In Pakistan, a situation arose in the case of the state of Kalat in Balochistan. The Khan of Kalat proclaimed Kalat’s independence on 11th August 1947. Unlike Hyderabad Deccan, which was one of the princely states under British Indian suzerainty, Kalat’s status was governed by a direct treaty with British Crown in London, which meant that, with the British exit from India, Kalat became automatically independent. 
In Kalat, the Khan of Kalat had set up some sort of a representative political mechanism of governance, comprising two houses — a partly elected and partly nominated Darul Awam (house of people) and nominated Darul Umara (upper house consisting of tribal sardars and chieftains). The Khan had the full backing of all the Baloch tribes and sub-tribes in his proclamation of independence. This support was explicitly expressed through votes in the two representative houses.
The historic speech made by late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo as leader of the house in the Darul Awam on 30th December 1948 formed the quintessence of that Baloch national consensus. However, within a year, the government of Pakistan engineered the accession of Kalat and its subsidiaries — Kharan, Mekran and Lasbela — to Pakistan by means of series of coercive actions, the historical fallout of which survives till today in the shape of popular resentment against the real and perceived sense of injustices meted out to the people of Balochistan by successive federal governments in Pakistan.”
MAKRAN – A SUBSIDIARY OF KALAT
“About the middle of the last century the whole of Makran, as well as Kharan and Mashkhei, was conquered by Nasir Khan, the Khan of Kalat, and annexed to his dominions. He instituted a liberal system of government by which the administration was carried on jointly by a Naib, representing the Khan, and the local Gichki Sardar, between whom the revenues were divided in certain fixed shares.
“This arrangement seems to have worked satisfactorily until the Gichkis began to degenerate and the Naoshirwanis began to oust them by intrigues of every description. The Noashirwanis who occupy Kharan are of pure Persian stock. Kharan stretches from the Jhalawan hills to the Persian border, a country of long sandy valleys with but little cultivation; its inhabitants a righting, raiding, restless clan whose life was dependent on successful forays against the more settled countries of their neighbours.
“Sprung from a bold and determined race, filled with the sense of their own importance, and possessed of a much higher order of intelligence than the other ruling races in Makran, the younger members of the Naoshirwanis, as they found their shares in the ancestral property insufficient for their wants, have endeavoured to carve out for themselves fortunes from the property of their less energetic neighbours. But they differ from the Arab conquerors of the country in that whereas the Arab converted the land from desert to oasis, the Naoshirwani reduces oases to deserts.
“In 1888, led by Naoroz Khan, the Naoshirwanis raided Panjgur, and slew Mir Gajian, the Gichki Sardar, who was also the Khan’s naib. At this time Azad Khan was still head of the Kaoshirwanis. Sandeman thus describes him:
“‘In spite of his great age Azad Khan retains his mental faculties unimpaired. Bowed by age, he is unable to mount a horse without assistance, but, once in the saddle, his endurance is greater than that of many a younger man. Possessed of unflinching resolution, impatient of wrong, generous to reward, stern and relentless in punishment, Sardar Azad Khan has above all things enjoyed a reputation for unswerving honesty. He is never known to depart from his word once given, and has a sincere contempt for chicanery or falsehood.’
“Sandeman visited the country in 1884. Disputes between the Naoshirwanis and the Khan of Kej were adjusted, and before his death three years later, at the age of 101, the veteran chief had shown his friendship for the British Government by rendering valuable assistance in the matter of transport to the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission. He had also arranged, in cooperation with our officers, for the protection of trade routes.
“The Khan of Kalat, owing to his dislike of the Naoshirwanis was displeased with the settlement; he wished rather to establish his own power in an absolute form in Panjgur; therefore in order to get the Naoshirwanis into trouble he countenanced disturbances.
“Muhammad Hasan, Gichki, of Sami claimed the sardarship of Panjgur. He was aided by the Noshirwanis under Baluch Khan, and was enabled to keep the whole countryside in a distracted condition, causing damage to the resources of Panjgur, estimated at several lakhs, and reducing the unfortunate people to the extremity of wretchedness.
“In 1890-91 Sir Robert Sandeman again visited Panjgur, which was in a state of almost complete anarchy. Peace was introduced by the occupation of Panjgur by British Indian troops, but after their withdrawal in 1893, complaints were received of the misbehaviour of Muhammad Ali, the Khan’s naib, and in 1896 he was replaced by Kaoda Muhammad Khan, an influential and capable Baluch headman. The state of Kej was somewhat less disturbed, owing chiefly to the high character of the Gichki Sardar, Bhai Khan, and his influence with the tribes. But as the Sardar grew feeble with age the Khan’s Naoshirwani, Mir Shahdad, raised feuds in order to increase his power and lessen that of the Gichkis, great destruction of property and loss of life ensued, and the ruling power was brought into contempt. The attempt to manage the Rinds of Mand through the Naib and Sardar of Kej was also far from successful. They looted the caravans carrying the Persian trade, and it was impossible to exact from them any reparation for the damage caused by their raids. Mir Shahdad was replaced shortly afterwards by Abdul Karim, Gichki. In revenge for his supersession in the naibship, Mir Shahdad attacked and severely wounded a British officer, and then fled the country.
