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QUETTA

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 745 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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QUETTA , the See also:

capital of See also:British See also:Baluchistan, See also:India, which also gives its name to a See also:district. It See also:rose to prominence in 1876, when See also:Sir See also:Robert See also:Sandeman foundad a residency there. The name is a variation of the word kwat-kot, signifying a fortress, and the See also:place is still locally known as Shal Kot. Quetta is the southernmost point in the See also:line of frontier posts and See also:system of strategic See also:railways on the See also:north-See also:west frontier of India, 536 M. by See also:rail N. of See also:Karachi. It forms the See also:head-quarters of the See also:fourth See also:division of the See also:southern See also:army, with a strong See also:garrison of all arms. The railway was built in 1879, with a view to its continuance to See also:Kandahar; but its See also:present See also:terminus is New Chaman on the Afghan border. A See also:branch line to See also:Nushki was completed in 1905. The See also:cantonment and See also:civil station of Quetta stand in the open See also:plain about 5500 ft. above See also:sea-level, within a See also:ring of mountains (such as Takatu, I^/Iurdar and Chiltan), which overlook it from a height of over 11,000 ft. To the north-west the view is open across the See also:base of the Pishin valley to the Khojak Pass and Kandahar. See also:South-wards is the open valley leading to the Bolan Pass, traversed by the railway. North of Quetta is the open plain leading to Pishin and the Harnai, also traversed by the See also:Sibi-Pishin railway, which passes through .the fortifications. These defensive See also:works, stretching from the base of Takatu to the See also:foot of the Mashelak hills on the west, See also:bar the way to advance from the Khojak Pass.

During the last See also:

quarter of the 19th See also:century Quetta See also:grew from a dilapidated See also:group of mud buildings, with an inferior See also:bazaar and a few scattered remnants of neglected See also:orchard cultivation, into a strong fortress, and one of the most popula% stations of the See also:Indian army. Quetta was visited by the See also:prince of See also:Wales (See also:George V.) in 1906, and a See also:staff See also:college for the Indian army was opened here in 1907. It has become the See also:trade mart for western See also:Afghanistan, eastern See also:Persia, and much of central See also:Asia. The See also:population of the See also:town and cantonment in 1901 was 24,584. The DISTRICT OF QUETTA (including Pishin) has an See also:area of 5127 sq. m. Pop. (1901) 114,087, of whom more than three-fourths are Afghans, showing an increase of 45 % in the See also:decade. The See also:general aspect,of the See also:country is hilly, rocky and sterile, particularly towards the north; but in many parts the See also:soil is See also:rich and See also:good, yielding See also:wheat, See also:rice, See also:madder, See also:tobacco, and See also:lucerne, besides numerous See also:grasses. The district has abundant orchards, furnishing grapes, apples, See also:pears, pomegranates, See also:figs, &c.; melons and all kinds of See also:English vegetables are also largely cultivated. The valley is watered by the Pishin Lora and by See also:government See also:irrigation works, including artesian See also:wells. See also:Wild See also:sheep and goats abound in the hills of the district. The See also:climate appears to be healthy and the temperature moderate, ranging from 40° F. in the See also:winter to about 78° in the summer.

The See also:

annual rainfall (including See also:snow) averages about 10 in. The actual line of valley which contains Quetta and the Bolan Pass was originally rented from the See also:khan of See also:Kalat on terms which were changed in 1882 to a quit-See also:rent of Rs25,000 per annum, and a further See also:compensation of Rs3o,000 in lieu of transit duties in the Bolan Pass. This perpetual leasehold was afterwards extended so as to include Nushki and give the British government the command of the trade route to Sistan. The Quetta district is now administered, together with the assigned districts of Pishin, Tal Chotiali, and Sibi (assigned by the treaty of See also:Gandamak as being nominally Afghan territory) by a See also:regular staff of civil officials. See See also:Thornton, See also:Life of Sir Robert Sandeman (See also:London, 1896) ; Quetta-Pishin District Gazetteer (Ajmer, 1907). (T. H.

End of Article: QUETTA

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