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Makran

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For other uses, see Makran (disambiguation).

Makran (Balochi, Persian and Urdu: مکران), also written as Mecran and Mokrān, is the southern coastal region of Balochistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Pakistan and in Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, from the Sonmiani Bay in Balochistan province of Pakistan to the northwest of Karachi in the east, to the fringes of the region of Bashkardia/Bāšgerd in the southern part of the Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran. Makrān is thus bisected by the modern political boundary between Pakistan and Iran.

Map showing Makran's location during the time of the Abbasid Caliphate, from the book of historical geography of the lands of the Eastern Caliphate. cite? For non-readers of Arabic, the region is the large quadrilateral near the bottom right of the image

In January 2025, a government spokesperson informed that Iran is investigating the possibility of moving its capital to the Makran region.[1][2]

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The Makran Division in Pakistan.

Etymology

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The southern part of Balochistan is called Kech Makran on the Pakistani side and Makran on the Iranian side, which is also the name of a former Iranian province.[3] The location corresponds to that of the Maka satrapy in Achaemenid times. The Sumerian trading partners of Magan are identified with Makran.[4] In Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita, there is a mention of a tribe called Makara (Template:Langx) inhabiting the lands west of India. Arrian used the term Ichthyophagoi (Template:Langx) for inhabitants of coastal areas (which has led to a suggestion to derive Makran from the term in Template:Langx).[5]

History

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See also: Kingdom of Makran

Earliest settlements

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The Kech-Makran region in southwestern Pakistan, along Kech River, was inhabited as early as the 5th millennium BCE. The site of Miri Qalat was investigated by Pakistani and French archaeologists from 1987 to 2007. Later, the site of Shahi-Tump, near Turbat, was also studied.[6]

Large and massive quadrangular stone building were constructed already before 4000 BCE. Flints, worked stones, and bone tools used by the inhabitants were found by archaeologists, but no ceramics were yet used. In this Period I the inhabitants of the Kech River Valley already cultivated wheat and barley, as well as lentils. They had domesticated cattle, goats, and sheep. They also caught fish from the Oman Sea. During Period II, the building of massive architectural structures continued, and a quadrangular stone complex was built. Later, mud brick constructions also appear on top of some of these stone buildings.[7]

At Miri Qalat, some links with Uruk culture ceramics were also found.[8] The related site of Balakot, Makran, going back to 4000 BCE, was also studied by archaeologists.[citation needed]

Ancient

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Between 2500 BCE and 1700 BCE, a maritime trade route existed in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf[9][10] connecting three primary regions as described in ancient Akkadian inscriptions found in Iraq: Meluhha, Magan, and Dilmun. According to these inscriptions, ships carrying up to 20 tons of goods (20,000 kilograms each) traversed this trade route regularly.[citation needed]

Baloch contingents, under the command of Ashkash, are described as having originated from Makran, serving as part of the region’s forces during the reign of Kai Khosrow.[11][12] This is depicted in the mythological part of the Shahnamah a prose work written in Middle Persian.[13]

After the victory of the Mauryan Empire against the Greeks in the Seleucid–Mauryan war, Makran came under the rule of Chandragupta Maurya of Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta and Seleucus made a peace settlement in 304 BCE. Seleucus I Nicator ceded the satrapies, including Gedrosia, to the expanding Mauryan Empire.[14] The alliance was solidified with a marriage between Chandragupta Maurya and a princess of the Seleucid Empire. An outcome of the arrangement proved to be mutually beneficial.[14] The border between the Seleucid and Mauryan Empires remained stable in subsequent generations, and friendly diplomatic relations are reflected by the ambassador Megasthenes, and by the envoys sent westward by Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka.[14]

Sasanian Empire

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Shapur I's trilingual inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht in Naqsh-i-Rustam, dated to 262 CE, notes "Makuran"/"Makran" to be one of the many provinces of the Sasanian Empire:

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Parthian version of the Shapur I inscription at Ka'ba-ye Zartosht.

