Belu'chistán, or BALUCHISTAN, a country of Southern Asia, bounded on the N. by Afghanistan, on the E. by Sind, on the S. by the Arabian Sea, and on the W. by the Persian province of Kerman. The frontier towards Afghanistan is seldom anywhere clearly defined, but that towards India is more carefully laid down. Beluchistan, which has a coast-line of over 500 miles, corresponds in general with the ancient Gedrosia, excepting that the latter name appears to have extended to the Indus, while the former nowhere reaches that river. The area is about 106,000 sq. m., and the pop. is estimated at some 400,000. Though it was anciently a part of Persia, yet its modern relations connect it rather with India, more particularly since Sind and Multan have fallen under the dominion of the English. In the bygone ages, the Beluchi Desert formed a barrier for the Lower Indus, constraining every assailant from Alexander downwards to prefer the less barren, though perhaps more rugged route through Afghanistan into the Punjab—a preference strengthened by Alexander's direful experience in returning from the Indus along the coast. Until 1810 Beluchistan was almost entirely a terra incognita to Europeans. Most of the country indeed is still unknown, but it has been crossed by several travellers; and the laying of the Indo-Afghan Railway (completed to Quetta, March 1887) through the 90 miles of desert in the north-east, as well as the surveys of the Indo-European Telegraph Company in the south, have established its general features. The surface is generally mountainous, more especially towards the north, where branches of the great Suliman Range, running north and south, rise to a height of 12,000 feet. The ranges in the south generally run east and west, parallel with the coast, and the longitudinal valleys between form the principal thoroughfares, there being no regular routes in the country except those through the Bolan and Mula passes to Quetta and Kelát. Even the bottoms of some of the valleys have an elevation of 5700 feet; and the capital, Kelát, situated on the side of one of them, is 6783 feet above the level of the sea. Large deserts, rendered impassable in summer by sandstorms, and swept in winter by benumbing, piercing winds, occupy hundreds of square miles of the country; and the rivers—unless after heavy rains, when those in the north-east frequently inundate great tracts of country—are inconsiderable, few of the streams in the south appearing to be perennial at all. The west is largely a land of drought, with stretches of sand varied by bare hills and treeless valleys. The temperature is one of striking and sudden extremes, 125° F. in the shade having been registered on the coast even in March, although at Kelát, in February, water has been observed to freeze as it was poured on the ground. The pastures, as may be supposed, are poor, so that there are few cattle; sheep, however, as well as mountain goats and antelopes, are numerous. The camel is the ordinary beast of burden; but in the north-west, towards Kerman, serviceable horses, with a marked strain of Arab blood, are bred.
The wild animals include the tiger, leopard, wolf, hyena, ape, wild ass, &c., and fish in great quantities are caught off the coast. Wherever there is a sufficiency of water the soil is productive—the lowlands yielding rice, sugar, cotton, indigo, and tobacco; and the higher grounds, wheat, barley, madder, maize, and pulse. The mountains are bare at the top, and their slopes are scantily wooded as a rule; but in the valleys the almond, olive, and peach grow wild, and even the deserts furnish a useful brushwood. The gardens produce excellent fruits of all sorts, and in the sandy coast-district of Mekran the date is carefully cultivated. The minerals are gold, silver, copper, lead, antimony, iron, tin, sulphur, alum, and sal-ammoniac, and in 1887 valuable petroleum wells were discovered in the north; the manufactures are chiefly confined to carpets, tent-covers of goat's and camel's hair, and rude firearms. The only town is the capital, Kelát (q.v.), with (including suburbs) about 14,000 inhabitants, an old citadel, and a number of badly-built and very dirty houses. There are no seaports, the fishing-villages in the south being mere collections of wretched hovels; but along the surf-beaten, sandy cliffs of the coast some sheltered roadsteads are found. The best of these are Sonmiani Bay, Homara, and Gwadar, the last having a fort and a telegraph station. There is an insignificant inland trade, chiefly monopolised by Hindus.
The inhabitants belong to the distinct races of Brahui and Beluchis. The Brahuis, who are hospitable and generous, are the aboriginal, dominant, and most numerous race—it has even been proposed to call the country Brahuistan. The Beluchis, praised by some travellers and miscalled by others, are powerful on the borders. Opinions are widely divided as to the origin of the Brahui, many assuming their kinship with the Dravidians of Southern India, although apparently on insufficient grounds. Their language presents no marked affinities, but appears to contain many ancient Hindu words, and echoes the accent of the Punjab dialect. In appearance they are short, sturdy, and strongly built, with round, flat faces, and brown hair. Their dress is a coarse calico tunic, with trousers fastened at the ankles, and a skull-cap with sash of the same colour. The Beluchis are of Iranian descent, with a mingling of Tartar blood, and their language closely resembles the modern Persian; they are both numerically smaller and a more recent element than the Brahui. They are tall, with longer and more prominent features, and are brave, but restless and prone to predatory warfare, in which they frequently show themselves senselessly cruel. Their dress is distinguished from that of the ruling race by a turban and wider trousers not confined at the ankles. The women's attire is very much the same as the men's. Both races are inured to extremes of heat and cold, and are capable of considerable exertion; but the normal life of the Beluchis, at least, is one of laziness and indulgence, broken only by hunting, racing, and athletic contests, although Mr Floyer testifies that he found the Mekrani shrewd, merry fellows, willing to work, and priding themselves on their politeness and integrity. A Beluchi warrior carries a formidable armoury of weapons, comprising either a flint-lock musket or a spear, with sword, dagger, and shield. Both races are Mohammedans of the Sunni sect, but the teaching of the Koran is confused with numberless superstitious beliefs, and polygamy is said to be universal. Besides these two races, there are colonies of Persian descent called Delhwars ('villagers'), who form a vassal class, and the Luri, a sort of Gipsies of possibly Indian origin, who are scattered in single families all over the country. Beluchistan is, in a somewhat indefinite manner, under the authority of the khan of Kelát, who, with a revenue of about £30,000, maintains an army of 3000 men. This petty sovereign having acted treacherously towards the British during the Afghan campaign of 1839, his royal city was taken by storm. In 1841 it was again captured, for temporary occupation, by the British. In 1877 England obtained by treaty with the khan the right of permanently occupying Quetta (which was annexed, with his consent, in 1887), and of having a political agent at Kelát; and the khan practically became a feudatory of the Indian empire, and placed his territory at the disposal of the British government for all military and strategical purposes, gaining by its moral support a prestige that has made his authority more respected by the semi-independent chiefs of the pastoral tribes. In 1893, the reigning Khan was deposed by the British, and his son peacefully proclaimed in his stead.—See Bellew's From the Indus to the Tigris (Lond. 1874), and the works on Beluchistan by Hughes (1877), Macgregor (1882), Floyer (1882), and Oliver (1890).
BRITISH BELUCHISTAN is a chief-commissioner-ship of British India, so constituted in 1887, out of the districts of Pishin, Thal Chotiali, and Sibi, in South-eastern Afghanistan, which had been administered by the British since the war of 1878-81.