Khanate of Kalat

The Khanate of Kalat, also known as the Brahui Confederacy, was a khanate that originated in the modern-day Kalat region of Pakistan, and was ruled by the Brahui Ahmadzai dynasty. Formed in 1666 due to the threat of Mughal expansion in the region, it controlled the wider Balochistan region at its greatest extent in the mid-18th century, extending from Kerman in the west to Sindh in the east and from Helmand River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.

The Khanate of Kalat lost considerable area to Qajar Iran and the Emirate of Afghanistan in the early 19th century, and the city of Kalat was itself sacked by the British in 1839. Kalat became a self-governing state in a subsidiary alliance with British India after the signature of the Treaty of Kalat by the Khan of Kalat and local sardars in 1875, and the supervision of Kalat became a task of the Baluchistan Agency. Kalat was briefly independent from 12 August 1947 until 27 March 1948, when its ruler Ahmad Yar Khan acceded to Pakistan, making it one of the princely states of Pakistan.

Origins

The Khanate of Kalat was the first unified polity to emerge in the history of Balochistan. It took birth from the confederacy of nomadic Brahui tribes in 1666 which under Mir Ahmad Khan I declared independence from the Mughal suzerainty and slowly absorbed the principalities in the region.

History

Background

According to the local traditions, Kalat was originally ruled by a Hindu ruler named Sewa, hence it was also known as Kalat-e-Sewa. Historically, the regions surrounding Kalat were part of the Mughal province of Kandahar during the 17th century. During the reign of Shah Jahan, Mughal expansion reached its high point, and caused the emergence for the first time a unified Brahui Confederacy or what would be later known as the Khanate of Kalat.