Gwadar: in the Realm of History
Gwadar is located on the southwestern coast of Pakistan in the
province of Balochistan at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, an important trade
route. It is a hammerhead (hammer-shaped) island (peninsula) located on the
coast of Makran, Gwadar. About 460 km west of Karachi, 80 km east of the
Iran-Pakistan border, and 380 km northeast of Oman, Gwadar is mostly barren and
mountainous area. In these hills lies Koh-e-Batil, which is on the upper
edge of this Hammerhead, and Koh-e-Mehdi, to the east of the peninsula. The
port of Gwadar is of great strategic importance due to its geographical
location.
The word Gwadar is actually derived from "Goa" and
"Dar" which means "door of air".
The history of Gwadar and its environs (surroundings) is very old.
This area is also called the Valley of Dasht. It is said that when there was a
famine in the time of Hazrat Daud (AS) many people migrated from Sinai Valley
and came to Makran valley area. Makran area was part of Persia for thousands of
years He remained in charge. It remained under the rule of Chaos, king of
Persia, and Afrasiab.
According to historians, in 325 BC, when Alexander the Great was returning
to Greece from the Mediterranean, a general of his navy, Admiral Nearchos,
anchored his ship at the port of Makran. He found the area dry and the people
found Ichthyophagoi (fish-eaters) and the Persian phrase mahi-khoran
(fish-eater) gave the area the name Mahi-khoran, which later changed to Makran
- here until 303 BC Alexander the Great ruled under General Selukos Nikator,
after which the region became part of the Mauryan Empire.
After the advent of Islam, Makran was conquered in 643 AD during
the reign of Amir-ul-Mumineen Syedna Umar ibn Khattab and became part of the
Islamic State. When Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh in 711 AD, this area
also remained under his rule. During the reign of the Mughal kings of the
subcontinent, this area was part of the Mughal Empire. In the 16th Century
AD, the Persians occupied several areas of Makran, including this area. In
1581, Portuguese had burnt to ashes, two very important cities Pasni and Gwadar.
The area remains a hotbed of controversy among various local rulers and sometimes
it was ruled by Baledi and sometimes it was ruled by Rind Emperor some times
thy became country ruler, sometimes the Gachkis got the government, however,
most of the rulers have remained Baledi and Gachki. When the rule of the
Gachkis was weakened by a family dispute, Khan Naseer Mir Naseer Khan I took
over the rules.
In 1783, Sultan bin Ahmed, king of Muscat, had a quarrel with his
brother Saad bin Ahmed. On which Sultan bin Ahmed wrote a letter to Khan of
Kalat Mir Naseer Khan in which he expressed his desire to come here. So Khan
not only asked the Sultan to come immediately but also named the area of
Gwadar and its revenue after the Sultan for an indefinite period of time.
After which Sultan bin Ahmed belonging to Abu Saad tribe came and
settled in Gwadar. In 1792 Sultan returned to Muscat and got the government of
Oman.
After the death of the Sultan in 1804, his sons became the rulers during
this period, the Baledis once again captured Gwadar. On which the troops came
from Muscat and passed through this area. In the first Afghan war of 1838, the
British focus on the area and the British government obtained a concession from
Saad Sultan to use the port of Gwadar and later in 1863 appointed an assistant
political agent in Gwadar.
"To conduct Britain’s diplomatic relations with the Gulf
rulers on a daily basis,the Resident maintained subordinate political agents at
Muscat (c.1758–1971) Manama (c.1816–1971), Sharjah (1823–1953), Kuwait
(1899–1961), Doha (1949–71), Dubai (1953–71), and Abu Dhabi (1957–71),as well
as the Omani enclave of Gwadar in what is now Pakistan (1863 –1958)".
So in the subcontinent, the ships of the British Steam Navigation
Company started using the ports of Gwadar and Pasni. In 1863, the first
telegram office was established in Gwadar and also in Pasni. The first post
office was established in Gwadar in 1894. The fort of Gwadar was built during
the Omani rule.
After the emergence of Pakistan as a separate state in 1947, the
chiefs of Makran, Kharan and Lasbela, believing in the ideology of Pakistan,
announced the annexation of these states to Pakistan. A few months later, the
Khan of Kalat, Mir Ahmad Yar Khan, happily annexed Pakistan, keeping in view
the aspirations of the people of Kalat and the ground realities (landlockedness
of Kalat). At that time the area of Gwadar was not part of the state of Kalat
and remained under the rule of Oman. In 1954, Pakistan had its coastline
surveyed by the United States Geological Survey. USGS Surveyor Worth Kendrick
introduces Gwadar as a Hammerhead Peninsula, which Gwadar is reported to be the
most suitable place for a naturally deep see port.
Due to the historical and geographical background and the demand of
the people of Gwadar to join Pakistan, the Pakistani government made a formal
request to the Sultan of Oman Saad bin Timur to transfer the ownership of
Gwadar from Oman to Pakistan. After four years of negotiations, Pakistan bought
the Gwadar area from Oman for 3 million.
And so after 174 years of rule, on December 8, 1958, Oman handed
over Gwadar to Pakistan.
When Prime Minister Feroz Khan Noon, while addressing the nation on Radio Pakistan on September 7, 1958, announced the transfer of ownership of Gwadar to Pakistan, a wave of happiness swept over the nation and the people of Gwadar also responded / celebrated to the news.