrison artillery, two British infantry regiments, three native cavalry regiments, six native infantry regiments, and one company of sappers and miners. The total strength of troops on June 1, 1903, was 2,650 British and 7,121 Native ; total, 9,771. The greater part of the garrison is quartered at Quetta and in a number of outposts ; the re- mainder is distributed at Loralai, Fort Sandeman, and Chaman, each of these stations being garrisoned by native infantry and cavalry. In addition to the regular troops, a local company of volunteers and a company of North-Western Railway volunteers have been raised. They possessed 175 members on their rolls in 1891, 196 in 1901, and 236 in 1903. Quetta itself is very strongly fortified by works which, with the sup- port of the two lines of railway, render it practically impregnable. The fortifications were first designed in 1883, and have since been extended and improved. It contains an arsenal, and the Indian Staff College was opened in 1907.

The division possesses five local regiments, three of cavalry and two of infantry. The cavalry consists of the Scinde Horse, Jacob's Horse, and the Baloch Horse, which are borne on the Army List as the 35th, 36th, and 37th Cavalry, and were raised in 1839, 1846, and 1885 re- spectively. The two infantry regiments are the 124th (Duchess of Connaught's Own) and the 1 26th Baluchistan Regiment.

The Province has the distinction of possessing one of the first of those corps of local militia which now bear so large a part in frontier manage- ment. The Zhob Levy Corps was raised in 1890, and consists of four squadrons of cavalry, aggregating 423 men, and six companies of in- fantry, aggregating 632 men, under a commandant, second-in-command, and adjutant of the regular army \ It guards a long line of frontier from Loiband on the west to Gul Kach on the east, a distance of about 180 miles, besides garrisoning several posts to protect Zhob fro