The outline of the sea-coast is in general remarkably regular, running nearly due E. and W., a little N. of lat. 24° 46' from Cape Monze, on the border of Sindh, to Cape Jewnee, near the River Dustee. It is for the most part craggy, but not remarkably elevated, and has in some places, for considerable distance, a low sandy shore, though almost everywhere the surface becomes much higher inland. The principal headlands, proceeding from E. to W., are Cape Monze or Ras Moarree, which is the eastern headland of Sonmeanee Bay; Goorab Sing; Bas Arubah; Ras Noo, forming the western headland of Gwadel Bay; Ras Jewnee, forming the eastern point of Gwadur Bay, and Cape Zegin at its western extremity. There is no good harbour along the coast, though it extends about 600 miles; but there are several roadsteads with good holding-ground, and sheltered on several points. Of these the best are Sonmeanee Bay, Homara, and Gwadur. On the latter are situated a small town and a fort of the same name, and also a telegraph station of the Indo-European line.

Of the early history of this portion of the Asiatic continent little or nothing is known. The poverty and natural strength of the country, combined with the ferocious habits of the natives, seem to have equally repelled the friendly visits of inquisitive strangers and the hostile incursions of invading armies. The first distinct account which we have is from Arrian, who, with his usual brevity and severe veracity, narrates the march of Alexander through this region, which he calls the country of the Oritae and Gadrosii. He gives a very accurate account of this forlorn tract, its general aridity, and the necessity of obtaining water by digging in the beds of torrents; describes the food of the inhabitants as dates and fish; and adverts to the occasional occurrence of fertile spots, the abundance of aromatic and thorny shrubs and fragrant plants, and the violence of the monsoon in the western part of Mekran. He notices also the impossibility of subsisting a large army, and the consequent destruction of the greater part of the men and beasts which accompanied the expedition of Alexander. At the commencement of the 8th century this country was traversed by an army of the caliphate.

The country derives its name from the Baluches, but the Brahoes are considered the dominant race, from which the ruler of the country is always selected. From whatever quarter these may have arrived, they eventually expelled, under their leader Kumbur, the Hindu dynasty, which at that time governed the country, and conquered Baluchistan for themselves. The Baluches are a quite distinct race, and must have arrived in the country at a subsequent period, probably in small bodies, some of which may have come from Syria or from Arabia; in proof of this the Kyheree, for instance, possess a remarkably handsome breed of horses showing unmistakable Arab blood. Anyhow, so marked is the social distinction between Baluch and Brahoe, that when the khan assembles his forces for war the latter tribes demand, as their right, wheaten flour as a portion of their daily rations, while the Baluch tribes are only entitled to receive that made from a coarse grain called jowar. There is also a Persian colony known as the Dehwars; and a considerable number of Hindus, who appear to have been the first settlers in the Brahoe mountains on their expulsion from Sindh, Lus, and Mekran by the caliphs of Baghdad.

Taking a general view on the subject of the original inhabitants of Baluchistan, we may conclude that they have, from a very early date, been reinforced by emigration from other countries, and from stragglers dropped from the hosts of the numerous conquerors, from Alexander to Nadir Shah, who have passed and repassed through Baluchistan or its neighbourhood on their way to and from India. Thus we find the Saka tribe located on the plains of Gressia, on the borders of Mekran, the ancient Gedrosia, and still further to the west, the Dahoe. These tribes are on the direct line of Alexander’s march; and we know that tribes of this name from the shores of the Caspian accompanied his army. In Sarawan we find the Sirperra, and Pliny tells us that a tribe called Saraparae resided near the Oxus. Further, on the Dushti-be-doulets, a plain at the northern entrance of the Bolan Pass, we find the Kurds, a name, again, familiar as that of a celebrated and ancient nation. The names of numerous other tribes might be cited to support this view, but it would require too much space to follow up the subject. Both Brahoes and Baluches are Mahometans of the Suni persuasion.

