Quetta: Aik chhaoni shehar ki paidaish

Atemad E-Magazine 17 October 2026 · 9 minute ka mutalia

Pichhle baab mein hum ne Robert Sandeman ko 1877 mein Balochistan ke liye agent to the governor general bante aur Quetta ko apna sadr muqam banate dekha. Is baab mein hum isi sadr muqam ki kahani dekhenge: Shal naam ki aik chhoti si basti, jo aik mitti ke teele ke gird aabad thi, chand dahaiyon mein aik badi fauji chhaoni aur soobe ka daar-ul-hukumat kaise bani. Hamara bunyadi makhaz 1907 ka Quetta Pishin District Gazetteer hai, jo isi tabdeeli ke dauran likha gaya.

Shal: 1876 se pehle

1908 ka Imperial Gazetteer shehar ka naam "Quetta (Kwatah)" likhta hai aur batata hai ke maqami log ise "Shal" ya "Shalkot" kehte the. Quetta Pishin Gazetteer ke mutabiq Akbar ke daur ki "Ain-i-Akbari" mein Shal aur Pishin Kandahar ki sarkar ke mashriqi hisse mein shamil dikhaye gaye hain. Atharvin sadi mein Nadir Shah ne Shal ki aamdani Mir Nasir Khan aur un ki walida ke kharch ke liye muqarrar ki. Gazetteer likhta hai ke riwayat ke mutabiq Ahmad Shah Durrani ne 1751 ki Irani muhim mein Nasir Khan awwal ki madad ke baad yeh ilaqa aakhirkar Brahuiyon ko de diya.

European sayyahon mein sab se pehle Charles Masson (Charles Masson) 1828 mein yahan se guzre. Gazetteer ke mutabiq unhon ne likha ke qasba "miri" yaani qile ke gird aabad tha, jis ke gird mitti ki aik patli kangre-daar deewar thi, aur is mein koi teen sau ghar the. Gazetteer ka andaza hai ke 1876 mein British qabze se pehle yahan taqriban chaar hazar log rehte the. Pehli Afghan jang mein 1839 se October 1842 tak angrez yahan rahe, aur Shal aik political agent ka sadr muqam bana. 1872 mein Dr Bellew (Bellew) aaye to unhon ne ise zawal ki haalat mein paya. 1876 mein miri mein Khan-e-Kalat ka aik chhota dasta tha: aik top ka amla, piyadon ki aik company aur bees sawar.

Qabza, 1876–77

Quetta Pishin Gazetteer ke mutabiq Jacobabad ke muahide ki tausiq se pehle hi Sandeman ke muhafiz daste ka aik hissa, chauthi Sikh paidal fauj (Punjab Frontier Force) ke teen sau jawan, Captain Scott ki command mein Khan ki razamandi se Quetta mein thehra diya gaya. Thornton ki sawaneh mein bhi yahi baat milti hai. 1877 ke shuru mein Balochistan Agency yahin qaim hui. Aitchison ke mutabiq British fauj Quetta aur Mittri mein thehrai gayi.

Isi baras Agency ki imarat ban rahi thi ke teen Pathanon ne Lieutenant Hewson (Hewson) ko qatl aur Lieutenant Kunhardt ko zakhmi kar diya. Thornton ke mutabiq Captain Scott ne teenon hamla awaron ko maar diya. Gazetteer ke mutabiq isi waqiye ke baad July 1877 mein miri par British fauj ne qabza kiya. Purani basti ko is ki maujooda jagah muntaqil kiya gaya aur miri ko aslaha khana bana diya gaya. 1878 mein doosri Afghan jang shuru hui to Quetta fauji karrawaiyon ka markaz bana.

1883 ka patta

Quetta qanooni taur par ab bhi Khan-e-Kalat ka ilaqa tha. Aitchison ke mutabiq 1879 mein tay hua ke is ka intizam British afsar chalayenge aur bach jane wali aamdani Khan ko milegi. 8 June 1883 ko naya muahida hua (Aitchison ka muahida number 14). Is ke matn ke mutabiq Khan ne yaqam April 1883 se Quetta zila aur niabat ka poora intizam, mahsool aur deewani o faujdari ikhtiyaarat samet, British hukumat ko "mukammal taur par" saunp diya. Badle mein hukumat ne 25,000 rupay salana kiraya dene ka waada kiya, jo kisi katauti ke baghair har saal 31 March ko ada hona tha. Isi muahide mein Khan ne Darra-e-Bolan ki tijarat par mahsool lene ka haq bhi 30,000 rupay salana ke iwaz chhor diya. Patta isi waqt tak tha jab tak British hukumat zila ka intizam chalaye.

