The town called ‘Tomb’
29 March 2017
The high, wind-scoured mound of hard-packed clay rises above the date orchards to the north of Turbat town. Closer inspection reveals an array of eroded turrets and bulky walls meant clearly for defensive purpose, foundations of rooms, immense quantities of pottery shards and even a brick-lined well or two.
Locals call it Miri and believe it is the last vestige of the palace of Ari Jam, the king of Kech and Makran. But Ari Jam was apparently a mythical figure for history provides no corroboration of his existence. Instead, there is no dearth of reference to the town of Kech in the accounts of the several Persian and Arab geographers who passed through Makran in the Middle Ages.
Read more »Labels: Balochistan, Book of Days 2010, Sights Less Seen, Turbat
posted by Salman Rashid @ 00:00,
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Turbat
02 April 2015
Makran may have been largely an arid desert of sand and rock even before man began to live in ordered cities, yet there flowed through this vast wilderness a number of rivers that gifted the land swathes of greenery and agriculture. Though these areas of verdure were never very extensive, they were nonetheless extremely fruitful.
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The major rivers in Makran proper are the Kech and the Nihing which unite a few kilometres west of Turbat town and taking the name of Dasht swing southwest to dump into the Arabian Sea near Jivani. The Nihing has a rather interesting course. Rising in the 1400-metre-high hills around the Kap swamp, it flows west and south to form the Pak-Iran border for a hundred and twenty kilometres. North of Mand (famous for giving us Zubeda Jalal), it veers to the east for its tryst with the Kech. Its perfect u-shaped course wins it a name that signifies dragon in Balochi. The Kech, on the other hand, contains the collective waters of no fewer than six minor streams that wash the hills north and southeast of Hoshab village.
Read more »Labels: Balochistan, Turbat
posted by Salman Rashid @ 00:00,
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Jhao: forerunner to Makran
24 May 2013
In September 325 BCE, Alexander the Macedonian had settled the affairs of Patala (Hyderabad) and started on his journey westward. His route lay southwest to what is now Karachi and then north to Lasbela. The ancient histories tell us that Rhambakia lying on his route was the home of the Oreitai tribe, and their ‘largest city’. We know today that the remnants of Rhambakia very likely sleep under the high mound on which the modern houses and bazaars of Lasbela town stand.
As the Oreitai received word of his impending arrival they put up small pockets of resistance along the way. But being no match for the great host of the Macedonian forces, they were routed until the invaders reached Rhambakia.
Read more »Labels: Alexander, Balochistan, Book of Days 2011, Roads Less Travelled, Turbat
posted by Salman Rashid @ 10:16,
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