Awaran district: the valleys of Kolwa, Mashkai and Jhao

Introduction and location

Awaran is a vast but thinly populated district in south-central Balochistan. It lies between the coastal hills of Makran and the highlands of Jhalawan. It is known for three large valleys: Kolwa, Mashkai and Jhao. Gazetteers of the British period describe Kolwa as the eastern end of the Kech valley and the largest rain-fed area of Makran. It is an arc-shaped strip about 100 miles long and 10 to 15 miles wide, running from Pirandar to Tank and enclosed by mountains on all sides.

According to the 2023 census of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Awaran district covers 29,510 square kilometres and has a population of 178,958. This includes 91,623 men, 87,318 women and 17 transgender persons. There are only six people per square kilometre. The provincial report counts Awaran, along with Chagai and Washuk, among the least densely populated districts of the province. Some 26.17 per cent of the population is urban. The district had 121,821 people in 2017, an increase of about 6.64 per cent a year over six years. This is twice the provincial average of 3.20 per cent.

According to the census, the district has five administrative parts: Awaran sub-division (area 13,075 square kilometres, population 45,774), Mashkai tehsil (2,418 square kilometres, 45,938), Gishkore tehsil (4,578 square kilometres, 31,462), Jhal Jhao tehsil (6,381 square kilometres, 28,132) and Korak Jhao tehsil (3,058 square kilometres, 27,652). According to the provincial census report, Korak Jhao tehsil was created after 2017 by separating parts of Jhal Jhao.

According to reports on the administrative restructuring of July 2026, Awaran was removed from Kalat Division and placed in the new Lasbela Division, which also includes the districts of Lasbela and Hub. The text of the notification is not yet before us, so this page follows the boundaries of the 2023 census.

History

According to the Makran Gazetteer of 1906, Kolwa is “perhaps” the area that Arab geographers wrote as “Kalwan”. The same gazetteer says that, according to tradition, Mir Chakar, the famous chief of the Rind Baloch, was born around the 15th century at Ashal Kalat near Rodkan in Kolwa. This was the time when the Rinds were migrating towards Kachhi.

Administratively, the area was part of the state of Kalat. According to the Makran Gazetteer, Kolwa was earlier part of Jhalawan and was administered from Mashkai, but in 1891 it was joined to Makran. In that period the Khan’s deputy sat at Mashkai. According to the gazetteer, a quarter of the produce of Mashkai’s irrigated lands and a sixth from Nokjo was taken as revenue.

People and languages

Awaran is one of the most linguistically uniform districts of the province. According to the mother-tongue table of the 2023 census, 176,418 of the district’s 178,958 residents, or about 98.6 per cent, speak Balochi as their mother tongue. Brahui comes second, spoken by 2,095 people (about 1.2 per cent). Speakers of the other languages number a few hundred.

According to a 1903 estimate recorded in the Makran Gazetteer, Kolwa had a population of only 479 families, or about 2,395 people, most of them nomads. At that time there were only 13 permanent villages, including Hor, Upper and Lower Malar, Pirandar, Gishang, Chambar and Awaran. The gazetteer mentions forts at Hor, Bazdad, Awaran, Pirandar and Chambar.

Education figures are weak. According to the census, the literacy rate among those aged 10 and above is 36.34 per cent: 44.28 per cent among men and 27.95 per cent among women. The provincial report places Awaran among the districts where 50 to 60 per cent of children are out of school. It also places Awaran among the three districts where up to 20 per cent of households have electricity.

Economy

For centuries Awaran’s economy has rested on rain-fed farming and herding. According to the Makran Gazetteer, cultivation in Kolwa was mostly rain-fed. Only Nag, Hor, Malar, Awaran and Qasim Jo had a little irrigated land. The gazetteer says Kolwa is famous for its barley and its camels. It estimates that Kolwa alone had about 1,500 camels, noted for “their size and strength”. In years of good rainfall Kolwa is described as “highly productive”. From the ruins of old karezes, the compilers concluded that the area was once well populated and well irrigated.

The area has also been important for herding. The gazetteer counts Kolwa among the best pastures of Makran and mentions its two large grazing grounds: Marra, between Gishang and Zik, and Langri Drag, between Bazdad and Awaran, which is watered by flood water from the Wahli stream. For the Mashkai valley, the Jhalawan Gazetteer mentions pomegranate orchards and dates.

No official figures on the district’s current crop production and livestock were available while this page was prepared. This section will be completed on revision.

Places of interest

Mashkai river: According to the Jhalawan Gazetteer, the Mashkai river rises north of the Koda valley and flows about 350 miles to join the Nal Kaur, which further on is called the Hingol river. The gazetteer says that below Awaran its water flows throughout the year. Two streams of Kolwa, the Wahli and the Doraski, fall into the same river near Awaran.

Gwarjak fort: According to the gazetteer, there was no path to this fort, built on an isolated rock on the bank of the Mashkai river. People were pulled up and let down by ropes.

Jhao valley: The Jhalawan Gazetteer describes the northern part of Jhao as a fertile plain and the banks of the Nal Kaur as almost a forest of jhao, babul and ber trees. It says that to the south the sandstone cliffs of Dhrun rise like straight walls to a height of 1,000 feet.

Notable figures

Mir Chakar Rind: According to the Makran Gazetteer of 1906, tradition says this famous chief of the Rind Baloch was born around the 15th century at Ashal Kalat in Kolwa. Other traditions about his birthplace also exist.