And I (Shapur I) possess the lands: Fars [Persis], Pahlav [Parthia] ... and all of Abarshahr (all the upper (eastern, Parthian) provinces), Kerman, Sakastan, Turgistan, Makuran, Pardan [Paradene], Hind [Sind] and Kushanshahr all the way to Pashkibur [Peshawar?] and to the borders of Kashgaria, Sogdia and Chach [Tashkent] and of that sea-coast Mazonshahr [Oman].

— Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht (262 CE), translation by Josef Wiesehöfer (1996).[15][16][17]

Buddhist and Hindu past

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Abū Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī states in his book Kitab al-Hind that the coast of India begins with Tiz, the capital of Makran.[18]

According to historian André Wink: Template:South Asia in 350 CE

Further evidence in the Chachnama makes perfectly clear that many areas of Makran had a largely Buddhist population. When Chach marched to Armabil, this town is described as having been in the hands of a Buddhist Samani (Samani Budda), a descendant of the agents of Rai Sahiras who had been elevated for their loyalty and devotion, but who later made themselves independent. The Buddhist chief offered his allegiance to Chach when the latter was on his way to Kirman in 631. The same chiefdom of Armadil is referred to by Hiuen Tsang O-tien-p-o-chi-lo, located at the high road running through Makran, and he also describes it as predominantly Buddhist, thinly populated though it was, it had no less than 80 Buddhist convents with about 5000 monks. In effect at eighteen km northwest of Las Bela at Gandakahar, near the ruins of an ancient town are the caves of Gondrani, and as their constructions show these caves were undoubtedly Buddhist. Traveling through the Kij valley further west (then under the government of Persia) Hiuen Tsang saw some 100 Buddhist monasteries and 6000 priests. He also saw several hundred Deva temples in this part of Makran, and in the town of Su-nu li-chi-shi-fa-lo – which is probably Qasrqand – he saw a temple of Maheshvara Deva, richly adorned and sculptured. There is thus very wide extension of Indian cultural forms in Makran in the seventh century, even in the period when it fell under Persian sovereignty. By comparison in more recent times the last place of Hindu pilgrimage in Makran was Hinglaj, 256 km west of present-day Karachi in Las Bela.[19]

Wink has recorded Hiuen Tsang's notes on the language and script in use in easternmost Makran (eastern parts of Pakistani Balochistan):[citation needed]

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Paths that Alexander the Great took

Hiuen Tsang considered the script which was in use in Makran to be "much the same as India", but the spoken language "differed a little from that of India".[20]

Early medieval times

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The Hindu Sewa dynasty ruled much of Baluchistan up until the 7th century CE. The Sibi Division derives its name from Rani Sewi, the queen of the Sewa dynasty.[21] Until 7th-century CE, Makran was a part of the Hindu Chach dynasty.[22]

Islamic conquest

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Central Makran range

The first Islamic conquest of Makran took place during the Rashidun Caliphate in the year 643 CE . Caliph Umar's governor of Bahrain, Usman ibn Abu al-Aas, who was on a campaign to conquer the southern coastal areas beyond Sassanid, sent his brother Hakam ibn Abu al-Aas to raid and reconnoitre the Makran region.[23][full citation needed]

In late 644 CE Caliph Umar dispatched an army under the command of Hakam ibn Amr for the wholesale invasion of Makran. He was joined by reinforcements from Kufa under the command of Shahab ibn Makharaq, and by Abdullah ibn Utban, the commander of a campaign in Kerman. They encountered no strong resistance in Makran until the army of the King of Rai dynasty, along with contingents from Makran and Sind, stopped them near the Indus River. In mid-644 the Battle of Rasil was fought between the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate and the Rai dynasty; the Raja's forces were defeated and forced to retreat to the eastern bank of the Indus. The Raja's army had included war elephants, but these had posed little problem for the Muslim invaders, who had dealt with them during the conquest of Persia. In accordance with the orders of Caliph Umar, the captured war elephants were sold in Islamic Persia, with the proceeds distributed among the soldiers as share in booty.[24] In response to Caliph Umar's questions about the Makran region, the messenger from Makran who brought the news of the victory told him:

Template:Poemquote

Umar looked at the messenger and said: "Are you a messenger or a poet?" He replied, "Messenger". Thereupon Caliph Umar instructed Hakim bin Amr al-Taghlabi that for the time being Makran should be the easternmost frontier of the Islamic empire, and that no further attempt should be made to extend the conquests.

