Bela (), () is a city in

Lasbela District Lasbela District ( , , ) is a coastal district and part of the Kalat Division situated in the south-east of Balochistan, Pakistan. Located approximately northwest of Karachi, the district is geographically and economically significant. A ...

in the

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It is an ancient city surrounded by hills above the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

, nearly northwest of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and south of

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

. During the autumn of 325 BC, the settlement was part of the Asian campaign of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

under the name Rhambacia (). After Alexander conquered the town, he commended the place and thought that if he built a city there it would become great and prosperous and he left

Hephaestion Hephaestion ( ''Hēphaistíōn''; c. 356 BC – 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman of probable "Attic or Ionian extraction" and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was "by far the dearest ...

behind to build it. In 711 AD, it was part of

Muhammad bin Qasim Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī (; –) was an Arabs, Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (and Punjab, part of ancient Sindh), inaugurating the Umayyad campaigns in India. His m ...

's campaign under the name Armabil.

Name

Alexander's historians mention the river name as

Arabius Hub River () is located in Hub District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It starts from the Pab Range in southeastern Balochistan, continues along the border of Sindh and reaches Hub and then discharges into the Arabian Sea. "Hab river emerges from mou ...

, and local people as

Oreitans Oreitans/Oritans and Oreitians/Oritians () were the ancient inhabitants of modern Lasbela District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Alexander the Great crossed Hub River through Lasbela on his way back to Babylon after conquering Northwestern ...

. The Arab sources call it Armabil or Armanil. The '' Chachnama'', in addition, uses the names Armael, Armana-Bil, Armapilla. It is described as the second port city of

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, after

Debal Debal (also called Daybul, Daibul or Dēwal) was a commercial town and an ancient port in Sindh, now a province of Pakistan. The exact location of the town has been difficult to determine. The proposed identifications with Karachi, Thatta, and ...

Demographics

Population

As of the 2023 census, Bela has population of 29,380.

Languages

Majority of Bela's population consists of Sindhi speaking

Lasis Lasis or LASIS may refer to: *Lasi people, an ethnic group of Pakistan *LASIS, or Laser ablation synthesis in solution, a method in nanotechnology *Normunds Lasis (born 1985), Latvian cyclist See also

* Lasi (disambiguation) * Lassi (disamb ...

as well as some Brahui speakers.

Religion

The population is predominantly

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

with a small Sindhi

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

community.

Significance

Bela and surrounding areas have some mineral reserves. north of Bela are the Kundi deposits where traces of chalcopyrite, Galena, and silver are also found. Manganese ore is also found in the ophiolitic belt of Bela. The tomb of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's general, Muhammad ibn Haroon, is located in Bela.

References

; Sources * * * {{Authority control Populated places in Lasbela District