History of gwadar

The Makran region surrounding Gwadar
was occupied by unknown Bronze age
people who settled in the few oases. It
later became the Gedrosia region of the
Achaemenid Persian empire. The region
is believed to have been conquered by the founder of the Persian empire, Cyrus the
Great. The capital of the satrapy Gedrosia
was Pura, thought to have been located
near modern Bampur, in modern Iranian
Balochistan. During the homeward march
of Alexander the Great, his admiral Nearchus led a fleet along the modern
Makran coast and recorded that the area
was dry and mountainous, inhabited by
the Ichthyophagoi or Fish eaters – a Greek rendering of the ancient Persian phrase
Mahi khoran, which has become the
modern word Makran. After the collapse of Alexander ’ s empire, the area was ruled by Seleucus Nicator,
one of Alexander ’ s generals, but the region came under local rule about 303
BC. For several centuries, the region
remained at the sidelines of history, until
the Muslim Arab army under Muhammad
bin Qasim captured the town of Gwadar
in 711 AD. In the following centuries the area was contested between various
Iranian and Indian based powers
including the Mughals and the Safavids. Portuguese explorers captured and
sacked Gwadar in the late 16th century.
This was followed by centuries of local
rule by various Baloch tribes. In 1783 the
Khan of Kalat granted Gwadar to Taimur
Sultan, the defeated ruler of Muscat. When Taimur recaptured Muscat, he
continued to rule Gwadar by appointing a
wali or governor. The new governor was
ordered to conquer the nearby coastal
town of Chah Bahar (in modern Iran).
Gwadar fort was built during Omani rule, whilst telegraph lines were extended into
Gwadar courtesy of the British. In 1958,
the Gwadar enclave was transferred to
Pakistan and was made part of
Balochistan province. In 2002, Gwadar Port project to build a
large deep-sea port was begun in the
town. The government of Pakistan
intends to develop the entire area in
order to reduce reliance on Karachi for
shipping. In addition to expanding port facilities, the project aims to build
industrial complexes in the area, and to
connect the town via a modern highway
to the rest of Pakistan. The People ’ s Republic of China is providing help on the
project, and the first phase was
completed by the end of 2004.