The Baloch and Balochistan: A Historical Account from the Beginning to the Fall of the Baloch State by Naseer Dashti

Author:Naseer Dashti [Dashti, Naseer]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781466958975
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Published: 2012-10-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

The Khanate at Its Peak

Among the Baloch, the second half of the eighteenth century is universally regarded as the golden age of the Baloch state. This was the period when the Baloch state was being run by Mir Naseer Khan I, the ablest of the leaders in the Baloch history. He was able to achieve an equal status for the Khanate vis-à-vis Afghanistan who was emerging as a formidable power after the death of Nader Shah Afshar of Iran. His sustained endeavors, internally and externally, made the Khanate an example of a tribal state converting into a powerful and organized state, which, in many respects, was equal to the existing states in the region at that period. Economically, this was the period when the Baloch were in their best position.

THE KHANATE UNDER MIR NASEER KHAN I

At the time when Mir Naseer Khan I became the Khan of the Baloch in 1749, the Khanate, due to various reasons, discussed in the previous sections, had lost its sovereign status and with all practical purposes was a vassal of the newly created Afghan Kingdom. The prime concern of Mir Naseer Khan I was to take the Baloch state out from the humiliating treaty obligations made by Mir Mahabat Khan with Afghanistan. He brought about far-reaching reforms and introduced many new initiatives in political, economic, and military sectors of the Khanate. He took measures, some of them controversial, to force the rebellious regions of the Khanate into submission and brought them into a centralized administrative setup. In order to improve the economic conditions of the Khanate, he joined Ahmad Shah Abdali in his plundering raids in India and Persia.

The Khanate of Kalat as subordinate to the Abdali court of Kandahar under a treaty obligation was bound to an annual tribute of 2,000 rupees to Kandahar (Naseer, 1979). The Khan was also treaty-bound to maintain a Baloch contingent of a thousand soldiers in Kandahar as military assistance to Abdali rulers of Afghanistan. This treaty was signed by Mir Mahabat Khan and was considered most humiliating by the Baloch. They viewed it as a treaty signed under duress. As many among the Baloch considered the rule of Mir Mahabat Khan as illegitimate, they also considered the treaty illegal.

From the very beginning, Mir Naseer Khan I ignored the treaty between the Khanate and Afghanistan. He stopped paying the annual tribute. He also refused to maintain a military contingent in Kandahar. This enraged Ahmad Shah Abdali, and soon, he found an excuse to attack the Baloch state.

Accusing Mir Naseer Khan I of giving asylum to a presumed enemy of Afghanistan from Sindh, Ahmad Shah Abdali sent an army under the command of his prime minister Shah Wali toward Kalat in 1757 (Naseer, 1979). The Khan confronted the Afghan force near Pedang Abad in Mastung, and in the ensuing battle, the Afghan Army was defeated. On hearing the news of the defeat, Ahmad Shah Abdali, at the head of a strong army, came in support of his prime

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