Robert Sandeman aur “Sandeman nizam”

Atemad E-Magazine 20 October 2026 · 10 minute ka mutalia

Pichhle baab mein hum ne dekha ke 1841, 1854 aur 1876 ke muaahidon ne Khan-e-Kalat aur British hukumat ka rishta kaise badla. 1876 ke muaahide ke peechhe ek shakhs tha jis ka naam aaj bhi Balochistan ke qabaili intezam ke saath jura hua hai: Robert Groves Sandeman (Robert Groves Sandeman). Is baab mein hum is ka raasta Dera Ghazi Khan se Lasbela tak dekhenge, aur is "nizam" par do tarah ki aara bhi, jo is ke naam se mansoob hua: is ke nauabadiyati sawaneh nigaron ki sataish, aur baad ke muhaqqiqin ki tanqeed.

Dera Ghazi Khan: sarhad ka afsar

Sandeman ke sawaneh nigar T. H. Thornton (T. H. Thornton) likhte hain ke 1866 ke shuru mein Punjab ke Lieutenant Governor ne unhein Dera Ghazi Khan ka qaim maqam zilai afsar banaya. Yeh zila Punjab ki sarhad ke janubi sirey par, Sindh se mutasil tha. 1867 ke shuru mein Marri, Bugti aur Khetran qabail ke taqriban pandrah sau aadmiyon ne Harrand par dhawa bola. Taaqub mein taqriban do sau hamla aawar pakre gaye. Sandeman ne unhein is shart par roke rakha ke qabail ke sardar khud aa kar baat karein. Rajanpur mein in sardaron se mulaqat hui. Sardaron ne loot mar band karne aur paharon ko jane wale raaste khule rakhne ka wada kiya. Badle mein sarkar ne chand qabaili sawaron ko naukri di, jin ka kaam sardaron aur hukkam ke darmiyan rabta rakhna tha. Thornton ke mutabiq yehi "qabaili service" ke bare nizam ki ibteda thi. Isi daur mein Sandeman ne jhagre nimtane ke liye sardaron aur mutabar-een ki panchayatein banayin. Baad mein Sibi mein sardiyon aur Quetta mein garmiyon ke salana jirge isi ki tausee the.

A. L. P. Tucker (A. L. P. Tucker) ne 1921 ki sawaneh mein likha ke yeh tareeqa Sandeman ne Pashtun qabail mein dekha tha aur Balochon mein raiej kiya. Imperial Gazetteer (1908) ke mutabiq February 1871 ki Mithankot conference ne qabaili sawaron ko mulazim rakhne ka yeh tareeqa mazeed phailane ki sifarish ki. Yeh conference Punjab aur Sindh ki hukumaton ke numainDon ke darmiyan hui thi.

Mastung ka darbar, 1876

Kalat mein Khan Mir Khudadad Khan aur Brahui sardaron ki larai barson se chal rahi thi. Thornton ke mutabiq Sandeman 18 November 1875 ko pehle mission par Dera Ghazi Khan se nikle, aur un ke saath zile ke tumandaron ki qiyadat mein ek hazar se barah sau tak Baloch sawar the. Yeh mission poori tarah kamyab na hua. Doosra mission 4 April 1876 ko rawana hua. Khan 31 May ko Mastung pahunche. Is se pehle, 6 June ki tareekh wali ek yaddasht mein, jo Aitchison (C. U. Aitchison) ke muaahidon ke majmuey mein zameemey ke taur par darj hai, Khan ne likha ke woh Sarawan aur Jhalawan ke sardaron ko un ki aabai zameenein lauta denge.

Mastung mein chhe arkan ki salisi committee bani: teen Khan ke namzad aur teen sardaron ke. Sandeman khud aakhri salis the. Committee 9 se 11 July tak baithi, aur 13 July 1876 ko darbar mein musalihat ka baqaida elaan hua. Sardar Khan ki itaat par razi hue aur Khan ne un ke "qadeem huqooq" bahal kiye. American mahir-e-bashriyat Nina Swidler (Nina Swidler) likhti hain ke zyada tar tanaze zameen aur mahsool ke the aur un mein se aksar ka faisla sardaron ke haq mein hua. Isi douran Darra-e-Bolan ki hifazat Kurd, Mengal, Marri aur Kakar qabail ko saunpi gayi, aur tay pane wale mahsool ka ek hissa un ka rakha gaya. Imperial Gazetteer ne Mastung ke muaahide ko "Brahui confederacy ka Magna Carta" kaha hai.

