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KALAT

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 639 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KALAT , the See also:

capital of See also:Baluchistan, situated in 29° 2' N. and 66° .35' E., about 678o ft. above See also:sea-level, 88 m. from See also:Quetta. The See also:town gives its name also to a native See also:state with an See also:area, including See also:Makran and Kharan, of 71,593 M. and a See also:population (19o1) of 470,336. The word Kalat is derived from See also:kola—a fortress; and Kalat is the most picturesque fortress in the Baluch high-lands. It crowns a See also:low See also:hill, See also:round the See also:base of which clusters the closely built See also:mass of See also:flat-roofed mud houses which See also:form the insignificant town. A miri or citadel, having an imposing See also:appearance, dominates the town, and contains within its walls the See also:palace of the See also:khan. It was in an upper See also:room of this See also:residence that Mehrab Khan, ruler of Baluchistan, was killed during the storming of the town and citadel by the See also:British troops at the See also:close of the first Afghan See also:War in 1839. In 1901 it had a population of only 2000. The valleys immediately surrounding the fortress are well cultivated and thickly inhabited, in spite of their See also:elevation and the extremes of temperature to which they are exposed. See also:Recent surveys of Baluchistan have determined the position of Hozdar or Khozdar (27° 48' N., 66° 38' E.) to be about 50 M. S. of Kalat. Khozdar was the former capital of Baluchistan, and is as directly connected with the See also:southern branches of the Mulla Pass as Kalat is with the See also:northern, the Mulla being the See also:ancient See also:trade route to Gandava (Kandabe) and See also:Sind. In spite of the rugged and barren nature of the See also:mountain districts of the Kalat See also:highlands, the See also:main routes through them (concentrating on Khozdar rather than on Kalat) are comparatively easy.

The old " See also:

Pathan vat," the trade See also:highway between Kalat and See also:Karachi by the Hab valley, passes through Khozdar. From Khozdar another route strikes a little See also:west of See also:south to See also:Wad, and then passes easily into See also:Las See also:Bela. This is the " Kohan vat." A third route runs to Nal, and leads to the See also:head of the Kolwa valley (See also:meeting with no See also:great See also:physical obstruction), and then strikes into the open high road to See also:Persia. Some of the valleys about Kalat (Mastang, for instance) are wide and fertile, full of thriving villages and strikingly picturesque; and in spite of the great preponderance of mountain See also:wilderness (a wilderness which is, however, in many parts well adapted for the pasturage of See also:sheep) existing in the Sarawan lowlands almost equally with the Jalawan highlands, it is not difficult to understand the importance which the See also:province of Kalat, anciently called Turan (or Tubaran), maintained in the eyes of See also:medieval Arab geographers (see BALUCHISTAN). New See also:light has been thrown on the See also:history of Kalat by the See also:translation of an unpublished See also:manuscript obtained at See also:Tatta by Mr See also:Tate, of the See also:Indian Survey See also:Department, who has added thereto notes from the Tufhat-ul-Kiram, for the use of which he was indebted to Khan See also:Sahib Rasul Baksh, mukhtiardar of Tatta. According to these authorities, the See also:family of the khans of Kalat is of Arabic origin, and not, as is usually stated, of Brahuic extraction. They belong to the Ahmadzai See also:branch of the Mirwari See also:clan, which originally emigrated from See also:Oman to the Kolwa valley of Mekran. The khan of Kalat, Mir Mahmud Khan, who succeeded his See also:father in 1893, is the leading chieftain in the Baluch Confederacy. The See also:revenue of the khan is estimated at nearly £6o,00o, including subsidies from the British See also:government; and an accrued surplus of £240,000 has been invested in Indian securities. See G. P. Tate, Kalat (See also:Calcutta, 1896) ; Baluchistan See also:District Gazetteer, vol. vi.

(Bombay, 1907). (T. H. H.*) KALAT-I-See also:

GHILZAI, a fort in See also:Afghanistan. It is situated on an isolated rocky See also:eminence 5543 ft. above sea-level and 200 ft. above the See also:plain, on the right See also:bank of the See also:river Tarnak, on the road between See also:Kabul and See also:Kandahar, 87 m. from Kandahar and 229 M. from Kabul. It is celebrated for its gallant See also:defence by See also:Captain See also:Craigie and a See also:sepoy See also:garrison against the Afghans in the first Afghan War of 2842.

End of Article: KALAT

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