Panjgur district: the Rakhshan valley and the dates of Makran

Introduction and location

Panjgur is the northern district of Makran in south-west Balochistan. Its western border meets Iran. The heart of the district is the long valley of the Rakhshan river. Dense date orchards along its banks have marked the area for centuries.

According to the 2023 census of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Panjgur district covers 16,891 square kilometres and has a population of 509,781. This includes 269,372 men, 240,314 women and 95 transgender persons. The population density is about 30 people per square kilometre, and about 31 percent of the population lives in urban areas. In the 2017 census the district’s population was 315,353. According to the census table, the population has since grown by an average of 8.36 percent a year. A household has 4.3 members on average, which is well below the provincial average.

The census table lists five administrative units in the district. Panjgur sub-division is the largest, with an area of 2,945 square kilometres and a population of 392,277. Gichk sub-tehsil is the largest in area (8,387 square kilometres) but has a population of only 33,578. Gwargo sub-division has a population of 31,718, Jahin Parom tehsil 31,113 and Kag (Kallag) sub-tehsil 21,095. According to the provincial census report, Kallag sub-tehsil was created after 2017 by separating part of Panjgur tehsil.

History

The Makran volume of the Baluchistan District Gazetteer, compiled in 1906, describes Panjgur as one of the two large parts of Makran under Kalat. Besides the large northern valley of Rakhshan, it included Raghai, Gichk, Dasht-e-Shahbanz, Kuhban and Parom. According to the gazetteer, Panjgur is probably the place that Arab geographers wrote as “Qanzabun”, and it was always part of Kech. In later times the area is said to have been named after its main town, “Khurramabad”, whose ruins are shown near “Kohna Kalat” (the old fort).

Panjgur is also the place where the Gichki family rose to power. Their name comes from the Gichk valley. According to the gazetteer, after the decline of the Buledais, the Gichkis became masters of the country. The senior branch held Panjgur and the junior branch held Kech and Gwadar. In the eighteenth century the Khan of Kalat, Mir Nasir Khan I, sent nine expeditions to Makran. The first was against Panjgur. According to the gazetteer, the result was that half of the country’s revenue was paid to Kalat every year, while the administration stayed in Gichki hands. The gazetteer says the exact date of this settlement is not known, but it was probably made before 1778.

According to the gazetteer, until 1906 Isai was the seat of the administration. Chitkan was the headquarters of the Assistant Political Agent and the Makran Levy Corps.

People and languages

According to the mother-tongue table of the 2023 census, Panjgur is among the districts of Balochistan with the most uniform language. Of its 509,781 residents, 507,884, or 99.6 percent, have Balochi as their mother tongue. No other language reaches even one percent.

According to the 1906 gazetteer, the population of the whole area at that time, including Rakhshan and Raghai, was estimated at about 3,356 families or 16,780 people. There were about sixteen permanent villages. The main villages included Isai, Tasp, Surdo (the residence of the Gichki chief of Panjgur), Khudabadan, Garmkan and Washbud. The gazetteer mentions the Gichki, Nosherwani, Tolag Gichki, Kingzai, Malazai, Raisi, Amirari, Bar and Kashani groups. According to the gazetteer, because of the severe cold, houses here were mostly made of mud, and in this respect Panjgur differed from Kech.

According to the Provincial Census Report 2023, Panjgur is among the districts where the literacy rate is between 40 and 45 percent. The share of out-of-school children is also between 60 and 70 percent. According to the same report, Panjgur has the highest rate in the province of drinking water available inside the home: 63.20 percent.

Economy

The date is the root of Panjgur’s economy. The Imperial Gazetteer of 1908 says the date is the staple food throughout Makran, and that Arabs rate the dates of Panjgur above those of Basra. The Makran gazetteer calls Kech and Panjgur the most famous areas for dates. It says more than a hundred varieties are named in Makran. The finest “pedigree” varieties include Ab-i-Dandan, Begum Jangi, Halini, Muzati and Sabzo. In Panjgur the date is called “hurmag”. Because of the cooler climate, the date season comes later than in Kech. According to the gazetteer, the fruit is picked from August to the end of October or mid-November. The gazetteer also says that Panjgur’s jars (humb) filled with dates are famous for their quality.

Besides dates, wheat, jowar and rice were the main crops in 1906. Barley, tobacco and beans were also grown. The orchards had grape, pomegranate and orange trees. According to the gazetteer, almost all the irrigation of Panjgur proper came from the Rakhshan river. In 1904 twenty-seven karezes and sixty-six kaurjos (channels drawn from a stream) were working. The Imperial Gazetteer also says that the Rakhshan’s water is used for irrigation in Nag-i-Kalat, Panjgur and the Dehgwar of Kharan.

Along with farming, herding and camel-keeping were also sources of livelihood. In 1904 the camels in the whole area were estimated at about one thousand. Salt was extracted from the Parom marsh (kap). According to the gazetteer, the tax on salt was a source of revenue. For trade, Panjgur lay on an important route. According to the gazetteer, the road from Kalat to Panjgur ran through the Rakhshan or Raghai valley to Persian Makran.

Places of interest

Kohna Kalat and the tomb of Malik Asa: According to the gazetteer, large baked red bricks were used in building Kohna Kalat. The tombs of Malik Asa and others are built of glazed bricks bearing simple figures of men and animals. The ancient dam “Band-i-Gilar” is also listed with them.

Gichk valley: The gazetteer calls it the first settlement of the Gichkis. According to the gazetteer, the valley looks covered with trees compared with the surrounding valleys.

Parom and Dasht-e-Shahbanz: Parom is an enclosed basin. A thick layer of salt forms in the marsh at its centre after the water dries up. The valley is famous for its pastures. According to the gazetteer, Dasht-e-Shahbanz got its name from the tradition that the famous saint of Sehwan, Lal Shahbaz, stayed here for some time.