It was reconquered by the usurper Chach of Alor in 631. Ten years later, it was described to be "under the government of Persia" by Xuanzang who visited the region. Three years later however, when the Arabs invaded, it was regarded as the "frontier of al-Hind".[25] The Brahmin, Maharaja Chach met the invaders outside Broach and defeated them with heavy slaughter also killing their very Commander-in-Chief Abdul Aziz in the process.[26][27]

Ma'danid dynasty

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See also: Ma'danid dynasty

The Ma'danid dynasty was a medieval Islamic dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Makran.[28] It ruled Makran from the late 9th or early 10th century. [29]until around the 11th century[30]

Modern era

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Map of the Baluchistan Agency

Gul Khan Nasir has narrated poetry about a certain Hammal Baloch, who is said to have fight against Portuguese.[31] particularly during the attacks on coastal towns like Pasni and Gawadar.[32][citation needed] The sultanate held onto the Makran coast throughout the period of British colonial rule, but eventually, only Gwadar was left in the hands of the sultan.[citation needed]

Princely state of Makran

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See also: Makran (princely state)

Makran (Template:Langx) was an autonomous princely state in a subsidiary alliance with British India until 1947, before acceding to Pakistan as an autonomous princely state of Pakistan.[33] It was ruled by Gichki Nawabs,[34] who were of Rajputs origin.[35][36] Their ancestor, Jagat Singh had migrated from Rajputana in the 17th century and converted to Islam. It ceased to exist in 1955. It was located in the extreme southwest of present-day Pakistan, an area now parts of the districts of Gwadar, Kech and Panjgur. The state did not include the enclave of Omani Gwadar, which was under Omani rule until 1958. On the independence of Pakistan, Makran became a district within the province of Balochistan, with the exception of an area of Template:Cvt around Gwadar. In 1958 the Gwadar enclave was transferred to Pakistani control as part of the district of Makran. The entire region has been subdivided into new smaller districts over the years.[citation needed]

Geography

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Makran.makoran pars1744 Amesterdam
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Gwadar beach in Makran region-today the economy of Makrani Baloch is largely based on use of the ocean.

The narrow coastal plain rises rapidly into several mountain ranges. Of the Template:Cvt coastline, around Template:Cvt are in Pakistan. The climate is dry with little rainfall. Makran is very sparsely inhabited, with much of the population concentrated in a string of small ports including Chabahar, Gwatar, Jiwani, Jask, Sirik, Gwadar (not to be confused with Gwatar), Pasni, Ormara and many smaller fishing villages.

There is only one island off the coast of Makran, Astola Island, near Pasni although there are several small islets. The coastline has a number of lagoons and bays. The main lagoons are Miani Hor, Khor Kalmat, and the Jiwani Coastal Wetland. The main bays are from east to west: Ormara East Bay, Ormara West Bay, Pasni Bay, Surbandar Bay, Gwadar East Bay, Gwadar West Bay and Gwatar Bay (which includes Jiwani Bay). This latter bay shelters a large mangrove forest and the nesting grounds of endangered turtle species. The Mirani Dam provides irrigation, flood prevention and water supply to Gwadar city.[citation needed]

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The Central Makran Range in Pakistan and Iran.

Demographics

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Religious groups in the Makran Division of Kalat State (British Baluchistan era)
Religious
group 		1911[37] 1921[38] 1931[39] 1941[40]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Islam 71,758 99.74% 71,625 99.67% 68,213 99.64% 86,406 99.72%
Hinduism 137 0.19% 216 0.3% 233 0.34% 206 0.24%
Christianity 40 0.06% 11 0.02% 11 0.02% 20 0.02%
Sikhism 2 0% 8 0.01% 3 0% 17 0.02%
Others 5[lower-alpha 1] 0.01% 0 0% 2[lower-alpha 2] 0% 2[lower-alpha 3] 0%
Total population 71,942 100% 71,860 100% 68,462 100% 86,651 100%

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Including 4 Parsis (Zoroastrians) and 1 Buddhist.
  2. ↑ Including 2 Jews.
  3. ↑ Including 1 Parsi (Zoroastrian) and 1 Jew.

