'Military Report of the Nushki-Chagai-Western Sinjarani Country' [‎34v] (73/302)

and five chaukis. He also commenced engaging the services of
local Sardars, on the principle of allotting them pay for their
services and holding them personally responsible for the repres-
sion of raids. Muhammad Ali Khan, the Zagar-Mengal 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. ,
and Ido, the tomandar of Saindak, a former freebooter, were
engaged under these conditions in 1897, and have since fulfilled
their duties well.
Prior to the appointment of the Political Assistant, Nushki
bore the reputation of being the mart in Baluchistan where slaves
could be procured of the best quality, and at the cheapest rates.
This trade has now died out.
During the year 1898-99 the necessity for introducing
a reform into the prevailing administrative system was em
phasized by no less than 12 frontier outrages, and by the attitude
of the Men gals who threatened to throw off all restraint and
raid into Shorawak to exact compensation for injuries done
them. The Khan neglected to maintain any Kalat troops in the
district and persistently ignored his responsibilities.
In the spring of 1898 he approached the Agent to the
Governor General with an offer to surrender Nushki to the
British on an annual quit-rent, and in June 1899 an agreement
was entered into between the Government of India and His
Highness the Khan of Kalat under which all rights in Nushki
were ceded to Government in consideration of a quit-rent of Rs.
9,000 per annum. Since that time the decrease in the number of
frontier outrages has been steadily maintained.
No sooner was this transfer effected than the entire
administration of the country under report devolved on the Poli
tical Assistant, under the orders of the Agent to the Governor
General in Baluchistan. Government erected at Nushki a dispensary,
a sub-treasury, and a rest-house bungalow and serai for cara
vans; a police station was added to the Nushki tahsil, and im
provements made in the thana. The dispensary was at once freely
made use of by patients who came in from such distant places
as Shorawak, the Registan, and the valley of the Helmand.
The Nushki trading bazar which in 1897 comprised 25 to
30 struggling shops had, in 1900, become a small town with 133
shops and 109 houses. During this period the Chagai levy
establishment had been gradually increased, and posts erected at
several places along the trade route (see Appendix I), and post
offices were opened at Nushki, Dalbandin, Merui, Saindak and
Robat.