Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/39

 BAL UCHISTAN.

29

and finding themselves more powerful than those who them from their mountains, drove out the Hindu Raja, when Kumbar formally assumed the sovereignty of the country. Whether the above story really recounts the origin of the Brahui conquest, has yet to be decided the Kumbaram' tribe, however, takes the precedence amongst all those to be found in the country. this service,

called



The

date of the arrival of the Baluch

equally obscure; but

is

probably subsequent to that of the Brahui's.

They themselves

it

is

insist

and came from Aleppo, under the whom some of the most prominent peaks, as well as passes, in the mountains inhabited by the Marri and Bhugti tribes are called, such as Chaki'r-ki-Marri and Chakir-ki-Tung. The above tribes, from their isolated position, and their marauding habits, have preserved their individuality better than have any others that they are of Arabic

Chakur

leadership of one

A

in the country.

origin,

after

tribe of Sheiks, called Kaiheri,

who

are located

above mountains, and who claim to have arrived at the same time as the Baluch from Syria, possess a breed of horses showing unmistakeable signs of Arab blood. Taking a general view of the original inhabitants of Baluchistan, we may conclude that they have, from a very early date, been reinforced by emigration from other countries, and from stragglers dropped from the hosts of the numerous conquerors, from Alexander to Nadir Shah, who have passed and repassed through Baluchistan or its neighbourhood, on their w'ay to and from India. Thus w'e find the Saka tribe located on the plains of Gressia, on the borders of Mekran, the ancient These tribes are on Gedrosia, and still farther to the west, the Dahui. at the foot of the

and w'e know that tribes of this name, from the shores of the Caspian, accompanied his army. In Sarawan we find the Sarpara, and Pliny tells us that a tribe called Saraparse resided near the Oxus. Further, on the Dasht-i-Bedaulat, a plain at the northern entrance of the Bolan Pass, we find the Kurds, a name, again, familiar as that of a celebrated and ancient nation. The names of many other tribes might be cited to support this view, but it would require too much space to follow up the subject. Both Brahui's and Baluchi's are Muhammadans of the Sunni' sect. The history of the country after the accession of Kumbar, above

the direct line of Alexander’s march

referred to,

is

as obscure as



during the

Hindu

dynasty.

It

w'ould

appear, however, that the sceptre was quietly transmitted to Abdulla

Khan, the fourth

in descent

from Kumbar, who, being an intrepid and

ambitious soldier, turned his thoughts towards the conquest of

Nawabs of

Sind.

Kachh

under the authority of the After various successes, the Kumbaram's at length

Gandava, then held by different petty

chiefs,

possessed themselves of the sovereignty of a considerable portion of that fruitful plain, including the chief town, Gandava.

It

was during

this