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Persia of that province ; but wo are told of the existence of a fooling there decidedly hostile to
Persian influence. Pottinger describes Shah Mihrab Khan, the Governor, ‘ the most powerful
Chief in this quarter ; his regular troops, or at least those that ho can muster at a few days'
notice, aro C.OUU, and ho is acknowledged to bo the paramount authority from Dizzuk to Bus
man * * * His tribo is that branch of tho Nlmruis, called Urbabis, who arc stated to have
been of no noto whatever, and had dwelt in obscurity in a sterile and elevated tract near Surhud
whcnco tho progenitors of the present Khan emigrated with a body of followers to Dizzuk, in
which district they acquired a footing by donation of soil from tho Mckran Chiefs. " Again,
1 tho original masters of tho villages of Puhra, Ilaftur, Maghsi, and the intermediate country
were the Malikah Meluchis, who havo been nearly exterminat’d during their struggles and
contentions with tho Urbnbi ; and those few that havo escaped from the sword of their euemies
fled to Nurmanshir, where the Persian Government allotted them a territory, and affords them
protection Nurmanshir is Persian soil and may belong to Kerman. In talking to Lieuten­
ant Pottinger, Mihrab Khan mentions the Persians in terms of little measured abuse, wonder­
ing why the Fcringhi did not exterminate them ? To conclude, however, with a quotation
1 TIUtory of Baluchistan, Chnpter XII, pages more apt than any other that can be found :+
173-174. I was desirous of ascertaining the terms on which
the Persians and Beluchis stood with each other, and I enquired if tho intercourse was frequont
between him and the Government of Kerman * * ‘Intercourse/ rejoined he, laughing,
‘ No ! we havo had none for these last two years, nor is it likely to be again renewed. A few
months anterior to that period, Shah Mihrab Khan, Qaom Khan, and myself sent our collec­
tive armies on a c hapao into Laristan, and laid waste that province * * • The conse­
quence was that there wero no revenue* forthcoming, and the Hakim of Minab was called to
Kerman, to ho mad**, answerable for the defalcation ; but when he represented the true state­
ment of the business lothe Shahzadeh, he was releasod from confinement, and two messengers
were forthwith despatched with threatening firmans to us. ° • , Who transmitted these
letters to tho Prince, setting him and his threats at defiance.'
“ Such being the state of affairs in the extreme we?t, it is but natural to infer that at
this period the more easterly parts of Baluchistan, as the more remote from the Shah's influence,
were wholly independent of Persia from 1810 to 184-3. 1 havo now no data before me, but
have no reason t > believe that tho pretensions of Persia were practicully put forward until
about the year cf the conquest of Sind. For the following brief narrative of certain occur­
rences in 1843-44, I am indebted to Sett Nao Mull, of Karachi, who vouches for its accuracy.
“ In May 1843, or three months after tho Battle of Meanee, His Highness Agha Khan
Mehlati came to Karachi from Jeruk, accompanied by hie brother Sirdar Khan. At the
close of the year he gave au entertainment in his garden, inviting the British residents. It
was then bruited, and a matter of common talk, that Sirdar Khan was on the eve of setting
out on an expedition to Mokran ; and such proved to be the case. Some two hundred horsemen
wero got together, attended by whom ho left Karachi. In a few weeks they reached
Gwadur, whore they made a short halt. From thence they advanced to Charbar, which was
found a convenient spot for remaining in, owing to the number of Khowjas residing there, who
pay tribute to the Agha. At Charbar communication was opened, and systematically kept up
with the inland town of Bampur. Sirdar Khan made friends and partizans of the Beluchis in
the vicinity, besides getting a footing for his own immediate followers, and eventually suc­
ceeded in obtaining possession of the place from the hands of the independent Beluch Chief. In
these head-quarters he applied himself to collect a force, and may have succeeded in drawing
together somo 2,000 men. The history of this remarkable family will sufficiently explain
to the satisfaction of Government why a movement of the kind should prove offensive to
Persia, whatever might have been the ultimate objects of Sirdar Khan, and even supposing he
intended to restrict his advance westward to Bampur; and on the report of occupation of
this town by tho party from Sind, made to his Government by tho Governor of Kerman, it
is not surprising that a royal mandate was issued for its investment. It was besieged, and in
course of time reduced. Sirdar Khan was taken prisoner and sent t* Tehran. From this period
the Persian hold of Bampur has been more or less maintained. Some three or four years later
the employit of Persia moved still further to tho eastward, encroaching upon the Beluch
Chiefdoms of Geh and Kussurkund.
* * * * * *
“It is well worthy of remark that Mr. Badger, speaking of Mir Abdullah of Geh,
Letter to tho Acting Secretary to Government, mentions that ho *became tributary to Persia
i
Bombay, No. 9, of 3rd Juno 1861. _ about 12 years ago (1849), and still p professes
Vide paragraph B of this preoia. (1861) to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Shah.'
This assertion, not given as mero hearsay, but tho result of careful inquiry, agrees well with
that of Nao Mull, who makes the capture of Bampar by the Persians to have been in about
1845, and tho subsequent invasion of Geh and Kussurkund some few years later, or in about
1849.
“ My Karaohi informants relate that, when tho Persians first levied tribute in Geh and
Kussurkund, they took Mir Abdullah prisoner, and carried him off to Kerman. He was
detained for a year in captivity, and ransomed for 1,000 sitaramis (£560). Din Mahomed