The precise period at which the Brahoes gained the mastery cannot be accurately ascertained; but it was probably about two centuries ago. The last rajah of the Hindu dynasty found himself compelled to call for the assistance of the mountain shepherds, with their leader, Kumbur, in order to check the encroachments of a horde of depredators, headed by an Afghan chief, who infested the country, and even threatened to attack the seat of government. Kumbur successfully performed the service for which he had been engaged; but having in a few years quelled the robbers, against whom he had been called in, and finding himself at the head of the only military tribe in the country, he formally deposed the rajah and assumed the government.

The history of the country after the accession of Kumbur is as obscure as during the Hindu dynasty. It would appear, however, that the sceptre was quietly transmitted to Abdulla Khan, the fourth in descent from Kumbur, who, being an intrepid and ambitious soldier, turned his thoughts towards the conquest of Cutch-Gundava, then held by different petty chiefs, under the authority of the Nawabs of Sindh.

After various success, the Kumburanees at length possessed themselves of the sovereignty of a considerable portion of that fruitful plain, including the chief town, Gundava. It was during this contest that the famous Nadir Shah advanced from Persia to the invasion of Hindustan; and while at Kandahar, he despatched several detachments into Baluchistan, and established his authority in that province. Abdulla Khan, however, was continued in the government of the country by Nadir’s orders; but he was soon after killed in a battle with the forces of the Nawabs of Sindh. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Hajee Mohummud Khan, who abandoned himself to the most tyrannical and licentious way of life, and alienated his subjects by oppressive taxation. In these circumstances Nusseer Khan, the second son of Abdulla Khan, who had accompanied the victorious Nadir to Delhi, and acquired the favour and confidence of that monarch, returned to Khelat, and was hailed by the whole population as their deliverer. Finding that expostulation had no effect upon his brother, he one day entered his apartment and stabbed him to the heart. As soon as the tyrant was dead, Nusseer Khan mounted the musnud, amidst the universal joy of his subjects; and immediately transmitted a report of the events which had taken place to Nadir Shah, who was then encamped near Kandahar. The shah received the intelligence with satisfaction, and despatched a firman, by return of the messenger, appointing Nusseer Khan beglerbey of all Baluchistan. This event took place in the year 1739.

Nusseer Khan proved an active, politic, and warlike prince. He took great pains to re-establish the internal governmentof all the provinces in his dominions, and improved and fortified the city of Khelat. On the death of Nadir Shah in 1747, he acknowledged the title of the king of Cabul, Ahmed Shah Abdulla. In 1758 he declared himself entirely independent; upon which Ahmed Shah despatched a force against him, under one of his ministers. The khan, however, raised an army and totally routed the Afghan army. On receiving intelligence of this discomfiture, the king himself marched with strong reinforcements, and a pitched battle was fought, in which Nusseer Khan was worsted. He retired in good order to Khelat, whither he was followed by the victor, who invested the place with his whole army. The khan made a vigorous defence; and, after the royal troops had been foiled in their attempts to take the city by storm or surprise, a negotiation was proposed by the king, which terminated in a treaty of peace. By this treaty it was stipulated that the king was to receive the cousin of Nusseer Khan in marriage; and that the khan was to pay no tribute, but only, when called upon, to furnish troops to assist the armies, for which he was to receive an allowance in cash equal to half their pay. The khan frequently distinguished himself in the subsequent wars of Cabul; and, as a reward for his services, the king bestowed upon him several districts in perpetual and entire sovereignty. Having succeeded in quelling a dangerous rebellion, headed by his cousin Beheram Khan, this able prince at length died in extreme old age, in the month of June 1795, leaving three sons and five daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest son Muhmood Khan, then a boy of about fourteen years. During the reign of this prince, who has been described as a very humane and indolent man, the country was distracted by sanguinary broils; the governors of several provinces and districts withdrew their allegiance; and the dominions of the khans of Khelat gradually so diminished, that they now comprehend only a small portion of the provinces formerly subject to Nusseer Khan.

