Baluchistan

Baluchistan, also known as British Baluchistan was a province during the British period. The present province of Balochistan in Pakistan includes the region that was formerly British Baluchistan, Agency Territories, and the states of Kalat, Las Bela, Makran and Kharan.

Spelling variants

Modern name: Balochistan
Variants: Baluchistan/Beloochistan

Capital

Quetta

Related articles

Affairs in Beloochistan 1839-41
England's March to Quetta 1842
Quetta earthquake 1935
Baluchistan Districts

Administration

The area was divided into two main parts: British Baluchistan and Agency Territories.

Districts

Baluchistan Districts lists the administrative districts of British Baluchistan. Thal-Chotiali District was later divided between Loralai and Sibi Districts.

Cities/Towns

• Chaman
• Fort Sandeman (now Zhob)
• Kalat (Kelat)
• Killa Abdullah
• Killa Saifullah
• Mach
• Quetta
• Pishin
• Sibi
• Turbat

Princely States

The following princely states were located in the region and included into it when the province was formed.

• Kalat State
• Kharan
• Las Bela
• Makran

Passes

• Bolan Pass
• Khojak Pass

Tunnels

• Khojak Tunnel

Military Operations

• Operations in Mekran: Baluchistan 1898-1902 by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows (kaiserscross.com)
• Fighting the Marris and the Khetrans: The Duki Column of the Marri Field Force, Baluchistan. February to April 1918 by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows (kaiserscross.com)

External Links

Wikipedia

Balochistan
Baluchistan Agency
Chief Commissioner's Province
Kalat Princely State
Las Bela Princely State
Kharan Princely State
Makran Princely State

Other

• "The British Advent in Balochistan" by Javed Haider Syed, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Pakistan Journal of History and Culture Vol.XXVIII No. 2 Jul-Dec 2007. Also same article with an interesting image. balochilinguist.com.
• Libraries and Collections In Balochistan Balochistan Archives
• Photographs: Railways of the Raj Balochistan Archives on flickr.com. Originally from the Library of Congress USA
• Letters written by Thomas Gilbert to his parents and other family members, chiefly from India. State Library of South Australia. Catalogue link.

Page 92 18.3.1918 114th Squadron, R.F.C transferred to Sibi, Baluchistan. The war against the Marris

Page 96 23.4.1918 Harnai

Page 97 6.5.1918 The squadron prepare to leave for Quetta.

Historical books online

• Baluchistan administration Imperial Gazetteer of India
• Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde: accompanied by a geographical and historical account of those countries by Henry Pottinger (1816) Google Books
• Gazetteer of the Countries Adjacent to India on the Northwest including Sinde Afghanistan Beloochistan The Punjab and the Neighbouring States by Edward Thornton (1844) Google Books Volume 1, A-K, Volume 2, L-Z, together with an Appendix containing 'Routes' and an Index (A-Z) Beloochistan page 82
• "Papers Descriptive of the Countries on the North-West Frontier of India:-The Thurr, or Desert; Joodpoor and Jaysulmeer" by Alex. Burnes, an article from Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 4. 1834. With maps. Archive.org
• Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan, and the Panjab: including a Residence in Those Countries from 1826 to 1838 by Charles Masson 1842 Google Books Volume1, Volume 2, Volume 3

Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan, the Panjab, and Kalât, During a Residence in Those Countries: To which is Added an Account of the Insurrection at Kalât, and a Memoir on Eastern Balochistan by Charles Masson 1844 Google Books Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4

• The Country Of Balochistan Its Geography Topography Ethnology And History by A. W. Hughes 1877. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Wanderings in Balochistan by Major-General Sir C M Macgregor, Bengal Staff Corps, Quartermaster- General in India 1882 Archive.org

• Notes on Afghanistan and part of Baluchistan by Major H G Raverty, Bombay Native Infantry (Retired) 1880 HathiTrust Digital Library. Archive.org version 1888, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Unexplored Baluchistan. A survey, with observations astronomical, geographical, botanical, etc., of a route through Mekran, Bashkurd, Persia, Kurdistan, and Turkey by Ernest Ayscoghe Floyer 1882 Archive.org The author was a (former?) employee of the Government Indo-European Telegraph Staff in the Persian Gulf
• Diary of a journey from Jacobabad to Panjgur, and exploration of Eastern Mekran, 1881-82 by Captain P J Maitland, Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, Intelligence Branch [Government of India] 1883 Archive.org
• Sir Robert G. Sandeman K.C.S.I., peaceful conqueror of Baluchistan by A.L.P. Tucker 1921 Archive.org. Born 1835, he joined the Bengal Army in 1856 and the Civil Service in 1859, working in the North West from 1861 until his death in 1892.
• Across the Border : or Pathan and Biloch by Edward E Oliver 1890 Archive.org
• A ride to India across Persia and Baluchistan by Harry de Windt 1891 Archive.org
• The Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series Baluchistan 1908 Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Baluchistan District Gazetteer Series published in 1907. Mainly mirror versions on Archive.org from Digital Library of India.

Zhob District Vol. I, Archive.org version ; Loralai District Vol. II, Archive.org - 2nd file, Archive.org; Sibi District Vol. III by Major A McConaghey IA 1907 Archive.org; Bolan And Chagai Vol. IV and IV A, Archive.org; Quetta-Pishin District Vol.V, Archive.org; Sarawan, Kachhi And Jhalawan Vol. VI, Archive.org; Makran Vol. VII, Archive.org; Kharan Vol. VIIA, Archive.org; Las Bela Vol.VIII, Archive.org.

Baluchistan District Gazetteer Series. Vol. IX: Index to Volumes I to VIII 1908. Pdf download, Digital Repository of GIPE-Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune India]. Other volumes are also available on GIPE.

Viewers in some countries, probably including North America, may be able to access volumes on the Google Books or Hathi Trust websites.

• "Report on the Affaires of Khelat, from 1857 to 1860" Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department No. XXXIV 1861 Google Books.
• The Indian Borderland, 1880-1900 by Colonel Sir T Hungerford Holdich 1901 edition, Second and cheaper edition 1909 Archive.org

India by Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich 1904 Archive.org

The Gates of India, being an Historical Narrative by Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich 1910 Archive.org

Political Frontiers and Boundary Making by Col. Sir Thomas H Holdich 1916 Archive.org

• The Frontiers Of Baluchistan by G P Tate 1909. Full title: The Frontiers of Baluchistan : Travels on the Borders of Persia and Afghanistan [Seistan (Sistan) Arbitration Mission, 1903-1905]. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India: Volume III Baluchistan, and the First Afghan War. Compiled in the Intelligence Branch, Army Headquarters India. 1910 Archive.org
• "Through the Baluchistan Desert" pages 82-107 and see also following chapters. From Many Camps : Sketches of Indian Life by Arthur Waltham Howlett 1912 (articles republished from the Manchester Guardian) Google Books. Howlett was at that time an Indian Army doctor with the Indian Medical Service.
• Khyber Caravan: Through Kashmir, Waziristan, Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Northern India by Gordon Sinclair 1936. Archive.org. Also available PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If download button does not display, locate in Books/Indian Subcontinent/1936.

Maps

• c 1906 manuscript map of Baluchistan Catalogue entry National Library of Australia Digital Collections-Maps
• 1909 Baluchistan map Imperial Gazetteer of India Vol 26 Atlas 1909