Kalat
Encyclopedia
Kalat District
Kalat or Qalat is a district in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is one of 26 in that province, and encompasses an area of 6,621 km². The population of the district is estimated to be over 400,000 in 2005. The district is governed from the city of Kalat....
, Balochistan
Balochistan (Pakistan)
Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Kalat is the capital of Kalat District
Kalat District
Kalat or Qalat is a district in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is one of 26 in that province, and encompasses an area of 6,621 km². The population of the district is estimated to be over 400,000 in 2005. The district is governed from the city of Kalat....
and is known locally as Kalat-i-Baloch and Kalat-i-Sewa.
Qalat, formerly Qilat, is located roughly in the center of Balochistan, Pakistan, south and slightly west of the provincial capital Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
. It was the capital of the Kalat Khanate.
Demographics
The population is mostly MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, with a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
population of two percent. In addition, there are some Hindu Hindkowan merchants who have settled in Kalat. As such, there is a Hindu mandir below citadel of the city, dedicated to the Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
; this mandir dates to the pre-Islamic era of Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
.
History
The town of Kalat is said to have been founded by and named Qalat-e Sewa (Sewa's FortQalat (fortress)
The word qalat is Persian for 'fortified place.' It frequently occurs in place names. Qalats can range from castles like Rumkale to the mud-brick compound common throughout southwest Asia, particularly in tribal areas with pre-modern building practices....
), after Sewa, a legendary hero of the Brahui people
The origins of the Brahui speaking tribes are uncertain, but their language indicates they are a Northern Dravidian people whose language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
has been modified by residence in the proximity of largely Iranian peoples
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
, most notably the Baloch
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
with whom the Brahui have been greatly mixed. The Brahui people had already long been resident in the Qalat area when the Balochi
Balochi language
Balochi is a Northwestern Iranian language. It is the principal language of the Baloch of Balochistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. It is also spoken as a second language by some Brahui. It is designated as one of nine official languages of Pakistan.-Vowels:The Balochi vowel...
speaking tribes arrived from the west. The Balochi
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
s established a large kingdom in the 15th century, but it soon declined and the region fell to Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Iranian
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
invaders. The Brahui Khans of Qalat were dominant from the 16th century onwards until the arrival of the British
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
in the 19th century. A treaty was signed in 1876 to make Qalat part of the British Empire.
In 1947, the Khan of Qalat, Mir Ahmad Yar Khan, decided to join Pakistan on request of Muhammad Ali Jinnah(founder of Pakistan), and decision was made that defence, currency, foreign office and finance will be controlled by federal govt. rest the province will control by itself. but later, after death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, formation of one unit changed this situation and it was merged into Pakistan like other areas.
In 1948, Qalat became part of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
when the British withdrew. The last Khan of Qalat was formally removed from power in 1955, but the title is still claimed by his descendents. The current Khan of Qalat is Mir Suleman Dawood Khan
Mir Suleman Dawood Khan
Mir Suleman Daud Khan , age 47, is the 35th Leader of the defunct Kalat Royal Family. He is the former ruler of Pakistani Province Balochistan...
.