Is ke baad 8 December 1876 ko Jacobabad mein Lord Lytton aur Khan ne naya muaahida kiya. Aitchison ke matn ke mutabiq is mein 1854 ka muaahida dohraya gaya. British agents ko mohafiz dastoon samet Khan ke darbar aur riyasat mein rehne ki ijazat mili, aur Khan aur sardaron ke jhagre mein British salisi tay hui. British fauj thehrane, rail aur taar ki lainein banane ki ijazat di gayi. Khan ko salana ek lakh rupay, aur tijarati raston ke liye 20,500 rupay salana alag se dene ka wada hua. Aitchison isi muaahide ko "Balochistan Agency ki bunyad" likhta hai.

Agent to the Governor General

Yakum January 1877 ko Delhi darbar mein Sandeman ko C.S.I. ka aizaz mila, aur 21 February 1877 ko unhein Balochistan ke liye Agent to the Governor General muqarrar kiya gaya. Un ke saath teen muaavin aur ek tibbi afsar the. Aitchison ke mutabiq un ka sadr maqam Quetta thehra aur British dastay Quetta aur Mittri mein rakhe gaye.

Levies aur jirga

Imperial Gazetteer levy nizam ki tareekh yun bayan karta hai: yeh nizam 1867 mein Dera Ghazi Khan ke chand Marri aur Bugti sawaron se shuru hua. Balochistan aane par Sandeman ne sardaron ko allowance diye taake woh muqarrara tadad mein musallah sawar aur piyade rakhein, apne qabile mein aman rakhein, aur jurm ho to mujrim pesh karein. Gazetteer ke mutabiq is nizam ki bunyad do mafroozon par thi: har qabile mein aise baasar sarbarah hote hain jo sahara milne par itaat karwa sakte hain, aur koi qabaili muawze ke baghair sarkar ka kaam nahin karega. 1904 mein barah-e-rast zer-e-intezam ilaqon mein 2,022 levies aur 1,173 police ahlkar the, aur muqadmat riwaj ke mutabiq jirgon ko bhi bheje jate the.

Thornton ki kitab mein H. S. Barnes (H. S. Barnes) ne likha ke jurm hone par allowance nahin kate jate the. In allowancon ko dabao ke taur par istemal kar ke sardaron se asal mujrim mangwaye jate, jin ka muqadma qabaili jirga riwaj ke mutabiq sunta tha.

Sataish aur tanqeed

Is nizam par "bhatta" dene ka ilzam shuru se lagta raha, aur is ka difa bhi shuru se hota raha. Thornton ne 5 August 1875 ka Sandeman ka ek khat naql kiya hai jis mein woh apne maktoob nigar se ittefaq karte hue likhte hain: "Jaisa ke aap kehte hain, bhatta woh adaigi hai jo taqatwar hamsaya kamzor se zabardasti leta hai; main kamzor hamsaye ko madad deta hoon aur us ki khidmaat leta hoon." Isi khat ke mutabiq woh 57 Marri sawaron ko salana 14,000 rupay dete the. Tucker ne apni kitab ko "Balochistan ka puramn fateh" ka zaili unwan diya, aur levies par "munazzam bhatte" ki tanqeed ko be bunyad kaha. Imperial Gazetteer Sandeman ko maujooda soobe ka bani likhta hai. Is ke bequal Sandeman pehla afsar tha jis ne "Close Border" ki policy todi, aur is ki policy "musalihana mudakhilat" thi jis ke saath munafa bakhsh mulazmat aur halke mahsool the.

Baad ke muhaqqiqin ne isi nizam ko doosri nazar se dekha hai. Swidler ne 2014 ki kitab "Remotely Colonial" mein Sandeman aur Sindh ke commissioner Sir William Merewether (William Merewether) ke das sala ikhtilaf ko sarhadi policy ke do maktabon ka takrao kaha hai. Merewether John Jacob ke Sindhi maktab ke tarbiyat yafta the, aur Sandeman Punjab ke maktab ke. Swidler ke mutabiq Sandeman ki kamyabi is baat par bhi munhasir thi ke sardar unhein apna halif samajhte the. Woh likhti hain ke "khidmat ke ewaz wazife aur wafadari ki kharidari ke darmiyan ek bareek lakeer thi", aur yeh lakeer us waqt paar ho gayi jab Agency ke afsar adam taawun ki saza mein adaigiyan rokne lage.

