Map of Baluchistan from The Imperial Gazetteer of India (1907-1909)

Las Bela () was a

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

in a

subsidiary alliance A subsidiary alliance, in South Asian history, was a tributary alliance between a South Asian state and a European East India Company. Under this system, an Indian ruler who formed a treaty with the company in question would be provided wi ...

with

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(later a princely state of Pakistan) which existed until 1955. The state occupied an area of in the extreme southeast of the

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

region, with an extensive coastline on the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

to the south. Las Bela was bordered by the princely states of Kalat and

Makran Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, f ...

to the north and west. To the east lay the province of

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

and to the southeast lay the

Federal Capital Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

around the city of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

History

The State of Las Bela was founded in 1742 by Jam Ali Khan I. His descendants ruled Las Bela until 1955 when the state became part 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 ...

. The statement of Ghulam Qadir Khan the last Jam of Las Bela on signing the accession was: For a period of three years between 3 October 1952 and 14 October 1955, Las Bela was part of the Baluchistan States Union but retained internal autonomy. In 1955, Las Bela was incorporated into the new province of

and became part of Kalat division. In 1960, the area of Las Bela was detached from Kalat division and merged with the former Federal Capital Territory to form the division of Karachi-Bela. When the provincial system was changed in 1970, Las Bela became part of the new province of

Demographics

The main ethnic groups in Las Bela were Baloch. The population was mainly

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Balochs 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 ar ...

but there was a small population of

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s. There were also nomadic

Lasi people The Lasi are a Sindhi tribal group of Balochistan, Pakistan. They form 3.5% of the total population of the province (as of 1961), and are the predominant group in the lowlands of Lasbela District. They occupy a high social position and have traditi ...

near the Sindh border.

Geography and climate

Las Bela has a hot, dry tropical desert climate. It is only a few degrees north of the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towa ...

. The sea breezes though make the weather less extreme than inland Balochistan, where temperatures can reach in the summer.

Rulers

The hereditary rulers of Las Bela were styled as

Jam Sahib Jam Sahib ( gu, જામ સાહેબ), is the title of the ruling prince of Nawanagar, now known as Jamnagar in Gujarat, an Indian princely state. Jam Sahibs of Nawanagar References External links Nawanagar History and Genealogyat '' ...

. The

Samma Dynasty The Samma dynasty ( sd, سمن جو راڄ, ) was a medieval Sindhi dynasty in the Indian subcontinent, that ruled Sindh, as well as parts of Kutch, Punjab and Balochistan from 1351 to 1524 CE, with their capital at Thatta known as Sa ...

took the title of Jam, the local equivalent of "King" or "Sultan". Prominent members of the family after the end of the princely state included: * Jam Ghulam Qadir Khan former Chief Minister of Balochistan province. *

Jam Mohammad Yousaf Jam Mir Mohammad Yousaf Aliani (Urdu: جام مير محمد یوسف عالياني; February 14, 1954 – February 3, 2013) was the 12th Jam of Lasbela, (Urdu: والي رياست لسبيله) and a former Chief Minister of Balochistan pro ...

former Chief Minister of Balochistan province. * Jam Ali Akbar former Provincial Minister of Balochistan province. *

Jam Kamal Khan Jam Mir Kamal Khan Alyani (; born 1 January 1970) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th Chief Minister of Balochistan, between August 2018 and October 2021. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan since August 2 ...

Former chief minister of Balochistan and speaker of provincial assembley of Balochistan.

References

External links