References

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  1. ↑ "Iran eyeing Makran for new capital, says government spokesperson". 7 January 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Iran eyes Makran in southern coast as new capital after Tehran: All you need to know". The Times of India. 10 January 2025. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Makran". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Hansman 1973, p. 555.
  5. ↑ Yule, Sir Henry; Cordier, Henri, eds. (1993) [first published 1903, revised 1920], The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition, Volume II, Courier Corporation, pp. 402–, ISBN 978-0-486-27587-1
  6. ↑ Aurore Didier, Benjamin Mutin (2015). "The Kech-Makran region in Protohistoric Times" Archived 2022-04-03 at the Wayback Machine. In Ute Franke; Elisa Cortesi. Lost and Found: Prehistoric Pottery Treasures from Baluchistan. SMB. pp. 297–333. ISBN 978-3-00-051309-1.
  7. ↑ Aurore Didier, Benjamin Mutin (2015). "The Kech-Makran region in Protohistoric Times" Archived 2022-04-03 at the Wayback Machine. In Ute Franke; Elisa Cortesi. Lost and Found: Prehistoric Pottery Treasures from Baluchistan. SMB. pp. 297–333. ISBN 978-3-00-051309-1.
  8. ↑ Van De Mieroop, M. (2008). A history of the ancient Near East. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell.
  9. ↑ Blench, Roger (2009). "Remapping the Austronesian expansion" (PDF). In Evans, Bethwyn (ed.). Discovering History Through Language: Papers in Honour of Malcolm Ross. Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 978-0-85883-605-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2019. http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Austronesian/General/Blench%20Ross%20Festschrift%20paper%20revised.pdf
  10. ↑ Manguin PY (2016). "Austronesian Shipping in the Indian Ocean: From Outrigger Boats to Trading Ships". In Campbell G (ed.). Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 51–76. ISBN 978-3-319-33822-4. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "AŠKAŠ". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  12. ↑ Badalkhan, Sabir (2013). Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore. Balochistan Monograph Series, V. Naples, Italy: Universita degli studi di Napoli. pp. 20–21, 36, 97, 12. ISBN 978-88-6719-060-7.
  13. ↑ Carina،Korn, Jahani،Korn (2003). The Baloch and Their Neighbours. Reichert. pp. 49, 314–317, 248, 260. ISBN 9783895003660.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Kosmin 2014, p. 33–34.
  15. ↑ The complete paragraph goes:
    "And I [Shapur I] possess the lands: Fars [Persis], Pahlav [Parthia], Huzestan [Khuzistan], Meshan [Maishan, Mesene], Asorestan [Mesopotamia], Nod-Ardakhshiragan [Adiabene], Arbayestan [Arabia], Adurbadagan [Atropatene], Armen [Armenia], Virozan [Iberia], Segan [Machelonia], Arran [Albania], Balasagan up to the Caucasus and to the 'gate of the Alans' and all of Padishkhvar[gar] [the entire Elburz chain = Tabaristan and Gelan (?)], Mad [Media], Gurgan [Hyrcania], Marv [Margiana], Harey [Aria], and all of Abarshahr [all the upper (= eastern, Parthian) provinces], Kerman [Kirman], Sakastan, Turgistan, Makuran, Pardan [Paradene], Hind [Sind] and Kushanshahr all the way to Pashkibur [Peshawar?] and to the borders of Kashgaria, Sogdia and Chach [Tashkent] and of that sea-coast Mazonshahr ['Oman']."
    in Wiesehöfer, Josef (1996). Ancient Persia : from 550 BC to 650 AD. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 184. ISBN 978-1860646751.
  16. ↑ For a secondary source see Kia, Mehrdad (27 June 2016). The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-61069-391-2.
  17. ↑ For another referenced translation, visible online, see: Frye, Richard Nelson (1984). The History of Ancient Iran. C.H.Beck. p. 371. ISBN 978-3-406-09397-5.
