Gwadar: in the Realm of History

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 16^th 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.