THE SHAKEN LAND

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 128, 1 June 1935, Page 10

THE SHAKEN LAND

RUGGED BALUCHISTAN

SIGNS OF FORMER UPHEAVALS

Only a few New Zealanders have any first-hand knowledge qf the area on the north-western frontier of India affected by the earthquake reported from Quetta, the capital of British Baluchistan, as visits from Britishers to that part of the world are practically confined to military operations. Captain L. W. Andrew, V.C., who has been on the North-west Frontier since the Great War, states that the whole frontier is exceedingly rugged and that Baluchistan is possibly the most broken part. The country shaken by the earthquake has the appearance of having been greatly disturbed by upheavals in the past, Captain Andrew said when interviewed by "The Post" today. / Steep hills with narrow gorges have been pushed up everywhere and the whole strata of the rock is broken and tangled. The frontier was best described as a jumble of' hills and Baluchistan was even rougher than areas on other parts of the frontier, , the valleys there being reduced^ to narrow defiles. ~~ Apart from the towns the population of the country was not great, Captain Andrew said. Except for occasional flat places between the hills the face of the land was just a jumble of rock, incapable of supporting anything. The natives who lived in the country were confined to small hamlets near streams where they cultivated their crops. Even the few who lived thus were unable to grow enough to support them and in the past they had relied largely on raiding to gain a livelihood, and a good deal of "quiet" raiding still went on, although the construction of military roads and posts provided a certain amount of work for them. HOUSES WITH TOWERS. ■ The village houses were all built of stone and each house had a watch tower from which the owner could keep a look out for defensive purposes. These towers had been built because of the prevalence of raids and blood feuds, and as the mortar used was made from the soil they would tumble down in an earthquake. In addition to this danger the country looked as if it would . shake down easily in a severe shake. The natives of Baluchistan were real "he men," Captain Andrew declared. They were more like Europeans than the Hindus known to New Zealanders, some of them being white in the skin and blue eyed: In such a rugged country only the fit survived, and the men were tough, wiry individuals about six feet tall. They all carried • arms and were doughty fighters. The British military stations on the North-west Frontier were scattered about on plateau areas, but these were not on the top of the hills. Some of the stations were at a high altitude, but the hills hemmed them jn. Aerodromes and emergency landing grounds had been established by the Royal Air Force wherever suitable land was available, but emergency landing grounds were not plentiful and the pilots who were engaged in patrolling the frontier took a risk, as if an engine failed there was practically nowhere to land. Even if the occupants of a crashed aeroplane escaped alive it would depend on the temper of the tribesmen as to whether or not they escaped alive. AREA OF BALUCHISTAN. Baluchistan derives its name from its chief inhabitants. It extends from the Gomal River to the Arabian Sea, and from the borders of Persia and Afghanistan to those of Punjab and Sind. It is divided into two .main divisions, British Baluchistan, which is a portion of British India, and native territories. The former portion has an area of 9000 square miles and the whole of the territory an area of 134,000 square miles. Although it is larger than any Indian province save Burrp&, Madras, and Bengal, its total population is under 1,000,000, and as stated by Captain Andrew, outside the towns the population is very scattered. British Baluchistan covers an irregular area and includes all the upper tributaries of the Lora River, which form the high-level plain upon which the capital, Quetta, is built at an altitude of 5500 feet. Resting on the Khwaja Amran Range to the west, the territory reaches south to Nushki, includes the basins of the Bolan and Nari as far as Sibi to the south-east, embraces the Thai Chotiali Valley on the east, and follows the main water divide between the Zhob. and Lora on the north. It is a distinct province, under the ordinary civil administration of British India, beyond it being independent areas that are under British political control. The climate is dry and bracing, and, though subject to extremes of temperature, is favourable to European life. Apart from the true Baluchis there is a remarkable variety of races in Baluchistan with many tribal divisions. A large portion of the population is nomadic, as many as 15,000 camels having been counted in the Bolan Pass during one month of the annual migration. The chief languages spoken are vernaculars "of Baluchistan, Pushtu, Panjajbi, Urdu, and Sindhj. The prevailing religion is Mahomuiedan, but there are also Hindus. Sikhs, ani Christians.