Page 388 - Gulf Precis (VII)_Neat

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a placo of some importance, the capital of Mckran, and scat of Government. The Nail of the
Khan of Kclat at present resides at Toorbut.
" Toomp.—Toomp and Nussirabad arc clusters of forts and villagos closely resembling
Kej, and situated further west in the sumo valley. Toomp is about 30 miles distant from
Kcj, and with it aro included Nussirahad and Nigor. Tho Gitchkis aro here the local Chiefs,
the principal of whom in Toomp is Mir Morad. Toomp is tho last of tho towns in this
valley undor tho Khan of Kolat. The next on wost 6idc is—
"Muml.—A settlement of Kinds, who profess to ho independent of the Klmn on tho
one side, and Persia on the othor. Chief in Mckran, Ivadirdad.
" PxtJiin.—Further West is Pislun, which is under Porsian influoncc. Little information
has boon acquired regarding this district. A tribo called Burrecs rcsido here, of Omaneo
descent. The Chiefs arc B«daidis.
u Sirbas.—Is also under Chiefs who are tributary to tho Persian Government. It9
present Chief is Hussain Khan Nlmrui. Its position is not well ascertained/'
46. Captain Ross considered that “ tho political connection of Mckran
with Upper Baluchistan took place in modern times. Before that, it was
either an independent State, goyernod by its own hereditary Princes, or a
Province of tho Porsian Empire. The probability is, that it held each of
these positions in turn; being in early times a province of tho great Persian
Kingdom, and acquiring a llceting independence when that Empire was
convulsed. The traditions of tho natives point to such an early connexion
with Persia. Thoro is also reason to believe that Mckran shared the fate of
tho Central Provinces of Persia, and became annexed to the Great Maliomedan
Empire in the first century of its supremacy.”
He shows the early rulers to havo been called “ Maliks,” and these
Maliks to have been superseded by the Bolaidis. The latter were, on the
other hand, overthrown by tho Gitchkis, of whom a noted Chief, named
Dinar, subdued by Nadir Shah, or his generals, consented to hold Kej as a
vassal of the Persian monarch. Quoting as his authority the work known
by the name of Tarikh-i-Nadiri, Captain Ross adds—
** Previously to this event (in 1734) the Governors of Kerman and Seistan had been
sent by Nadir against the fort of Dizzuk, which
Tarikh Nadiree.
was reduced, and the inhabitants punished.
Operations were also undertaken in othor parts of Beluchistan. A Chief of Kharan, named
aoordil Khan, a renowned free hooter, having violated the Persian frontier, Nadir sent troops
Pgainst Kharan, and 700 of the Beluchis were slain. During an expedition against Jask, a
Persian force waB, however, nearly wholly lost in the wild wastes of northern Mckran.
u In the year 1730, the Amirs Mohbut Khan and Utinz Khan, brothers of the afterwards
celebrated Nussir Khan, presented themselves at the Court of Nadir, nnd were kindly received.
The elder, Mohbut Khau, was confirmed afresh in tho Government of Beluchistan. Thus
all Beluchistan and Mekran at this period were forced to pay homage to the Persian
conqueror.
<l Henceforward the history of Mckran is inseparably connected with that of tho Kelat
State.”
47. The history then shows Mohbut Khan released from Persia, and
reduced to become the vassal of Ahmed Shah of Candahar; and further,
Malik Dinar, of Kej, killed, and his son, Shah Omar, subdued by Nussir
Khan, the distinguished successor of Mohbut:
"The army of Kelat marched through Mekran as far as Kusserkuud and Dizzuk. The
latter provinces were not permanently retained, and eventually were re-occupied by Persia.
Puojgur and Kolwuh were attached to the Upper Provinces, aud Mekran beguu to assume
the political aspect it exhibits at the present time.
u The best seaports of Mekran have been lost to the Beluchis, as will be described.
The principal of these, Gwadur, was acquired by Muscat, according to the most trustworthy
accounts, in the following manner >
"During the reign of the Imam Saee<l-bin-Ahmed at Muscat, his younger brother
Sultan, ambitious and restless, aimed at usurping
his power. Being at first unsuccessful, Sultan
was compelled to fly, and crossed the sea to Gwadur, recently aunexed by Nussir
Khan. From Gwadur he performed a journey to Kelat, and besought the aid of Nussir in
his undertakings. The Khan dismissed him with a grant of the port of Gwadur, then an
insignificant fishing village, a grant, iu which there will appear nothing extraordinary or
unusual to those familiar with the usages of Oriental Princes. Sultan resided somo tune at
Gwadur, and eventually in the year 1797 succeeded in usurping the Sultanate of Muscat.
Thenceforward he and his successors retained their hold of Gwadur, which was fortified and
improved. Subsequent efforts of tho Beluchis to regain the village were unavailing.