'Report on the Baluch-Persian Caravan Route and Nushki, Chagai and Western Sinjerani Districts' [‎10v] (20/72)

-Ncsiik! uith. ill-coacoaied discriisr. Uiat day, liowever, a chaag , ( >
oecurr.'d iu his bearing, as marked as pleisinij; henceforth, he enlisted
li niseii unreservedly on my side, and I have nothing but praise for his con
duct The fact that trade to-the extent of Us. l,5i,139-15-0 has
passed ilu\jugh ^s ltsuki during the peri > 1 from February to June 1897 speaks
gte.olv ior the stuuuius to trade that has rewarded the liberal policy of Orov-
* i n n» nt. On these figures, I c insider comment unnecessary; but I mav
add that the revival of trade is further attested bv the re-opening of several
shops in Nushki.
7. I n addition to the undoubted henclirs which the abolition of <^ Suug ,,
has conferred on the district and its trade, by placing the pat onngeof a local
Levy service in my hands, it has enabled me ro-adjust a long outstanding
IVmd between two of the Zagar Mengal factious which of late years had
steadily been growing more an 1 more acute, and had led to more than one out
break. Beyond this, it has permitted me to establish a succession of small dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company.
posts between X usuki and Dalbandin, v*z, at Sifakarchaii, 35 miles from
Xushki, and at 8aki Muhammad* Shah and Yadgarchah, 00 ^ ami 3oh
ndlas, respectively,, from Dalbandlx, which* answer the double purpose of
safeguarding the caravan route and maintaining uninterrupted communication.
For these posts, small hut adequate dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. chaukis are in course of erection, by
w hich their comfort and welfare will be permanently secured. To the election
of these chaukis, I at tach no little importance : for the existence at every
lew miles of posts, small though they bo, held by Government sowars, brings
borne to such traders as traverse the route for the first time a feelin** of
security not easily over rated.
8 . With the final settlement of the country and with the erection at
iN ushki ot a thxna, a smill trading bazaar will quickly arise. Fager enquiries
have more than once he m addressed to me as to when a thaua wifi be erected,
and on my enquiring the reason for the questioner’s anxiety for such a building!
rhe answer has been that he proposed moving to Nushki as offering a better
base for conducting his business.
9. T p to Dalbandin, I had not thus to indent on my Quetta-raised
Levies; here I proposed stationing my first thana, and this was quickly
arranged. Leaving with the Thanadar instructions to guide him in his-
dealings with Natives and caravans, and halting- only sufficient time to
enlist such local lialuoh as were requisite to bring the post up to its full Levy
strength, and impressing on the i'hanadar the imperative necessity foV
starting work on this thana at once, I hurried on to Galachah. [ may sav
here that, on my return, I found a fine roomy thana not only finished
hut in actual occupation, a building whose construction reflects great credit
on the energy and industry of the post.
10 . Of Galachah, 1 will say but little,, as it has since been abandoned
lor reasons presently to he stated. Tne steps I had taken at Dalbandin
wei’e here repeated, with the exception that Sir Xauroz Khan’s action in
liliing in the district wells had instilled such fear into the few remaining inha
bitants I encounter ’d that it was only after repeated assurances of protection
and at the expense of much trouble an l patience, that I prevailed on a
Tomanclar to take service.
11. Leaving Galachah on the 13th February, I reached Amirchaii
without mishap on the 19th. At Paniham, 1 had been compelled to re-open
a well filled in flusn with the ground. At Amirchak, the wells were in a very
similar plight. Of those sunk last year for the use of the Botmdarv Commis
sion, scarcely a trace remained but sand drifts. I quickly realize! the
paramount importance of stationing a thana in such a commanding position
Amirchah is the point of junction of the Kharan and direct Xushki
routes, and is of great strategical value, dominating as it does the entire
Koli-i-Sultan range, to the evil reputation of which I have already had
e mse to allude. Addei to this, its elevation above the surrounding plain
gives it a climate by no means unbearable, even during the hottest
months. A couple of Wells were quickly ro*opmed. but the water yielded wn*