'Military Report of the Nushki-Chagai-Western Sinjarani Country' [‎52r] (108/302)

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A small Baluch village on the left bank of the Helmand about midway
between Bandar and Kala-i-Fath. The population is about igo, and
the village possesses 180 cattle, 200 sheep and goats and 12 came s.
There were about 700 acres of wheat and barley under cultivation. Ihe
Khan is Rustam Khan. [Wanhss, February igo^.)
DALE AN DIN— .
A plain in Western Baluchistan, north of the Kharan district and separat
ed from it by a range of hills, the highest peaks of whichare Ras Koh and
Koh-i-Shekh Husein. This plain, together with the subdivisions Koh-i-
Pusht, Koh-i-Sant, and Chagai proper, form the district of Chagai. Mac
Gregor noticed that there were frequent depressions in the plain, evidently
subject to inundation, and from this circumstance and from the greenness
of the grass round about he supposed that water could not be far 011 , an
that the cultivation of the tract might be extended to any limit if irrigat
ed from wells. With a little management this whole plain, he states,
might support from twenty to thirty times its present population, and
there might be several large villages, each with its cultivation, the waste
bits being kept for the sheep and goats and the sandy bits for camel-
grazing. The sand, though appeared to be encroaching, and the soil,
though good, seemed to be losing its uniform character.
At present the plain is watered by a small open karez and the Bulo
river. During March and April 1903 the karez was found dry and filled
with sand. In these two months there was water in the karez only a t< 1
very heavy rain, and then only for two or three days. The water-supply
of Dalbandin is in the Bulo river. The latter is slightly brackish owing
to its passing over a patch of shoYa land just before it issues from the
hills on to the plain. About 4 miles up stream (from the Post) the river
bed is from 2 to 3 miles wide, the water lying in long deep pools and
lagoons. The water is sufficiently fresh for frogs to live in it. Here
there is a dense growth of tamarisk, and drubh and nial grass grow in
profusion, sufficient to feed a cavalry regiment for months. .
On the hills around is land in abundance for camel-grazing. For
about 8 miles up stream there are remains of deserted fields which were
surrounded by brushwood fences, and other abundant signs of a large
population.
The number of inhabitants has, lately, greatly increased, but is always
liable to variation.
Dalbandin is now the 7 th stage on the trade route, 116 miles from
Nushki, and a levy post is stationed here, with a thana near which a
flour-mill has been erected. The comfort of travellers has been secured
by the erection of a spacious chapar-khana consisting of five rooms,
iS x 16 feet, each having its own bath room attached, a cook house,
servants’ quarters, and stabling for several horses. Caravans frequently
halt at Dalbandin to rest their animals ; for the convenience of these
there is a serai near the chapar-khana containing three g J p d sized
rooms, and a courtyard in front sufficiently large to accommodate about
50 camels at a time. A signalling heliographic station was established
in 1903 on a hill 3 $ miles north-west of the thana. A telegraph office
was opened here in 1903 {see Appendix V). [Roome—ll ebb-ilare—
Gordon^