Chhaoni aur civil shehar

Quetta Pishin Gazetteer ke mutabiq hukumat ne 1878 se 1883 ke darmiyan taqriban 3,754 acre zameen kharidi. Is mein 3,496 acre chhaoni ke liye the aur 258 acre civil shehar ke liye, aur zameen aur pani par kul 2,54,848 rupay kharch hue. Chhaoni ki hudood pehli baar March 1885 mein muqarrar hui. Imperial Gazetteer ke mutabiq shimal mein chhaoni taqriban pandrah murabba meel par phaili thi, aur junoob mein civil shehar tha, jise Habib Nala chhaoni se alag karta tha.

Yeh shehar shuru mein mitti ka bana tha. Gazetteer Sir Thomas Holdich (Thomas Holdich) ko naqal karta hai ke 1884 mein Residency bhi mitti ke aik behtar qism ke bungalow se zyada kuchh na thi, magar 1884 ka Quetta 1878 ke Quetta se bilkul mukhtalif ho chuka tha. 1891 ki sakht sardi mein mitti ke bohat se gumbad gir gaye aur un ki jagah lohe ki chhatein aayin. 1881 mein Hugh Barnes (Hugh Barnes) ne Kandahar se do teen sau oont bhar qalmein mangwa kar sarkon ke kinare lagwayin, kyunke is se pehle Quetta taqriban be-darakht tha. Shehar mein safai ka mahsool 1878 se lagne laga, aur Quetta Municipal qanoon 1896 mein nafiz hua: Quetta Pishin Gazetteer ke mutabiq yaqam October, Imperial Gazetteer aur notification 6992 ke mutabiq 15 October 1896. Us waqt Quetta maghribi fauj ke chauthe division ka sadr muqam tha. Rail ka Sindh Pishin section 1879 mein shuru hua, aur Imperial Gazetteer ke mutabiq Quetta rail ke raste se Lahore se 727 aur Karachi se 536 meel door tha.

Aabadi

Quetta Pishin Gazetteer ke mutabiq 1876 se 1891 ke darmiyan, jab pehli mardum shumari hui, aabadi tezi se barhi. 1891 mein shehar ki aabadi 18,802 thi: 7,500 chhaoni mein aur 11,302 civil lines aur railway ki hudood mein. Imperial Gazetteer ke mutabiq 1901 mein yeh 24,584 ho gayi, jin mein 10,399 Musalman, 8,678 Hindu aur 3,678 Maseehi the; Maseehiyon mein zyada tar European fauji the. Gazetteer likhta hai ke jab bhi fauj barhti, shehri aabadi bhi barhti, aur yeh aabadi taqriban sari bahar se aayi thi, zyada tar Punjab aur Sindh se. Is ke mutabiq tijarat aur Taleem yafta pesheh bheshtar Punjabiyon aur Sindhiyon ke haath mein the.

Miri: shehar ka purana dil

Quetta Pishin Gazetteer miri ko aik masnooi teela likhta hai jis ki bunyad taqriban 600 feet lambi aur 400 feet chauri hai, aur jo maidan se 80 feet uncha hai. Isi mein Major Garwood (J. F. Garwood) ka 1887 ka bayan naqal hai. Is ke mutabiq upar ke hisse ki khudai mein haddiyan, toote bartan aur koyle ki tehein niklin, aur sab se gehri sateh par Hercules ka kansi ya tambe ka aik mujassama mila. Kuchh ashya ko Calcutta ke Indian Museum ne qabl az tareekh ka qarar diya. Garwood ne yeh bhi likha ke khudai 80 mein se sirf 20 feet tak gayi thi. Holdich ne miri ko "Quetta ka taj" kaha aur likha ke yeh zamana-e-qadeem se shehar ka qila raha hai.