“So low had our influence in those parts sunk that, in 1890, Sher Muhammad, a nephew of Sardar Bhai Khan, openly defied the British Agent, and fired upon his camp from the stronghold of Nasirabad in Kej. Nasirabad had been held by one Mehrab Khan, who was expelled by Sher Muhammad. The two men were relations and disputed the right of ownership. In 1891, Sir Robert Sandeman decided in favour of Mehrab Khan, but required him to pay Sher Muhammad Rs.100 per annum compensation. In 1893 the latter forced Mehrab Khan to sell the fort to him for Rs.1,300 or about a quarter of its value.
“In 1896 the Khan of Kalat made a tour in the Makran country, accompanied by Lieutenant E. LeMesurier, Officiating Political Agent in Kalat, and by Mir Yakub Khan, eldest son of Sardar Sir Nauru Khan and by several leading men of the Sarawan and Jalawan tribes.
“The principal incidents of the tour were:
“(a) The surrender of the Nag fort in Kolwa by the sons of Baluch Khan, Naoshirwani.
(b) The surrender of the Nasirabad fort near Kej by Sher Muhammad Gichki.
(c) The arrangements initiated for the future administration, under the Khan’s orders of the districts of Kej (including Bolida, Kolwa, and Panjgur).
“At Nasirabad a jirga was assembled and, on their finding, Sher Muhammad was confirmed in possession of the fort on a payment of Rs.100 per annum to Mir Mehrab Khan.
“Having regard to Sher Muhammad’s turbulence in the past the Nasirabad fort was garrisoned by seventy-five Kalat sepoys, Panjgur also was garrisoned by twenty-five of the Khan’s troops, and the Nag fort was held by twenty levies. The Nazim was provided with an escort of twenty levy camel sowars.
“Afterwards Baluch Khan’s grandson, Muhammad Umar Khan, was made Naib of Kolwa, and was living with Baluch Khan at Hor Kalat, in 1898.
“Thus tranquillity was introduced into this wretched country. Yet in Panjgur, Kej and Kolwa the elements of disturbance still remained. In Panjgur the fear of Naoshirwani aggression, in Kej also Naoshirwani intrigue and smouldering feuds and animosities amongst the Gichkis and in Kolwa the notorious freebooter Baluch Khan left in power to oppress and to rebel; and moreover the universal dislike of a Muhammadan people to a Hindu Nazim, were sparks to be fanned by the first breath of opportunity into a conflagration.
“It would indeed appear, from a study of after events, that this pacification of the country resulted in gradually combining all the ruling Sardars in common cause against the paramount power, thus putting a temporary end to internal feuds. The troubles in northern Baluchistan and the outbreak in Persian Makran, where Mr. Graves of the Telegraph Department was murdered, caused a certain amount of unrest throughout the country.
“Baluch Khan, Mehrab Khan Gichki, and a large number of other Sardars of Kej all attributed their own discontent and rebellion to the appointment of alleged oppression and tyranny of Diwan Udho Das. It may be here stated that in the final settlement an enquiry was held into these allegations and the Kej motibars signed a paper saying they had no cause for complaint against Udho Das and no complaints against him were substantiated. Nevertheless, this probably was the cause of the outbreak.
“On the 6th January 1898, Mehrab Khan Gichki, attacked the Nazim Diwan Udho Das, looted his treasury and took him prisoner but on the representation of his elder brother he was set at liberty and shut up in Kalatuk, in Kej, under protection of Abdul Karim, Naib of Kej. Mehrab Khan then sent a messenger to Baluch Khan, telling him what he had done. It appears probable that the country at this time was in a state of unusual internal quiescence and that no outbreak was suspected, because four officers of the Survey Department, with a large unarmed following of lascars, etc., and a very small escort of local levies, were sent to undertake survey operations in the Kolwa and Kej valleys.
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Every week, we shall take a leaf from one such book and treat you to a little taste of history.
BOOK NAME: Frontier & Overseas Expeditions From India
AUTHOR: Intelligence Branch Division of the Chief of Staff
PUBLISHER: Army Head Quarter India
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 1910
The above excerpt has been taken from Pages: 241 — 245