Islamia University Bahawalpur ke Muhammad Fiaz Anwar ne 2019 ke ek maqale mein Marri aur Bugti qabail ke hawale se likha ke tumandaron ko levies ki sarbarahi ke saath adalati ikhtiyarat bhi mile. Un ke mutabiq yun ek bil-wasta hukmrani qaim hui, aur sarkari sarparasti ne in qabail ke nisbatan masawat par mabni dhanche ko amirana dhanche mein badal diya.

Lasbela mein anjam

January 1892 mein Sandeman Lasbela gaye. Thornton ke mutabiq 23 January ko woh beemar pare aur doctor ne influenza tashkhees kiya. 29 January 1892 ko Lasbela ke camp mein un ka inteqal hua. Jam ki darkhwast par unhein yakum February ko wahin dafan kiya gaya, aur Jam ne qabar par gumbad banwaya. Woh February 1877 se January 1892 tak, yaani taqriban pandrah baras, Agent rahe (Swidler "taqriban chaudah baras" likhti hain).

Agle itwar: Quetta: ek chhaoni shehar ki paidaish.

Makhaz

T. H. Thornton, Colonel Sir Robert Sandeman: His Life and Work on Our Indian Frontier, John Murray, London, 1895. Pages used: 25 (acting District Officer of Dera Ghazi Khan, early 1866); 32–34 (Harrand raid of January 1867; Rajanpur meeting, start of "tribal service", tribal tribunals, annual jirgas at Sibi and Quetta); 67 (first mission leaves Dera Ghazi Khan, 18 Nov 1875); 76, 80–82 (second mission, 4 Apr 1876; Khan at Mastung 31 May; Bolan arrangement; arbitration committee, 9–11 July; darbar of 13 July 1876); 93–94 (treaty provisions, C.S.I. on 1 Jan 1877, gazetted Agent on 21 Feb 1877); 301–304 (H. S. Barnes on tribal service, allowances and jirgas); 315–317 (Sandeman's canons; letter of 5 Aug 1875 on "blackmail"); 265–267 (illness, death on 29 Jan 1892, burial on 1 Feb). https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.209278
A. L. P. Tucker, Sir Robert G. Sandeman, K.C.S.I., Peaceful Conqueror of Baluchistan, SPCK, London, 1921. Pages 25–26 (jirga system brought from the Pathan tribes to the Baloch) and 61–62 (reply to the "organised blackmail" criticism of the levies). https://archive.org/details/sirrobertgsandem00tuckrich
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"; documents run to 1933), Government of India, Calcutta, read in the Indian reprint by Mittal Publications, Delhi. Pages used: 329–330 (narrative: Mastung, July 1876; Treaty No. XII "the foundation of the Baluchistan Agency"; Agent appointed 21 Feb 1877; troops at Quetta and Mittri); 362–364 (Treaty No. XII, Jacobabad, 8 Dec 1876, articles 1–10); Baluchistan appendices I–II, pp. v–vii (Khan's memorandum of 6 June 1876; rules of 15 Aug 1876). https://archive.org/details/acollectionoftreatiesengagementsandsanadsaitchisonc.u.vol11_83_O
Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Baluchistan, Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1908. Pages 17 (Mastung agreement as "the Magna Charta of the Brahui confederacy"); 19–20 (Sandeman as founder of the province; policy "humane, sympathetic, and civilizing"; Mithankot conference, Feb 1871); 29 (external support for headmen as "the secret of the Sandeman policy"); 79 (history of the levy system; 1904 figures). https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.146799
Nina Swidler, Remotely Colonial: History and Politics in Balochistan, Oxford University Press, Karachi, 2014. Pages about 16–17 (the "Sandeman system" of jirga and levies), 62–63 (Sandeman–Merewether dispute; Close Border), 70–75 (Mastung settlement, the 1876 treaty, subsidies and loyalty, death and legacy). Read from a scan at https://archive.org/details/remotelycolonialhistoryandpoliticsinbalochistan (rights status unclear; cite the print edition).
Muhammad Fiaz Anwar, "'Sandeman System' and the Marri, Bugti Tribes of Baluchistan", Journal of Historical Studies (Bahauddin Zakariya University) V/2 (July–December 2019), pp. 84–104; pages used: 84 (abstract), 97–99 (judicial powers of tumandars; conclusion). https://jhs.bzu.edu.pk/upload/VOl%20II-19_5.%20Sandeman%20System%20and%20the%20Murri,%20Bugti%20Tribes%20of%20Balochistan.pdf_41.pdf
Christian Tripodi, "'Good for one but not the other': The 'Sandeman System' of Pacification as Applied to Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier, 1877–1947", Journal of Military History 73/3 (July 2009), pp. 767–802. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/270200 (could not be opened; listed for the reviewer only, not used in the text).

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