In 1839, when the British army advanced through the Bolan Pass towards Afghanistan, the conduct of Mehrab Khan, the ruler of Baluchistan, was considered so treacherous and dangerous, as to require “the exaction of retribution from that chieftain,” and “the execution of such arrangements as would establish future security in that quarter.” General Willshire was accordingly detached from the army of the Indus with 1050 men to assault Khelat. A gate was knocked in by the field-pieces, and the town and citadel were stormed in a few minutes. Above 400 Baluches were slain, among them Mehrab Khan himself; and 2000 prisoners were taken. Subsequent inquiries have, however, proved that the treachery towards the British was not on the part of Mehrab Khan, but on that of his vizier, Mahomed Hassein, and certain chiefs with whom he was in league, and at whose instigation the British convoys were plundered in their passage through Cutch-Gundava and in the Bolan Pass. The treacherous vizier, however, made our too credulous political officers believe that Mehrab Khan was to blame,—his object being to bring his master to ruin and to obtain for himself all power in the state, knowing that Mehrab’s successor was only a child. How far he succeeded in his object history has shown. In the following year Khelat changed hands, the governor established by the British, together with a feeble garrison, being overpowered. At the close of the same year it was reoccupied by the British under General Nott. In 1841, Nusseer Khan, the youthful son of the slain Mehrab Khan, was recognized by the British, who soon after evacuated the country.

From the conquest of Sindh by the British troops under the command of the late General Sir Charles Napier in 1843 up to 1854, no diplomatic intercourse occurred worthy of note between the British and Baluch states. In the latter year, however, under the governor-generalship of the late marquis of Dalhousie, the late General John Jacob, C.B., at the time political superintendent and commandant on the Sindh frontier, was deputed to arrange and conclude a treaty between the Khelat state, then under the chieftainship of Meer Nusseer Khan, and the British Government. This treaty was executed on the 14th of May 1854, and was to the following effect :—

“That the former offensive and defensive treaty, concluded in 1841 by Major Outram between the British Government and Meer Nusseer Khan, chief of Khelat, was to be annulled.

“That Meer Nusseer Khan, his heirs and successors, bound themselves to oppose to the utmost all the enemies of the British Government, and in all cases to act in subordinate co-operation with that Government, and to enter into no negotiations with other states without its consent.

, “That should it be deemed necessary to station British troops in any part of the territory of Khelat, they shall occupy such positions as may be thought advisable by the British authorities.

“That the Baluch chief was to prevent all plundering on the part of his subjects within, or in the neighbourhood of, British territory.

“That he waβ further to protect all merchants passing through his territory, and only to exact from them a transit duty, fixed by schedule attached to the treaty; and that, on condition of a faithful performance of these duties, he was to receive from the British Government an annual subsidy of 50,000 rupees (£5000).”

The provisions of the above treaty were most loyally performed by Meer Nusseer Khan up to the time of his death in 1856. He was succeeded by his brother, Meer Khodadad Khan, the present ruler, a youth of twelve years of age, who, however, did not obtain his position before he had put down by force a rebellion on the part of his turbulent chiefs, who had first elected him, but, not receiving what they considered an adequate reward from his treasury, sought to depose him in favour of his cousin Shere dil Khan. In the latter part of 1857, the Indian rebellion being at its height, and the.city of Delhi still in the hands of the rebels, a British officer (Major Henry Green) was deputed, on the part of the British Government, to reside, as political agent, with the khan at Khelat, and to assist him by his advice in maintaining control over his turbulent tribes. This duty was successfully performed until 1863, when, during the temporary absence of Major Malcolm Green, the then political agent, Khodadad Khan was, at the instigation of some of his principal chiefs, attacked, while out riding, by his cousin, Shere dil Khan, and severely wounded. Khodadad fled in safety to a residence close to the British border, and Shere dil Khan was elected and proclaimed khan. His rule was, however, a short one, for, early in 1864, when proceeding to Khelat, he was murdered in the Gundava Pass; and Khodadad was again elected chief by the very men who had only the previous year caused his overthrow, and who had lately been accomplices to the murder of his cousin. Since the above events Khodadad has maintained his precarious position with great difficulty; but owing to his inability to govern his unruly subjects without material assistance from the British Government, which they are not disposed to give, his country has gradually fallen into the greatest anarchy; and, consequently, some of the provisions of the treaty of 1854 having been broken, diplomatic relations have been discontinued with the Khelat state since the end of 1874.

The territories of Baluchistan are now comprised under the following divisions—Jalawan, Sara wan, Khelat, Mekran, Lus, Cutch-Gundava, and Kohistan.

