Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/317

Rh was succeeded by his eldest son Muhmood Khan, then a boy of about fourteen years. During the reign of this priuce, who has been described as a very humane and indolent man, the country was distracted by sanguinary broils; the governors of several provinces and districts withdrew their allegiance; and the dominions of the khans of Khelat gradually so diminished, that they now comprehend only a small portion of the provinces formerly subject to Xusscer Khan. In 1839, when the British army advanced through the Bolan Pass towards Afghanistan, the conduct of Mehrab Khan, the ruler of Baluchistan, was considered so treacher ous and dangerous, as to require &quot;the exaction of retri bution from that chieftain,&quot; and &quot; the execution of such arrangements as would establish future security in that quarter. General Willshire was accordingly detached from the army of the Indus with 1050 men to assault Khelat. A gate was knocked in by the field-pieces, and the town and citadel were stormed in a few minutes. Above 400 Baluches were slain, among them Mehrab Khan himself; and 2000 prisoners were taken. Subsequent inquiries have, however, proved that the treachery towards the British was not on the part of Mehrab Khan, but on that of his vizier, Mahomed Hassein, and certain chiefs with whom he was in league, and at whose instigation the British convoys were plundered in their passage through Cutch- Gundava and in the Bolan Pass. The treacherous vizier, however, made our too credulous political officers believe that Mehrab Khan was to blame, his object being to bring his master to ruin and to obtain for himself all power in the state, knowing that Mehrab s successor was only a child. How far he succeeded in his object history has shown. In the following year Khelat changed hands, the governor established by the British, together with a feeble garrison, being overpowered. At the close of the same year it was reoccupied by the British under General Nott. In 1841, Nusseer Khan, the youthful son of the slain Mehrab Khan, was recognized by the British, who soon after evacuated the country. From the conquest of Sindh by the British troops under the command of the late General Sir Charles Napier in 1843 up to 1854, no diplomatic intercourse occurred worthy of note between the British and Baluch states. In the latter year, however, under the governor-generalship of the late marquis of Dalhousie, the late General John Jacob, C.B., at the time political superintendent and commandant on the Sindh frontier, was deputed to arrange and conclude a treaty between the Khelat state, then under the chieftain ship of Meer Nusseer Khan, and the British Government. This treaty was executed on the 14th of May 1854, and was to the following effect:— &quot; That the former offensive and defensive treaty, con cluded in 1841 by Major Outram between the British Government and Meer Nusseer Khan, chief of Khelat, was to be annulled. &quot; That Meer Nusseer Khan, his heirs and successors, bound themselves to oppose to the utmost all the enemies of the British Government, and in all cases to act in subor dinate co-operation with that Government, and to enter into no negotiations with other states without its consent. &quot; That should it be deemed necessary to station British troops in any part of the territory of Khelat, they shall occupy such positions as may be thought advisable by the British authorities. &quot; That the Baluch chief was to prevent all plundering on the part of his subjects within, or in the neighbourhood of, British territory. &quot; That he was further to protect all merchants passing through his territory, and only to exact from them a transit duty, fixed by schedule attached to the treaty; and that, on condition of a faithful performance of these duties, he was to receive from the British Government an annual subsidy of 50,000 rupees (5000). &quot; The provisions of the above treaty were most loyally performed by Meer Nusseer Khan up to the time of his death in 1856. He was succeeded by his brother, Meer Khodadad Khan, the present ruler, a youth of twelve years of age, who, however, did not obtain his position before he had put down by force a rebellion on the part of his turbulent chiefs, who had first elected him, but, not receiving what they considered an adequate reward from his treasury, sought to depose him in favour of his cousin Shere dil Khan. In the latter part of 1857, the Indian rebellion being at its height, and the city of Delhi still in the hands of the rebels, a British officer (Major Henry Green) was deputed, on the part of the British Government, to reside, as political agent, with the khan at Khelat, and to assist him by his advice in maintaining control over his turbulent tribes. This duty was successfully performed until 1863, when, during the temporary absence of Major Malcolm Green, the then political agent, Khodadad Khan was, at the instigation of some of his principal chiefs, attacked, while out riding, by his cousin, Shere dil Khan, and severely wounded. Khodadad fled in safety to a residence close to the British border, and Shere dil Khan was elected and proclaimed khan. His rule was, however, a short one, for, early in 1864, when proceeding to Khelat, he was murdered in the Gundava Pass; and Khodadad was again elected chief by the very men who had only the previous year caused his overthrow, and who had lately been accom plices to the murder of his cousin. Since the above events Khodadad has maintained his precarious position with great difficulty; but owing to his inability to govern his unruly subjects without material assistance from the British Government, which they are not disposed to give, his country has gradually fallen into the greatest anarchy; and, consequently, some of the provisions of the treaty of 1854 having been broken, diplomatic relations have been discontinued with the Khelat state since the end of 1874. The territories of Baluchistan are now comprised under the following divisions Jalawan, Sara wan, Khelat, Mekran, Lus, Cutch-Gundava, and Kohistan. The most remarkable features of this extensive country are its rugged and elevated surface, its barrenness, and its deficiency of water. The mass of mountains which forms the eastern boundary of that division of Baluchistan called the Kohistan, or mountain territory, lying between the capital, Khelat (lat. 29 1 38&quot; N., long, about 66 39 E.), and the plain country to the east of it, designated Cutchee, or Cutch-Gundava, is composed of several parallel ranges of limestone rock, in close proximity to each other, having a general strike of N.N.E. to S.S.W. and a breadth of about 55 miles. This range originates in Afghanistan, and enters Baluchistan north of the Bolau Pass in about 30 N. lat. and about 60 30 E. long, under the name Herbooe; and, after throwing out a branch to the eastward, which touches the River Indus at Sehwan, terminates under the designa tion of the Hala Mountains, at Cape Monze on the coast of the Arabian Sea, W. of Kurrachee, in about 25 N. lat, and 66 68 E. long., thus having a total length of upwards of 300 miles. The highest mountain of this range is the Chehil Tan, bearing about N. by E., 85 miles from Khelat, and attaining an altitude of 12,000 feet above the sea. The western range of the Herbooe Mountains in this portion of Baluchistan are barren and without timber, and scantily peopled with pastoral tribes of Brahoes, who emigrate to the plains of Cutchee on the approach of the winter months. North of the Bolau River and Pass the Herbooe Mountains are met, in about lat. N. 30, by confused ranges 