  18. ↑ Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (about A.D. 1030) (1888). Alberuni's India. 1. London: Trübner, 1888. p. 208. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  19. ↑ André Wink, Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th–11th centuries, p. 135
  20. ↑ André Wink, Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th–11th centuries, p. 137
  21. ↑ Syed Abdul Quddus, The tribal Baluchistan, p. 49
  22. ↑ Skutsch, Carl, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. New York: Routledge. p. 178. ISBN 1-57958-468-3.
  23. ↑ Al Baldiah wal nahaiyah vol: 7 page 141
  24. ↑ Tarikh al Tabri, vol: 4 page no: 180
  25. ↑ Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7th–11th Centuries. Brill. 2002. pp. 131–132, 136. ISBN 0391041738.
  26. ↑ Savarkar, Veer (2020-01-01). Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History. Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-5322-097-6.
  27. ↑ Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal (1944). The Glory that was Gūrjaradeśa: The Imperial Gūrjaras. 1st ed. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
  28. ↑ Seyfeydinovich, Asimov, Muhammad; Edmund, Bosworth, Clifford; UNESCO (1998-12-31). History of civilizations of Central Asia: The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. UNESCO Publishing. p. 296. ISBN 978-92-3-103467-1.
  29. ↑ Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1994). The History of the Saffarids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz: (247/861 to 949/1542-3). Mazda Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56859-015-8.
  30. ↑ The regions of Sind, Baluchistan, Multan and Kashmir: the historical, social, and economic setting". In Asimov, M.S.; Bosworth, C.E. (eds.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 4, Part 1. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 978-92-3-103654-5.
  31. ↑ Claus, Diamond, Ann Mills, Peter J., Sarah, Margaret (2003). South Asian Folklore. Routledge. p. 44. ISBN 9780415939195.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ↑ "BALUCHISTAN iii. Baluchi Language and Literature". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  33. ↑ Pillalamarri, Akhilesh. "A Brief History of Balochistan". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 2024-04-01. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  34. ↑ Malik, Fida Hussain (2020-10-14). Balochistan: A Conflict of Narratives. Saiyid Books. p. 11. ISBN 978-969-2200-02-8. Archived from the original on 2024-03-08. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  35. ↑ Quddus, Syed Abdul (1990). The Tribal Baluchistan. Ferozsons. p. 63. ISBN 978-969-0-10047-4. The former rulers of Makran and Lasbela, Gichki and Jamots respectively, are Rajputs.
  36. ↑ Spooner, Brian (1964). "Kūch u Balūch and Ichthyophagi". Iran. 2: 53–67. doi:10.2307/4299552. ISSN 0578-6967. JSTOR 4299552. Archived from the original on 2024-01-03. Retrieved 2024-03-13. The Gichki are the descendants of a Rajput family which settled in 17th century.
  37. ↑ "Census of India 1911. Vol. 4, Baluchistan : pt. 1, Report; pt. 2, Tables". 1911. p. 11. JSTOR saoa.crl.25393764. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  38. ↑ "Census of India 1921. Vol. 4, Baluchistan : part I, Report; part II, Tables". 1921. p. 165. JSTOR saoa.crl.25394124. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  39. ↑ "Census of India 1931. Vol. 4, Baluchistan. Pts. 1 & 2, Report [and] Imperial and provincial tables". 1931. p. 390. JSTOR saoa.crl.25797115. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  40. ↑ India Census Commissioner (1941). "Census of India, 1941. Vol. 14, Baluchistan". p. 17. JSTOR saoa.crl.28215993. Retrieved 8 September 2024.

Bibliography

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Template:GeoSouthAsia

Coordinates: 25°18′19″N 60°38′28″E / 25.30541°N 60.64108°E / 25.30541; 60.64108

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