The most remarkable features of this extensive country are its rugged and elevated surface, its barrenness, and its deficiency of water. The mass of mountains which forms the eastern boundary of that division of Baluchistan called the Kohistan, or mountain territory, lying between the capital, Khelat (lat. 29° 1' 38"N., long, about 66° 39'E.), and the plain country to the east of it, designated Cutchee, or Cutch-Gundava, is composed of several parallel ranges of limestone rock, in close proximity to each other, having a general strike of N.N.E. to S.S. W. and a breadth of about 55 miles. This range originates in Afghanistan, and enters Baluchistan north of the Bolan Pass in about 30° N. lat. and about 60° 30' E. long, under the name Herbooe; and, after throwing out a branch to the eastward, which touches the River Indus at Sehwan, terminates under the designation of the Ξala Mountains, at Cape Monze on the coast of the Arabian Sea, W. of Kurrachee, in about 25° N. lat and 66° 68' E. long., thus having a total length of upwards of 300 miles. The highest mountain of this range is the Chehil Tan, bearing about N. by E., 85 miles from Khelat, and attaining an altitude of 12,000 feet above the sea. The western range of the Herbooe Mountains in this portion of Baluchistan are barren and without timber, and scantily peopled with pastoral tribes of Brahoes, who emigrate to the plains of Cutchee on the approach of the winter months.

North of the Bolan River and Pass tne Herbooe Mountains are met, in about lat. N. 30°, by confused ranges of rough precipitous mountains, which extend to the eastward with a strike nearly E. and W. to the Sooliman range, in about 29° 5' N. lat. and about 69° 30' E. long. This tract is almost entirely inhabited by Murrees, Boogtees, and other tribes of Baluch plunderers, and is bounded on the N. by the province of Sewestan. South of these ranges lies the desert country, which touches the Sindh frontier in 28" 27' N. lat.

The two principal water-courses which drain the Kohistan portion of Baluchistan E. of Khelat are the rivers Bolan and Moola, the former rising about 60 miles N.E. of Khelat, the latter at Anjeera, lat. 28° 19' N., long, about 66° 29' E., about 45 miles south of that city. They both discharge themselves into the plains of Cutchee, the former at Dadur, lat. about 29° 28' 5Γ , N., long, about 67° 26' E,, and the latter at Kotra near Gundava, lat. 28° 33' 47" N., long, about 67° 26' E. There is at all seasons a plentiful supply of clear running water in these streams, which is entirely used up for irrigational purposes on issuing into the plains. They are subject to dangerous floods from sudden storms in the neighbouring mountains during the rainy season. The two easiest and safest passes from Central Asia into India take their names from these streams. South of the Moola the Gaj River issues into the plains, and its waters are also absorbed in cultivation. The Nara issues into the plains near Kujjuk, N.W. corner of Cutch-Gundava, in lat. about 29° 36' N., and long, about 68° 2' E.; ordinarily its water is utilized entirely for cultivation in its course through the Afghan province of Seebee; but at periods of heavy rains in the mountains it is liable to burst its banks, and then inundates immense tracts in the Cutchee desert to the south.

West of Khelat, as far as about 65° 30' E. long., the mountain ranges have much the same strike, and are of the same nature as those to the eastward, but the ranges are much narrower, more defined, and of a lower altitude. The valleys between them vary from 5 to 15 miles in breadth; they are quite devoid of trees. The water-courses generally follow the direction of the hills from N. to S. and in some instances during heavy rains their waters reach the Arabian Sea; but as a general rule they are absorbed long before they reach the coast, partly in cultivation, but principally by the sandy arid nature of the soil and excessive dryness of the atmosphere,—due, probably, to tho proximity of the great desert west of Kharan, which extends to the confines of Persia. The most important of these watercourses is the Dustee or Mooleanee.

The climate of Baluchistan is extremely various in the different provinces. The soil in general is exceedingly stony. In the province of Cutch-Gundava, however, it is rich and loamy, and so very productive, that, it is said, were it all properly cultivated, the crops would be more than sufficient for the supply of the whole of Baluchistan. Gold, silver, lead, iron, tin, antimony, brimstone, alum, sal-ammoniac, and many kinds of mineral salts, and saltpetre, are found in various...