Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 6.djvu/201

 BEAHOOEES. (321)

THE SAME, UNARMED. (321-2)

HE inhabitants of the Khelat state, which is independent, but has treaties with the British Government, are divided into several elans, and are a peculiarly warlike and haughty people. The state itself has four divisions: Jhalawan, Sarawan, Kutchee, and Mekran; and these districts are used frequently to designate the people themselves. Khelat lies to the west and north-west of Sind, divided from it by the possessions of the Murrees and other Beloch tribes. The climate of the country is varied, and in the northern portion, where the mountains descend from the great Sooliman range, temperate and delightful, and, in a great measure, very fertile.

The first intercourse held with Khelat was in 1838, when it was necessary to obtain supplies for the army advancing with Shah Shoojah into Afghanistan by the Bolan pass, which leads through part of the Khelat territories. Against the British many powerful intrigues arose at the Khelat court. Mehrab Khan, the lulling chief, was opposed by his powerful kinsmen; and instead of appearing as allies of the British, and furthering the project of their lawful King, Shah Shoojah, the conduct of the Brahooees was evidently, if not openly, hostile. Remonstrance and advice from Sir A. Burnes had little effect. Mahomed Hassan, the arch intriguer, stirred up Beejar Khan, chief of the Doomkees, to harass and plunder British convoys, and that redoubted chief was not slow to act upon what purported to be the orders of the chief of Khelat. Finally Sir A. Burnes was deputed to Khelat, to remonstrate, as well as to assure the chief: and a treaty was concluded, of which, however, Burnes was robbed in a night attack made upon him after his departure, and Khelat could no longer remain unpunished. When therefore, Sir Thomas Wiltshire's division was returning to India it turned aside towards Khelat from Quettah, and the fort and town were taken by storm on the 13th November, 1839. Mehrab Khan, the chief, was killed in the assault, and his