'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME IV.' [‎29v] (63/652)

50 BAL—BAL
The early history of Baluchistan is shrouded in mystery. All that;
is known is that its aboriginal population,
History. Dravidians (represented by the Brahuis of
to-day), at times paid tribute to the Shah of Persia, and that the country
was traversed from east to west by the forces of Alexander the Great on
his return from India. It was then lost sight of foi’ hundreds of years.
In the Shah Ndmeh, Ardeshir {circ. A.D. 220) is mentioned as attacking
Gilan, and a few centuries later Bahram Gur of the Sasanian dynasty march
ed through the country to India, while Naushirvan had to inflict severe
punishment on the inhabitants for their raids. About the commencement
of the Muhammadan era, Chack, almost the last Hindu king of Sind,
marched through Makran to the river boundary between it and Kirman,
and set up a monument there to mark the limits of his kingdom.
In the early years of the Hijra both Kirman and Baluchistan were con
quered by the Arab invaders, and subsequent to A. H. 89 (A.D. 707)
Muhammadan supremacy was extended as far as the Indus valley. The
Saffar dynasty held Baluchistan for many centuries till Khalaf was cap
tured by Mahmud of Ghazni (oirc. A.H. 295, A.D. 907).
The Del ami dynasty appear to have held Baluchistan about A.D. 1080,
while it seems to have been ruled from Ki 'man by the Seljuks during the
reign of Toghrul Shah (A.D. 1156-1167), as we read that at that date Makran
paid duty on silk alone up to 30,000 dinars , or 15,000 Napoleons, ^ annum.
At the close of the twelfth century, Tiz is mentioned as a flourishing port,
with a great import and export trade, and Makran was famous for its candy
and sugar. In A.H. 620 (A.D. 1223), after the destruction of Herat, Makran
was laid waste by Chagatai, one of the Generals of Chengiz Khan. At the
end of the thirteenth century, Marco Polo sailed past its coast, and gives
a short description of the country.
At the end of the fifteenth century and early in the sixteenth, there was
a great migration of Baluchis eastwards from Makran into the Punjab, due
probably to Mongol pressure. About A.D. 1620 Baluchistan again became
independent of Persia, under Malik Mirza. In the middle of the seventeenth
century the Brahuis, under Kambar, rose to power, but later his descend
ants were forced to acknowledge Afghan suzerainty. About A.D. 1737,
a Persian force marched by way of Jiruft towards Bampur, and met the
Baluch Army at Chil i-Nadir,, inflicting a severe defeat on it with a loss of
700 men. Bampur successfully held out, but after the capture of Fahraj,
Lashar, Tiz, and several of the forts in the Jalk oasis, Amir Mahabbat was
installed as Persian Governor of Baluchistan at Qasrqand.. About A.D.
1736 a force sent by Nadir defeated the nomads of Kharan, but after ms
death a period of anarchy ensued, and in 1810, when Pottinger crossed the
district what is now known as Persian Baluchistan was independent of
Persia under Shah Mehrab Khan of Fehruj. In 1839 Baluchistan appears to
have been divided up into various chieftainships, each at war with, and
independent of, the other, of whom Muhammad ’ Ali Khan, at Bampur, was
the most powerful. _ a j- Aim i
After the flight of Agha Khan to India, his brother, Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Abdul
Hashan, in 1844 marched through Makran to Chahbar, and gained pos
session of Bampur, where in 1845 he was besieged by the Persians, and