The Chief Commissioner's Province of Baluchistan ( ur, چیف کمشنر صوبہ بلوچستان) was a province of

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

established in 1876 to 1947 and then as a province of the

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...

, when the Baluchistan Jirga voted to join Pakistan. It was a part of the

Baluchistan Agency The Baluchistan Agency (also spelt Balochistan Agency) was one of agencies of British Raj during the colonial era. It was located in the present-day Pakistani Balochistan province.Administration report of the Balochistan Agency for 1888–89: s ...

. It was dissolved to form a united province of

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...

in 1955 upon the creation of

One Unit Scheme The One Unit Scheme ( ur, ; bn, এক ইউনিট ব্যবস্থা) was a geopolitical programme launched by the Government of Pakistan led by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and passed on 30 September 1955 ...

History

The province was originally formed over the period 1876–1891 by three treaties between Robert Sandeman and the

Khan of Kalat The Khanate of Kalat ( bal, کلاتءِ ھانات) was a Baloch Khanate that existed from 1512 to 1955 in the centre of the modern-day province of Balochistan, Pakistan. Its rulers were Brahui speakers. Prior to that they were subjects of ...

Khudadad of Kalat The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

. Sandeman became the Political Agent for the British-administered areas which were strategically located between British India and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. A military base was established at

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

which played a major part in the Second and

Third Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

Balochistan was legally ceded to Pakistan by its rulers in 1947 and continued to be administered by a Chief Commissioner. It was dissolved in 1955 when most parts of the western wing of Pakistan became the new province of

. West Pakistan was dissolved in 1970. Khan Abdul Wali Khan intended to transfer political power to the Pashtuns. The former Chief Commissioner's province was combined with the former

Balochistan States Union The Baluchistan States Union or Balochistan States Union (BSU) was an administrative division of Pakistan that existed between 3 October 1952 and 14 October 1955 in the southwestern part of West Pakistan. It was formed by the four princely state ...

and the enclave of

Gwadar Gwadar ( Balochi/ ur, ) is a port city with located on the southwestern coast of Balochistan, Pakistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. Gwadar is the 100th largest city of Pakistan, according to the 2017 ...

to form a new, larger

Balochistan Province Balochistan (; bal, بلۏچستان; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land ...

, with a Governor, a Chief Minister and a

Provincial Assembly Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

Demographics

The population of the province was equally split between

Baloch tribes The Baloch or Baluch ( bal, بلۏچ, Balòc) are an Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. There a ...

in the south and west and

Pashtun tribes The Pashtun tribes ( ps, پښتانه قبايل), historically also known as Afghan tribes, are the tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who use the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali code of conduct. They a ...

in the north.

Government

The province was administered by a Chief Commissioner appointed by the Federal Government. Although there was no elected legislature the Chief Commissioner could consult the Shahi Jirga, an assembly of tribal leaders. The province comprised three groups of areas – the settled districts, the political agencies and the tribal area. The settled areas were mainly the district around Quetta and Jaffarabad. The agencies were the

Zhob Zhob (; ) or Zhobak (), formerly known as Appozai or Fort Sandeman, is a city and district capital of Zhob District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Zhob is located on the banks of Zhob River 337 km from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. T ...

agency to the north of Quetta and the

Chagai Chagai may refer to: * Chagai District, a district in Balochistan, Pakistan * Chagai, Pakistan, the capital city of Chagai District * Chagai Hills, a mountainous region in the district *''Chagai-I'', the codename for Pakistan's first nuclear weapon ...

agency to the west, which had a tenuous land link with the rest of the province. The tribal areas were the

Bugti Bugti ( bal, بُگٹی ) is a Baloch tribe found in eastern Balochistan, Pakistan. , it was estimated to comprise over 180,000 people, mostly living in the Dera Bugti region of Pakistan. They are in turn divided into the Rahija,Marhita, Perozani, ...

and Marri tribal agencies which would later become

Provincially Administered Tribal Areas The Provincially Administered Tribal Area (PATA) was the former administrative subdivision of Pakistan designated in the Article 246(b) of the Constitution of Pakistan. No Act of Provincial Assembly can be applied to PATA whereas the Governor of th ...

in the new

Balochistan province Balochistan (; bal, بلۏچستان; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land ...

. see

List of Chief Commissioners of Baluchistan Below is a list of chief commissioners of Baluchistan: Chief commissioners of Baluchistan *1877–1887: Sir Oliver St John (acting) *1887–1889: Sir Robert Sandeman *1889: Sir Harry Prendergast (acting) *1889–1891: Sir Robert Sandeman *189 ...

Notes

External links

Government of Balochistan
{{Coord, 28, 00, N, 66, 00, E, region:PK_type:adm1st_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title 1876 establishments in the British Empire Former subdivisions of Pakistan History of Balochistan, Pakistan (1947–present) Provinces of British India

History

Demographics

Government

See also

Notes

External links