Major Kings

• Yolamira, son of Bagavera (2nd century)
• Arjuna, son of Yolamira (2nd century)
• Hvaramira, another son of Yolamira (2nd century)
• Mirahvara, son of Hvaramira (2nd century)
• Miratakhma, another son of Hvaramira (2nd century)

The land also belonged to the ancient Hindu empires of King Ashoka and chandragupta maurya.

Shortly afterwards Balochistan fell to Nasir-ud-din Sabuktagin, Sabuktagin's son Mahmud of Ghazni was able to conquer Sindh due to his possession of Khuzdar.After the Ghaznivids the area passed to the Ghurids and a little later became part of the dominion of Sultan Muhammad Khan of Khwazrim (Khiva) in 1219. However around 1223 a Mongol expedition underChagatai , the son of Changize Khan , penetrated as far as Makran. A few years later, southern Baluchistan briefly came under the rule of Sultan Altamsh of Delhi but soon came back under Mongol rule. The raids organised by the Mongols have left a lasting mark on history of Baluchistan, from Makran to Gomal the Mongol (known to the people as Mughal) and the atrocities they caused are still well known.

Afterwards the history of Balochistan centres around Kandahar and is was in this area in 1398 that Pir Muhammad, the grandson ofTimur , fought the Afghans in the Sulaiman mountains. According to local tradition Timur himself passed through 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 principality at this time extended through the Jhalawan country to Wadh.

The Arghuns 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 Ain-I-Akbari In 1590 the upper highlands were included in the sarkdr of Kandahar, while Kachhi was part of the Bhakkar sarkdr of the Multan Subah. Makrdn 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 I708. 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 I879, when Pishin, 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 Muslim 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 Mirwaris, 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 is from Mir Ahmad that the eponym Ahmadzai is derived.

Authentic history begins with the reign of the Khans of Kalat, the rulers of Kalat were never fully independent, there was always 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 Sadozai,s and Barakzai,swas 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.

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 statesmanship. A period of social ferment, anarchy, and rebellion succeeded, in which sanguinary revolts rapidly alternated with the restoration of a power ruthless in retaliation, lasting into the period of British Government.

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 maintenance. 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 Sindh.

Mir Abdullah, the greatest conqueror of the dynasty, turned his attention westward to Makran, while in the north-east he captured Pishin 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 Islamic law. His reign was free from those internecine conflicts, subsequently common in Kalat's history.

The reign of Nasir Khan's successor, Mir Mahmud khan, was distinguished by little except revolts. In I810 Henry Pottinger visited his capital and left a full record of his experience.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 Kalat in 1839, an act which has been described by Malleson as 'more than a grave error, a crime. The place was taken by assault and Mehrab Khan was slain.

The British gradually became involved in Balochistan during the reign of Mir Mehrab Khan and Mir Baloch Khan Nousherwani whose reign was characterised by the power struggle he had with the chief, many of whom he had murdered. Mehrab Khan had become dependent on Mulla Muhammad Hasan and Saiyid Muhammad Sharif. And it was these men who had convinced the British that he had encouraged the tribes to oppose the British advance through the Bolan pass. The British justified their 1839 attack of Kalat on this, and had had Mehrab Khan killed, his successor — Shah Nawaz Khan was then appointed with Lieutenant Loveday as political officer. However a rebellion of the Sarawan tribes the following year force Shah Nawaz to abdicate, his successor Mir Muhammad Hasan then took power and afterwards being known as Mir Nazir Khan II.

Under pressure from Colonel Stacey Mir Nasir Khan II submitted to the British, and Major Outram had him installed at Kalat in 1840….

( PART ONE)

By Editor:
Humayun Ayub