Staff College

1907 ka Quetta Pishin Gazetteer, jo yahan 1905 ki soorat-e-haal bayan karta hai, likhta hai ke purani chhaoni se taqriban aik meel door Hanna Road par aik Staff College ban raha hai. College aur is ke makan taqriban 70 acre par the, takhmeena taqriban chhe lakh rupay tha, aur umeed thi ke kaam 1906 ke aakhir tak mukammal ho jayega. Command and Staff College ki apni tareekh ke mutabiq January 1905 mein Quetta mein imarat ki manzoori 6,33,440 rupay ke sath di gayi. 21 March 1905 ke aik fauji hukm ke tehat imarat mukammal hone tak college arzi taur par Bombay ke qareeb Deolali mein qaim hua, jahan pehla course 24 afsaron ke sath yaqam July 1905 ko shuru hua. Quetta mein college ka baqaida iftitah yaqam June 1907 ko hua. Yun jis shehar ki bunyad aik muhafiz daste se padi thi, us ki pehchan tees baras mein aik fauji taleemi idara bhi ban gayi.

Agle itwar: British Balochistan soba (1887).

Makhaz

R. Hughes-Buller and Rai Bahadur Jamiat Rai (comp.), Baluchistan District Gazetteer Series, vol. V: Quetta-Pishin, Bombay/Ajmer, 1907. Pages used: 33 and 35 (Ain-i-Akbari: Shal and Pishin in the Kandahar sarkar; Nadir Shah's assignment; Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Brahuis, 1751); 42–43 (300 men of the 4th Sikhs under Captain Scott; Agency established early 1877; lease at Rs 25,000 from 1883); 45–47 (the miri: dimensions, Garwood's 1887 excavations, Heracles statue); 271 (miri occupied in July 1877 after the attack on Lt Hewson; Quetta as headquarters of the 4th Division); 331–337 (Quetta town: Barnes's tree planting, 1881; climate; population about 4,000 before 1876, 18,802 in 1891; Masson in 1828; first occupation 1839–42; Bellew in 1872; Holdich on 1878–84; land bought 1878–83; municipality; cantonment boundaries 1885); 341 (Staff College under construction, about 70 acres, about Rs 6 lakhs, completion hoped by end of 1906). https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.46886
Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Baluchistan, Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1908. Pages 54 (Sind-Pishin railway begun 1879); 129–130 (Quetta town: "Kwatah", locally Shal or Shalkot; cantonment of about 15 sq. miles and civil town divided by the Habib Nullah; population 18,802 in 1891 and 24,584 in 1901, by religion; distances by rail; Staff College "in course of erection (1906)"); p. 74 (Quetta Municipal Law in force 15 October 1896). https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.146799 · https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.120382
C. U. Aitchison (comp.), A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads relating to India and Neighbouring Countries, vol. XI ("revised and continued up to 1929"), Government of India, Calcutta; read in the Mittal Publications reprint. Pages used: 330 (troops cantoned at Quetta and Mittri; 1879 arrangement; 1883 lease); 365–366 (Agreement No. XIV, 8 June 1883: Quetta district and niabat made over from 1 April 1883 for Rs 25,000 a year; Bolan tolls given up for Rs 30,000 a year). https://archive.org/details/acollectionoftreatiesengagementsandsanadsaitchisonc.u.vol11_83_O
T. H. Thornton, Colonel Sir Robert Sandeman: His Life and Work on Our Indian Frontier, John Murray, London, 1895. Pages 89 and 93 (escort left at Quetta with the Khan's consent before the treaty was signed); 116–117 (murder of Lt Hewson, wounding of Lt Kunhardt, Captain Scott; footnote on the occupation of the fort and the quit-rent of Rs 25,000). https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.209278
Command and Staff College, Quetta, "College History" (official website; sanction in January 1905 at Rs 6,33,440; Deolali period 1905–07; first course on 1 July 1905; inauguration at Quetta on 1 June 1907). https://cscquetta.gov.pk/?p=44
Government of India, British Enactments in Force in Indian States, vol. I, 4th ed., 1930: footnote to the Quetta Municipal Law, "The 15th October, 1896, was so appointed by Notification No. 6992". https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100329

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